It’s Winnipeg Folk Festival time again, and we’ve got some special shows lined up to celebrate.

This Sunday, July 4 marks Part 2 of the OFFICIAL Winnipeg Folk Festival preview, and this week we spin all the good stuff. We’ll tell you who you absolutely have to see and where to be. One thing I will tell you now is that I’ll be hosting the Snowberry Field stage on Friday, so feel free to pop by and say hello. T-Bar and KK man the corner store, so you can drop over there and join their respective fanclubs. We’re also expecting to have some cool new flyers printed up to hand out at the corner store, the CD tent, and wherever else we can get away with leaving a stack of papers for you to pick up.

I don’t know what the odds are of this happening, but this year I just happen to have shows land on Canada Day (you did catch that, didn’t you? If not, download it now!) and the Fourth of July! To keep things fair with our American neighbours, I’ve got a set of July 4th songs that I’ve been dying to play for years. This Sunday, I finally get the chance.

Of course, after this Sunday, Folk Fest kicks off in only a few days, so your intrepid hosts won’t be able to make it into the studio for Steel Belted Radio or Tell the Band to Go Home. However, in a fit of recent boredom/inspiration, I whipped up a couple of all new, very exciting shows, which will air next week. This year marks my 18th Winnipeg Folk Festival, and it got me to feeling a little nostalgic. So, for both shows this week, I took a look back at some of the most memorable music and moments at the Winnipeg festival, as well as those in Regina, Edmonton, Calgary, and Guelph. I’ve seen, heard, and experienced some amazing things in that time, and there’s no way that I could fit all of my great memories into one show, or even two, but I spilled my guts on some real highlights on both shows. These are some very personal, amazing memories, and I’m very eager to share them with you.

So much so, that if you’re heading out to the Festival and can’t hear them live on Thursday or Sunday, or if you just want to get primed up ahead of time, both shows are available NOW for download on iTunes and at the Tell the Band to Go Home website. I really hope you’ll take the time to check out those shows, and please let me know if you have any thoughts about the shows or any of your own memories to share.

Thanks folks, I hope you’ll join in on some of the fun that is to come this summer on UMFM.