KURATED NO. 249
VANCOUVER FOLK MUSIC FESTIVAL 48
Featured Acts
• Ocie Elliott and Watchhouse
BC’s Ocie Elliott (top) and North Carolina’s Watchhouse (below) are both featured on the Vancouver Folk Music Festival’s Mainstage in July
CONTENTS
- PLAYLISTS:
Ocie Elliott – 5-song EP on Bandcamp
Watchhouse – Rituals on Spotify - VIDEO SONGS:
This Beautiful Life – Ocie Elliott
All Around You – Watchhouse - VANCOUVER FOLK MUSIC FESTIVAL – Check it out below including the weekend schedule
Ocie Elliott made their Newport Folk Festival debut last summer. This year they debut at the Vancouver Festival! (Jack Casey photo)
A COUPLE OF DUOS
BC’s Ocie Elliott and North Carolina’s Watchhouse: managing the musical and the personal
Staying in tune at home and work takes a certain amount of finesse – especially when you share both with your partner. Veteran musicians Ocie Elliott and Watchhouse have managed to keep it together harmonizing in musical and daily life. Each talented couple is playing the Vancouver Folk Music Festival’s Evening Mainstage – one on Friday and the other on Saturday.
Both duos feature laid back, intimate and reflective songs featuring smooth harmonies laid over acoustic-driven instrumentation.
Chapel Hill NC-based Watchhouse got together in 2009 playing under the name Mandolin Orange for 10 years. They changed it during the pandemic to reflect their shift from bluegrass to a more open sound.
Singer Emily Frantz and guitarist-singer-songwriter Andrew Marlin are touring behind their latest album Rituals. Coincidentally, the just released album’s 11 songs address the quotidien facets of life.
They describe the album’s first single, All Around You as “Featuring layered guitars, a steady beat and floating vocal harmonies, the song wrestles with how we often view home as a destination, just as we look back longing for the past. Ultimately it arrives at an understanding that wherever we are, we are already home, emphasizing that trusting in our own awareness allows us to face the future with the wisdom we’ve acquired.” These artists have a way with words that’s reflected in their compositions.
Ocie Elliott’s Jon Middleton and Sierra Lundy met by chance in 2017 on Saltspring Island and have been together since. The duo has built a significant following with 2.6 million listeners on Spotify and won a Juno Award in 2022 for Breakthrough Group of the Year.
Last summer they had a breakthrough of another kind when they debuted at the renowned Newport Folk Festival. “I’ve always dreamed of playing this festival, but it’s cooler than I thought it would be,” Middleton told whatsupnewp.com. “The first song we ever sang together was Gillian Welch’s ‘Look at Miss Ohio.’ There was an instant connection … we thought, guess we should keep doing this, and that was like eight years ago.”
The day after their set they took in various concerts. “With this particular lineup, there are two artists that really inspire us – Gillian Welch and David Rawlings,” said Middleton. “We just met Gillian, and we’re still trying to recover.”
Both Ocie Elliott and Watchhouse will be making their debut appearances at the Festival this year. Ocie Elliott are on the Saturday evening Mainstage at 8:40 pm and host a Sunday afternoon workshop at the South Stage featuring Watchhouse, The Heavy Heavy and Milk Carton Kids. Watchhouse open the Sunday evening Mainstage concert at 6 pm.
About Festival 48
WHEN
The 48th Annual Vancouver Folk Music Festival runs from July 18 to 20
TICKETS
Early Bird tickets are available and you can purchase them at The Festival
HEAR
Listen to the excellent 43-song Festival sampler curated by artistic director Fiona Black
SEE
The full weekend schedule
VIEW
The full artist line-up
14 June 2025
