Q&A: Carly McFadden
Name: Carly McFadden
Company: Folk On The Rocks / Victory Pool
Title: Executive & Artistic Director / Artist Manager
Based in: Yellowknife, Canada and Hamburg, Germany
What was your purpose for participating at Folk Spot 2023?
To explore new artists, meet international delegates and learn from other festivals.
What trends and tendencies do you see in folk music right now?
It feels like we’re slowly seeing fewer solo singer-songwriters and more big bands or collaborations.
What is your impression of the Danish folk scene versus folk music in Canada? (Differences and similarities)
At Folk Spot / Tønder most of the acts were very traditional folk music. In Canada, this would be more unusual for such a large festival, and we would have a lot more modern or fusion folk across all stages. I thought the vibe of the festival itself was similar to many folk festivals in Canada though, with a slightly older audience, a lot of care and compassion from the community about the event (longtime festival-goers) and a very clean festival site.
Did you make some new contacts relevant for your future work?
Yes
Which were the best musical experiences during Folk Spot Denmark and Tønder Festival?
For Folk Spot I quite liked Folkens and Optur, the others were lovely but a little too traditional for my typical work. At Tønder in general, I liked Sierra Farrell, The Mary Wallopers, Aysanabee (yay Canada!), and Roo Panes.