Most years, the Friday night lineup for the Regina Folk Festival is reserved for the newer, more adventurous acts. Folks like Ohbijou, Mr. Something Something, and Emily Wells definitely fall into that category. With the legendary John Prine taking the stage, though, along with wonderful Canadian songstress Sarah Harmer, host Grant Lawrence from CBC Radio 3 and all the tweener acts, Friday night had more variety than one might’ve expected.
A few people on Twitter were impressed with Belle Plaine, a.k.a Melanie Hankewich, a Saskatchewan singer-songwriter who graced the cover of the prairie dog for our local music issue:
twitmichaelbell: feeling very proud of @belle_plaine and beth curry for a great performance! the wind blowing through mel’s hair was a bonus #rff
Hluska: Odd question, but has Belle Plaine released anything? I really want to put her voice on repeat. #rff
jonbrodyharris even went so far as to say “I have a man crush on @GrantLCBCR3 and a girl crush on Belle Plaine and Sarah Harmer #rff” As far as RFF crush lists go, that’s a solid lineup. Maybe rockthesandbox would want to make an addition to that list: “John Prine is so smiley and adorable! #RFF”
Also, apparently Buffy Sainte-Marie was already backstage last night and being awesome?
JulieFader: it’s not every day that you get a hug from Buffy Sainte-Marie when you walk off stage…this will make me smile for a long time.
Ohbijou: Wow Regina folk fest is so much fun, john prine is awesome and Buffy is getting snacks! #rff
Finally, Lawrence holding it down really well onstage, and offstage, he was keeping the Twitter masses up-to-date. My personal favorite was a just side comment on the title for ‘tweener sets: “Justin Rutledge just wrapped his quick ‘tweener set (not what it sounds) and Mr.Something Something currently funking it up! #rff”
