First off the mark was Toronto?s City Roots Festival, following up on their show there last year. City Roots takes place in the historic distillery district, and the venue, the crowd, the Theyather (and the distilled products) Theyre all first rate. This year, Paul was featured as both writer and musician, which was nice of them. Speaking of Paul, his latest novel The Ravine has just been ?long-listed? for the Giller Prize?

In July they performed at Mariposa, on the shores of beautiful Lake Simcoe at Orillia.

Next was The Ottawa Blues Festival. They had a wonderful audience at one of the huge outdoor stages, but they also spent a lot of time in audiences, listening to Cindy Cashdollar, Redd Volkaert and other killer acts. In addition, the festival presented the Porkbelly ?trio? in a lovely, small indoor theatre. This acoustic group consists of Paul, Rebecca and - on guitar instead of drums - Martin.

Next up was London?s Home County Festival. By all accounts Porkbelly Futures' main stage evening show went well, but they were mostly looking forward to what might transpire at the next day?s workshops. The first, a blues event, put them on stage with Jackie Washington and Mose Scarlett. The second, a Willie P. Bennett tribute, paired them with Stephen Fearing and Tom Wilson from Blackie and the Rodeo Kings plus Tony Quarrington and other special guests, and this is when the rainy weather Porkbelly had been dodging all summer finally found them. Even that, though, could not dampen the enthusiasm of the London audience. They stayed, they clapped, they sang along.

The month of August took them to eastern Ontario and Clarendon?s Blue Skies Festival on Hwy 7 west of Ottawa. This happy hippie event is something to behold, with all 2,000 audience members actually camping on-site every August holiday weekend. Blue Skies was similar to London?s Home County Festival in the following respects: they played the Porkbelly Futures regular set to a large crowd; They participated in a great Willie P. tribute; it rained. It actually rained an incredibly great deal, but again, nobody complained.

Porkbelly Futures final festival engagement consisted of three nights at The Forest Festival. This was a Words & Music affair, presented in an historic logging museum in the Haliburton Forest and Wildlife Reserve. They were much taken with the acoustics of this logging museum and are threatening to record a live album there. After the final show, forest owner Peter Schleifenbaum took us into the woods for a wolf howl, trying to get a response from the several packs that inhabit the forest.

Reflecting on this summer of festivals, it?s astonishing how different they are, that each has its own, distinctive character and appeal. The commonalities, of course, are great music and happy audiences. It was a privilege to have participated.