Believe in People - Summer Celebration at Woodwynn Farms

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Saturday, August 24th, 2013
11:00 AM to 5:00 PM

Woodwynn Farms and the Close to Home Society host a community celebration featuring world class local music, food and fun, to raise funds and awareness for their work to combat homelessness and create a therapeutic community for people ready to transition away from street life.

Believe in People - A Summer Celebration at Woodwynn Farms will be a wonderful daytime festival that will appeal to the entire community, with wholesome and high quality musical entertainment, activities, refreshments and fun. This is the second year that Woodwynn Farms has hosted this event; many additions and improvements to the festival are planned, including an impressive line-up of musical and culinary talent.

World-renowned musician Daniel Lapp is the artistic director for the event's entertainment on the main stage. Confirmed performers include (54�40 front-man) Neil Osborne and his alt-country outfit �Never Shiver', indie-folk powerhouse Fish & Bird, a newly formed trio featuring Daniel Lapp, Adrian Dolan and Adam Dobres, as well as Folkestra, The BC Fiddle Orchestra and others. A huge shade tent will provide a comfortable and cool area for the crowd to enjoy the music from blankets on the grassy field. Roving performers, including master puppeteer Timothy Gosley, will provide visual entertainment and fun for all ages. Under the shelter of the big barn and throughout the farm, there will be tons of fun for kids, including a bouncy castle, children's entertainment, crafts, face-painting, a hay maze and much more.

Food is an important part of any celebration, and especially so at Believe in People. Chefs Jamie Martineau and Gianfranco Mosca are teaming up to create a menu of delicious meal options using farm fresh ingredients, available for purchase in 'The Farm Bistro'. 2013 also brings the return of The KD Cookoff. Woodwynn Farms' own Tim Summers will compete to defend the 2012 title of �Best KD�, going spoon to spoon with local cooks and well known chefs, including Janice Mansfield (Real Food Made Easy), Randy Hollands (Paprika, Stage Wine Bar) Aaron Hall (host of �Delicious� on SHAW TV) and others in a contest to transform the ubiquitous boxed pasta into a culinary masterpiece. The �Golden Cheese Grater� will be awarded by a panel of celebrity judges in this lighthearted competition of culinary skill and community spirit.

In the central area of the farm, surrounded by the iconic and beautiful barn buildings and thousands of bright yellow sunflowers, the Barn Yard Market will feature displays, vendors, food stalls and a silent auction. This will be a prime gathering point within sight and sound of all the excitement and fun, and will be a great place to learn more about the efforts of the organization to �create homefulness� by providing a means to those who are seeking to transition from street life and ready make a positive change in their lives.

Background on Woodwynn Farms & Close to Home Society

Woodwynn Farms and Close To Home believe that homelessness is a solvable problem. It benefits all of us to give the homeless a helping hand - a way out for those who have the desire but not the means.

It will take a community to combat homelessness; Woodwynn Farms has the blueprint. A 193-acre organic farm providing a therapeutic community for the homeless, Woodwynn Farms offers an opportunity to change peoples� lives with educational and work programs based on responsibility, dignity, independence and the principles of peer-to-peer help. Woodwynn Farms is based on a strategy used by a working farm in San Patrignano, Italy, which has demonstrated an extraordinary 70% success rate over 35 years with over 20,000 clients. Unlike other programs, it immerses its clients in a healthy lifestyle for an extended period.

Close To Home Support/Advocacy Society are family members who have a loved-one who has experienced homelessness, addiction and/ or mental illness. We have partnered with Woodwynn Farms, which we believe has a viable and dignified solution for our loved-ones who have a desire to make change in their lives.

Full details about the goals and activities of Woodwynn Farms and the Creating Homefulness Society are available at www.woodwynnfarms.org

Performer Biographies

Daniel Lapp
Daniel Lapp has been an innovator, mentor and staple of the British Columbia music scene for over 20 years. Since learning his first tunes from his farming/fiddling grandpa, his work on the fiddle has garnered him praise from critics around the world and he has appeared on various prestigious world stages including the 2010 Vancouver Olympics Opening Ceremonies where his 'punk mohawk' look captured the imagination of the country. He is the founder and president of the Victoria Fiddle Society and the BC Fiddle Orchestra and has collected over 1000 original BC fiddle tunes by over 100 BC composers. This collection and his vast knowledge of the BC fiddle culture will soon be explored in an in depth CBC radio series.
His work on the trumpet has ranged from Bix to electrix as he has explored the history of the instrument and jazz music in general from it's earliest forms to contemporary settings with his electronic/acoustic band Lappelectro. He has performed worldwide and shared the stage with symphony orchestras, Rickie Lee Jones, Beth Orton, Spirit of the West, Lou Reed, Elvis Costello, John Hammond, Bowfire and Van Dyke Parks to name a few. His project, Polkastra, co-lead with Lara St. John and an array of classical musicians from New York City has just recorded a follow-up album to their acclaimed sophomore album, Apolkalypse Now" and his new trio that combines traditional fiddle music with live samples and synthesizers just received rave reviews at their debut at the International Celtic Colours Festival in Cape Breton where they opened for The Chieftains in front of 5000 new fans.

Neil Osborne & �Never Shiver�
As lead singer and chief songwriter of 54�40, Neil Osborne has achieved critical acclaim, and released over a dozen albums, and weathered the fickle music business for more than two decades. His current project is a rockin� Alt Country trio called �Never Shiver.� A sound that combines the traditional sentiments of Hank Williams, George Jones and Johnny Cash with the sprit of Crazy Horse. Osborne handles vocals and electric guitar (including solos!) with a crisp rhythm section he like to call his �Loud Rangers.� New songs, a couple covers of country hits and a few 54�40 classics make up a typical �Never Shiver� set.

Osborne is an accomplished producer often taking the production reins of 54�40 albums as well as a songwriter of amazing depth and clarity. 54.40�s body of work is impressive. �One clue to 54�40�s longevity lies in their ability to make music that has a distinctly individual sound yet covers many styles - tender ballads, fiery rockers, provocative political songs, self-confessed lyrically banal romps, � Kerry Doole reported in Impact. Osborne has penned such fabulous signature 54�40 songs as �I Go Blind�, �One Gun�, �Since When� and �Ocean Pearl� which have crossed from the realm of rock to a broader base. His lyrics range from the most politically astute observation to the most innocent love song and everything in between.

Besides penning over 20 hit songs, Osborne has been very active as a producer. Osborne�s credits include Paloma: a hybrid jazz / electronic featuring vocalist Coco Love Alcorn and 80�s synth artist Dr. NO, which was in actual fact Osborne�s alias for the project. Osborne produced the first two critically acclaimed albums for indie rock-pop band Jets Overhead and former �Wailing Jenny� Cara Luft tapped him to produce �The Light Fantastic.�Other productions include Vince Vaccaro, Revision, Blue Violets and his own daughter �Kandle� for Montreal�s Dare To Care Records.

Osborne is currently writing new songs for the next 54�40 project. He also has a mellow low-key vibe solo album in the works. Osborne is also one half of an as-yet unreleased romance duo called �Heart and Wires�, that he produced and co-wrote. In 1986 when 54�40 was being courted by Warner Bros. in Los Angeles Osborne recalls telling the A&R man, �Man, I�ve got so many songs in me, I�ll be doing this for years and years� � isn�t that the truth.

Fish and Bird
The project began in Victoria, BC in 2006 as an acoustic duo, comprised of Taylor Ashton (banjo, guitar, vocals) and Adam Iredale-Gray (fiddle). On their 2007 self titled debut, their take on 'folk' included original songs in odd time signatures and traditional murder ballads with rock beats.
2009's Left Brain Blues was a more mature exploration of the space between folk traditions and reckless creativity, with Ashton & Gray playing multiple instruments on each song, and toying with the formats that inspired them. Some of the friends they enlisted to help fill out the sound on the record and at live shows eventually became permanent members of the band, and now Fish & Bird are the five-piece indie-folk powerhouse we know today. They have weird vocal improv sections, they rock out, sometimes it seems like they're playing bluegrass, and they might make you cry.
Taylor Ashton (vocals, banjo)
Adam Iredale-Gray (fiddle, vocals)
Ryan Boeur (electric and acoustic guitars)
Ben Kelly (drums)
Natalie Bohrn (upright bass, vocals)

BC Fiddle Orchestra
The BC Fiddle Orchestra was formed by Daniel Lapp with his own fiddle students in 1994 for a performance for 60,000 at the Commonwealth Games in Victoria, BC. Since that time, with countless performances under their belts, the BCFO has inspired dozens of young musicians to pursue their passion for fiddle music and beyond giving them a forum for personal discovery and a network of peers to work with.
Many former BCFO members have become the �young lions� of the international fiddle world including Kendel & Tyler Carson, Adrian Dolan, Tania-Elizabeth, Kalissa and Ivonne Hernandez to name a few.

Folkestra
Folkestra is an enthusiastic circle of adult musicians who set into motion Daniel Lapp's harmonic convergence of dance tunes and instrumentals: from Texas swing to Cajun waltzes, from Alberta two steps to Romanian czardas.

Timothy Gosley
Tim Gosley is a Canadian puppeteer who is primarily known for his work on numerous Muppet productions. He is originally from Victoria, British Columbia. Gosley earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in acting from the University of Alberta and studied puppeteering with Richard Hunt from 1981-1983. He began his career portraying several minor characters on the television program Fraggle Rock from 1983-1987. He then began portraying Basil the polar bear on Sesame Park, the Canadian version of Sesame Street, a role he performed regularly for nine seasons. In 1985 Gosley was the puppeteer for Homer Honker in the film Sesame Street Presents: Follow that Bird. His other television and film credits include The Argon Quest, Blizzard Island, Iris the Happy Professor, Basil Hears a Noise, and Caillou. He has also worked as a writer for the animated television series Fix and Foxi.
In 2003, Gosley won a Gemini Award for best preschool puppet performance. He has also presented several shadow puppet performances and has toured with his one-man puppet show version of The Ugly Duckling. Together with Puente Theatre, Tim designed, created and performed the giant puppets that were part of the City of Victoria's 150th Anniversary.