friend proud

I just spent a fabulous time at the Hillside festival in Guelph, Ontario. It was my first time, and I met so many gorgeous people who were more than open to braving the seriously muddy conditions of the weekend. We ate warm hippie-made food all weekend and I got to hang with some bands I have worked with recently - Sunparlour Players - as well as bands who are practically family like Dave from the Warped 45s and the boys of Patrick Watson. One of the huge things that you take away from this festival is the rampant feeling of goodwill - it's created via many things - the fact that you purchase a plastic mug upon arrival and use it for all your drinks over the weekend, that there are no paper plates and a huge crew of "dish ninjas" who make life at hillside a community affair. It's all so specifically awesome, and it's festivals like this who are aware that this kind of get together does impose an impact on an area that DO SOMETHING about their waste who will continue into the future.

Lots of good moments - from the sunday gospel session (Shane Cuizon's spoken word was terrifyingly good and Melissa Mclelland was also a highlight)to the tongue n' cheek of Bahamas to the skillful mastery of Kevin Breit and the awesomeness of the Rural Alberta Advantage. Memory lane thanks to Patrick Watson, and a lightning hit in the tent just before Clues made me grab the arms of friends nearby. Memorable because of the monsoons and the fact that we were all in this together.

I often feel pretty lucky that I'm part of this creative music community and this weekend re-affirmed this thought. My friend Exan is also part of the community and recently directed her very first music video. We celebrated the other day at a launch event in downtown Toronto. So friend proud. (I've f'd up the formatting for this post but I'm too tired to toggle with it... so posting it as is.) Enjoy!