Backstage at The Saltshaker Festival
This year, the Cups N Cakes Network has reached out to some of our favourite bands and artists, and asked them to write about one of the summer festivals they’re playing, from an artist’s perspective. Calgary’s Tea Fannie wrote the first entry in what we’re calling our Backstage series, talking about Saltshaker Festival in Manitou Beach, SK.
There's something different about artist led and run festivals, this one was started by The Garry's! Wow Saltshaker Festival. Wow. So much to say about this wholesome event. First of all, LOVE that they had a safe space officer on site (thanks Mandolyn) at all times which was, well, safe. And thank you so much to Ezra for always being there for me and all the artists all weekend! Manitou is a very dope small town, leave the front door unlocked type of town, windows down in a parked car outside a bar type of town. It just has a different feel, might be the sacred land, the healing powers of the lake, the hot springs, I’m not sure, but it was such a fun weekend. I danced with the shrimp mascot, did karaoke by the beach, bought oversize glasses at the local antique shop (Grandma’s Attic in Relics), there was skinny dipping (not me, next time though), Drive-In movies, a mineral rich spa and pool, lake floating, and so much more! The little thoughtful touches to create nostalgia, like dancing on a dancefloor made of horse hair to a band performing on the same stage that Johnny Cash and Elvis performed on, and the mystery of Brine Wilson, the festival shrimp mascot. Yes, a mascot. Who is Brine Wilson? You will never know thanks to certain processes in place! I’m here for it. Let's get into it.
This 2 day festival is jam packed with just 15 artists and sells out their weekend festival passes usually within a few days of them going on sale! They encourage artists to come down on the Friday to take part in all the festivities, so they put you up for both nights to better entice you to stay and indulge, and indulge we did! Mflavor (my guitarist) and I headed over to Danceland and not only were we treated to performances by JJ Lavalee, The Garrys, AND Denim Daddies, but my belly was also fully satisfied by this special shrimp Po Boy at the restaurant inside. Listen, I had 2 of them, not that I had space, but they were that good, I regret nothing, that was also our first hint that shrimp are a big deal here. Then at some point while JJ Lavalee were playing, there was a giant shrimp on the dancefloor, my 2nd hint lol. This venue called Danceland kind of already felt iconic when we walked in, but then I heard the stories!! OK so yall, the horse hair dance floor is bouncy! Imagine line dancing on that, it’s like having a bit of air in your air jordans, I’m pretty sure I was 7lbs lighter due to the bounce, which definitely improved my dance moves lol. In true small town vibes, everything is pretty much walking distance, so after the Denim Daddies you could head over to the local bar, Mike’s, (make sure you bring your ID lol, the only place you’ll need it) where Mcrorie was doing a 3 hour set! Yes, 3 hours, wow. And if you haven’t seen this dude perform, strongly suggest, he’s got rizz on the mic but also he plays a guitar with one hand, bass with the other, the kick drums are his boots and then he has bongos and other drum pads on his chest, plus so much more. It was cool to watch!
Well, guess who went too hard Friday night, lol. Jokes, but I did have a long couple days so I actually slept through the Northern Lights Bluegrass pancake breakfast! I heard it was so good too, but the fact you could also catch a live blues jam while enjoying breaky was so smart! Northern Lights Bluegrass is actually another festival that happens in Ness Creek, SK in August, so a great way to cross promote! Then that ends at noon, and gives you time to mosey over to Mike’s for more live performances until 3:30 where they had artists from Saskatoon, Winnipeg, and Regina! Then immediately after that, by the beach was a fun crafternoon for the kiddies, arts and crafts provided, and you got to hang out with Sylvie Walker who just performed earlier that day! Now this part I LOVED: there was a built-in break in the schedule. I imagine that’s probably for the hard working festival organizers and volunteers, but was I ever happy! Perfectly timed so you could go home and gather yourself for the evening events! Mflavor and I walked down the beach and checked out the shops, where I found gold oversize glasses from Grandma’s attic inside Relics, and Gary (the owner there) said, ummm have you checked yourself in the mirror with them yet though? Lol, so with that humor, I had to have them obviously. We went back to get ready to head to our performance! Little Manitou Art Gallery is beautifully owned and run by Sarah and her life partner, this place is a dream. It’s so cute, with flowers and greenery everywhere perfectly growing in decoration, a stage so naturally garnished and little string lights going across the top, and then nestled through a green arched walkway beside the stage, is Splash Cafe. Very thankful that Saltshaker gave us food vouchers and this was one of the restaurants providing food in exchange for the voucher. But AGAIN, I had a whole experience with this cheeseburger yall, it was soooo good lol. He made it fresh for us, seasoned while molding the burger patty, mmm. OK, so he makes it fresh for everyone, but I like to feel special alright. Food just hits better out there. Mflavor laughed at me as he said, that’s the same face you made last night with the Po Boy. Yes, well, I don’t expect good food as an artist on road, I wasn’t just shocked, I was so grateful. Guess what else!? Brine Wilson showed up to our set! So not only did I have this giant shrimp dancing to my music, but I also got to dance with it after, for Amery’s set! Of course there was also one of those cardboard cut out things with a shrimp so you can take a pic with your face as the shrimp, they’re everywhere, including my belly, well temporarily lol.
This festival crowd was so receptive, whether they were soaking in all the lyricism of Victrix, jumping up and down with me and Mflavor, sitting on the ground taking in the teachings and sounds of Asko, or dancing with Amery. That's 4 wildly different acts, one from Montreal, rest of us from Alberta, and they were there for ALL of it. Then we all got to jam together at the karaoke at Mike’s by the beach after, hosted by Ivanna Beer! There's something special about Saltshaker Festival yall, you just gotta apply or pull up to hang out.
