Billy Bragg says events like the Vancouver Folk Music Festival build global unity

Billy Bragg remembers the first time he played the Vancouver Folk Music Festival as an early career highlight in 1987.

While his first three albums were regularly played on the University of B.C.’s CiTR radio, the greater public hadn’t caught up to the singer’s rising star as a punk folk firebrand.

By the end of that first weekend, Bragg built a devoted fan base that crossed generations of festivalgoers. When he returned in 1989, meeting the legendary Pete Seeger and performing with him, it was like a passing of the torch between generations.

He sees events like this helping to build a sense of global unity among the listening community.

“It’s a very special event for so many reasons, one of which is its unique place as a completely independent event free of any corporate ties,” said Bragg. “This year is additionally special as I’m playing on the 18th, and then sticking around in town to find a bar to watch the World Cup final in on the 19th. If England is playing, I’ll be beside myself, but getting a feel of the flavour in Vancouver is something special again.”

Vancouver will close out the singer/songwriter/activist’s cross-Canada festival run that sees him playing festivals in Ontario, Manitoba and Quebec before B.C. Then it’s back to the U.K. with an itinerary that extends into December.

Technically, the tour is in support of Bragg’s latest album, 2023’s The Million Things That Never Happened and The Roaring Forty (1983 to 2023) career-spanning compilation. But the singer says to expect a set list that includes highlights across his recorded history as well as up-to-date ditties such as the instant single City of Heroes.

A tribute to the bravery of the people in Minneapolis, Minn., standing up against the ICE mobilization and shootings of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti in their city, the instant single fits Bragg’s songwriting approach these days.

“I’m turning 70 next year, and rather than stressing about putting together new records, I’m finding it more worthwhile to respond about what I’m seeing and feeling right in the moment,” he said. “The balance between curation and creation becomes more of a fine balance as you get older, and you need to strike a balance. It’s very important to remain engaged but perhaps not desperately trying to make new records.”

This new method came about after he did a tour a few years ago where he played a series of nights in each city he visited.

“The first night, I’d play the present tour list, the second was only songs from the first three albums and the third night was the second three albums,” he said. “Every place we went, the second night sold out right away, then the third and you have to embrace that as your legacy. The forward-moving part is now writing and releasing songs on the spot, like City of Heroes, with no specific album plans in mind.”

Another way Bragg keeps flying the activist folk flag is by touring with the artists he sees as the next generation writing the protest songs of the future. American firebrand Carsie Blanton, who plays the Biltmore Cabaret on Sept. 15, is joining him on many of his North American dates and he shouts out such fellow U.K. rising stars as Grace Petrie on a regular basis.

He says it’s no surprise that a great majority of the politically left-leaning singers of the moment tend to be young women, as young men are trending in the opposite direction.

“I think part of the whole prospectus around Trump and Reform is that white, male, Christian heterosexual individuals are recognizing their status is being challenged by the notion of equality in society, and they are not just afraid of feminism, but of women, people of colour and so on,” he said. “Hopefully, we will see it on its way out. In the U.K., I’m encouraged by the fact that we still have enough accountability to take down a prince.”

Bragg performs at the festival’s main stage on July 18 at 7:35 p.m. Passes and tickets are available at thefestival.bc.ca.

5 must-see acts at the Vancouver Folk Music Festival

With so many artists appearing over the July 17 to 19 run of the festival, picking which acts to catch can be a challenge. Here are five groups playing this year’s event that hit that ‘don’t-miss’ button. Yes, you can include the setting of the whole festival as a highlight too.

Empanadas Illegales

When/where: July 18, 4:40 to 5:50 p.m., Global Ties That Bind on West Stage; July 19, 2:40 to 3:50, West Stage.

One of Canada’s most in-demand festival bands, this Vancouver psychedelic cumbia crew drops its new album, Latoratorio Tropical, on Aug. 28.

Gamksimoon

When/where: July 17, 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., West Stage.

Gitga’at First Nation guitarist and singer Wil Uks Batsga G̱a̱laaw (Jeremy Pahl) fuses pre-contact Ts’msyen music with raw, raunchy West Coast rock.

Tami Neilson

When/where: July 18, 6 to 7 p.m., Main Stage; July 19, 12:50 to 2:10 p.m., Rock Out on West Stage.

Ontario-born-belter Neilson, who became huge in her adopted home of New Zealand, has a new duet with Willie Nelson and played the Grand Ole Opry.

Valerie June

When/where: July 19, 10:30 to 11:50 a.m. Rise Up and Sing on South Stage; 7:35 to 9:05 p.m., Main Stage.

Tennessee singer Valerie June channels joy as a political statement in songs that touch on folk, gospel, soul, blues and R&B.

Yagódy

When/where: July 18, 10:30 to 11:35 a.m., West Stage; 4:40 to 5:50 p.m. at Global Ties That Bind, West Stage.

Straight out of Lviv, this contemporary Ukrainian quartet brings theatrical flair to its multi-part-harmony-fuelled folk fusion.

[email protected]

Related