October 14, 2009
Winterfolk auditions at The Black Swan
This year's festival expands to four days
Photo –Winterfolk annually attracts more than 100 artists to the Danforth in February, and local music fans can get a chance to help pick two of them Tuesday, Oct. 20, from 9 p.m. to midnight, at The Black Swan Tavern, 154 Danforth Ave. And for that matter, aspiring musicians can audition for one of the two spots, but please note it is not an open audition and hopefuls must pre-apply. As an added perk, organizers promise fans will have input into the selection along with a guest panel of judges. The artists will perform two songs each and the panel is promising to make their decision at the end of the show. The Danforth audition is one of five being held. The other auditions, under the exact same format (for a total of 10 spots at Winterfolk), are set for Oakville Nov. 3, Peterborough Nov. 11 and Guelph Nov. 15. Another 10 artists are being selected through an on-line process. It's a novel way for Winterfolk to fulfill one of its mandates, which is to provide an opportunity for new, undiscovered talent. The 20 lucky audition winners will be joined at the half dozen Danforth venues by some of the Toronto area's top roots musicians, along with some guest musicians, to be named at a later date, from outside the area. This year the festival, in its eighth year, is expanding to four days in February (Feb. 12 to 15), incorporating the new Family Day holiday on the Monday, said festival founder and director Brian Gladstone, who added that he's also hoping the number of venues on the Danforth will be expanded. The festival is mostly free, although traditionally there are a couple of paid events with token admission. In the meantime, music fans wanting to enjoy some new roots talent can head to The Black Swan on Tuesday, Oct. 20. Artists wishing to audition should send an email to [email protected] and advise preferred venue, include an EPK, or send a link to website or myspace, etc. Winterfolk is online at www.abetterworld.ca/winterfolk
