By Will McGuirk
Ok, being a bit of a homer here but apart from Tania and Jim this is a swell line-up and although Whitehorse had to cancel having Terra Lightfoot step in IMHO is a win win, plus AHI has been added. AND I, The Mountain are here too. :)
Hillside Festival 2022 Artwork by C.M. Duffy
By Will McGuirk
Where do we even begin, except to begin I guess at the beginning which for me is Hillside. Everything I have learnt about sustainable community building I have learned at Hillside; from the Shwaltz thru to the Vault to Kops shows. Hillside is the most worldly of the local fests. It just gets it so right. Hillside is on an island in a lake in a conservation area. Like all island based folk the community has learned growth is not outwards but inwards. Thats its key and its glory. For the past two years we have had to look a lot closer to home for what we need. And even though restrictions are for the most part lifted its still not such a bad idea to stay within your community. For many reasons I consider Guelph to be part of my circle so I will be making the trip and looking forward to connecting again with like-minded folks for a few days. Gonna be lovely lovely lovely.
Interestingly this year the organisers have gone with a strong line-up of mostly single performers; singer/songwriters who have the impact of a band but a smaller footprint. Alison and Dan Mangan are on Friday; Aoife O’Donovan, Bahamas, Cadence Weapon, Kinnie Starr, Shane Koyczan and the Short Story Long, and Tami Neilson perform on the Saturday and Sunday has Danny Michel, Donovan Woods, and Le Ren. Our pal Tania Joy is also making her Hillside debut. Whoot!
There are of course bands including Cancon supergroup the Anyway Gang, Cobourg punks Cleopatrick, Ombiigizi, Habibi, I the Mountain (Oshawa represent!) and Texas King.