Daron Letts
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (July 20/05) - When the Society for the Encouragement of Northern Talent launched Folk on the Rocks in 1980, they wanted the festival to build the careers of Northern musicians. The 2005 festival executive continues its mission.

June Shappa, a member of the throat singing duo Arqsaniit, does a traditional Inuit Drum Dance during a performance with the band Taima.

"As we grow older we want to expand what we do," festival president Keely Hart said.

To mark the festival's silver anniversary, organizers focused on documenting many of this year's acts while digging up recordings from past festivals. Through CBC North they are developing a Best of the Folk on the Rocks anniversary CD featuring odds and ends from over the years.

It will include cuts by Heather Bishop, Ceilidh Friends, Tom Hudson, Colin Adjun, Jay Gilday, Bernadette Uttaq and Alisa Kameakalik among others.

Festival goers voted for their favourite act this year. The winner will fill the last slot on the CD.

In the days leading up to the festival, organizers brought together festival veterans Tanya Tagaq Gillis, Pat Braden, Tracey Riley, Jesse James, Allan Bee and Corey Elliot for a demo recording on DVD. The musicians will use the audio/video package to market themselves to other festivals. It will also turn into a CD for sale at next year's festival.

Attendance up

Early estimates suggest attendance this year was up from 2004 despite Saturday's rain shower.

"Music festivals get rained out all the time, so we're thankful that Yellowknifers are so tough," Hart said. "Everyone persisted."

Each year is a new learning experience, she said. The main stage couldn't accommodate the mosh that formed in front of Sloan's show. It took security a few minutes to fix the problem.

But the successes outnumbered the challenges, she said.

The Circumpolar Suite collaboratory pulled together a magical mix of throatsingers. Tuvan throatsingers Chirgilchin, Nunavut's Taloyoak Throatsingers, Taima from Nunavik and Instinkt from Denmark appeared on stage together.

Festival vice-president Markham Breitbach credits the chemistry of the 2005 board for the creative behind-the-scenes ideas.

"We got a lot of new blood on the board last year and things really came together," he said. "We're working well together, moving to continue the legacy."