Light years from the high-voltage commercialism of Aerosmith, Justin Timberlake, and 50 Cent beats the healthy heart of a simpler music scene.
Its musicians don’t arrive in airplanes, to be whisked away to the closest five-star; artists make their own travel arrangements, occasionally bunking overnight at the promoter’s modest Scugog home.
Its devotees don’t reserve seats over the internet through an agency, or line up for wristbands; the shows’ promoters set aside tickets at the door on the strength of a phone call without requiring a credit card.
Mogens Galberg
Its venues don’t double as sports stadiums; a 100-seat community hall, arranged cabaret-style, provides an intimate atmosphere between performers and audience.
“Roots music is definitely a niche market,” said Mogens Galberg, head of the Greenbank Folk Music Society (GFMS). “The artists aren’t motivated by money or trying to become part of the ‘star-making machinery.’ They’re talented, often laid-back people who just want to remain working in the music business for a lifetime.”
“Roots music” draws its influences from diverse cultural backgrounds: Celtic, African, Mountain, and Klezmer (a style of eastern European Jewish origin) all expert influence on the genre. Mogens offers a less complicated explanation of its origins.
“It’s ‘kitchen’ music,” he said. “The kind you’d make up in your home with a group of friends. But it does contain all those traditional elements, and those formed the beginnings of modern music.”
The Greenbank Folk Music Society brings folk acts regularly to the village’s Centennial Community Hall, drawing an audience, according to Mogens, from “Bowmanville to Lake Simcoe, even Toronto.”
The GFMS traces back its beginning sixteen years when Mogens and fellow organizer George Rizsanyi drove home together after attending similar concerts at Oshawa’s Vital Spark Folk Club. The pair agreed that no such outlet existed in their area, though the demand might. What they knew did exist was a local hall with great acoustics which could serve as a perfect venue for their vision.
Mogens Galberg has been operating the Greenbank Folk Music Society concerts for the past 13 years. He is seen above, left, with Stephen Fearing, a recent performer at the group’s monthly concerts.
Their energy supplied the remaining ingredient, and a non-profit organization was born. Over time, the Society has prospered, swelling to include a sizable group of dedicated volunteers.
“George and I chose the word ‘society’ at first because we thought it sounded cool. But our group’s really become an entity over time. Everyone knows his job and the work gets done well with little discussion.”
The current list of organizers includes some with specific, valuable skills. Rene Demers, a graphic artist, creates posters, art, and prints tickets. Don Mitchell, an accountant, keeps the books.
But more requirements need to be satisfied in order to make the evenings a success. Brian Logan provides media contact. Tony Burns keeps the group’s website updated. Mario Panici, Dean Mitchell, and Cathy Galberg work on setup, cleanup, and tend the door on show nights, while Jane Demers sells raffle tickets inside.
That leaves central communication and bookings to Mogens. His choices reflect his personal taste, tempered with a touch of practicality.
“The act has to turn me on so I’ll get behind it and sell tickets. And we need to sell tickets to survive.”
The label “folk music” often conjures visions of solo guitarists, but Mogens insists this description is far from complete where GFMS shows are concerned.
”We paint ‘folk’ with a pretty broad brush,” he explains. “Our concerts reflect diversity.”
“We’re not the conservative kind of folkies who booed Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival back in ’65 [for playing an electric guitar]. The acts we book all play intelligent music with meaningful lyrics – not only ‘I love you’ – and people will always respond to that.”
The audience for the group’s frequently sold out concerts includes people from all walks of life. Often, Mogens says, musicians will come to Greenbank to watch others play.
While they don’t seek the high profile spotlight, a few folk performers do find mass acceptance – “in spite of themselves,” Mogens says. He maintains a uniformly positive view of these musicians.
“Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell, performers of that stature…no, they’re not sell-outs, they just got grabbed up by the market.”
The Society’s 2009 lineup remains only partially booked.
“We’re a ‘seat of our pants’ operation so we need to know where we are financially before booking too far into the future. We’ve had occasional grants, but mostly we rely on each concert to pay for itself.”
What he can confirm, and does so with considerable pride, is that the group’s recent concert with Stephen Fearing and Brian McMillan was its 135th show. Fearing is a well known name, McMillan a relative newcomer whose presence as opening act represented another GFMS tradition.
“Brian’s a great new performer,” Mogens said. “We like to provide an opportunity for local, budding musicians.”
There’s no question music brings joy to Mogens’ life. Three acoustic guitars share prominence in his living room, alongside a pair of horns and a concertina perched on a side table. He reveals proudly that his two daughters are music teachers.
“I love most kinds of music,” he says. “Not just roots music, but mainstream pop, rock, jazz, country, even some hiphop. Any music that’s done well, and done honestly – it’s okay with me.”
Scott Mercer
Focus on Scugog
Personalities
