Putting bugs in a jar

There should be a word to describe the specific joy that comes from breaking the little rules: Colouring outside the lines, driving longer than you should with the gas light on or substituting apple sauce for butter in your muffin recipe.

With or without its own noun, the feeling is universal, and may be the best way to describe why the Ottawa Folk Festival Workshops are so special. The workshops break the regular concert rules in two important ways: removing the barrier between artists and audiences, and throwing together un-tried, un-tested, and un-ever-seen-before combinations of musical talent on stage.

"We're just going to improvise," said the Juno-nominated Orchid Ensemble during their afternoon workshop at the Heron Stage, before kicking off a gorgeous and haunting tune that was soon rounded into an impromptu blend of guitars, percussion and on-the-spot vocals from a collection of artists who shared a stage but had met a matter of minutes earlier.

Jeremy Fischer, who played a Workshop at the Bluebird North Stage earlier in the day, described the sessions something like this: it is like putting bugs in a jar and waiting to see what happens.

Another band simply said, "We have no idea what the workshops are all about ― we just turn up on stage where we're told!"

When you have a formula where even the performers are not sure what is expected of them on stage, you open the door to creating magic. And certainly to creating music that you can't buy on iTunes.

The intimacy of the workshops alone changes the artist-audience dynamic beautifully, but there are multiple sessions throughout the weekend where aspiring folk stars can learn, share, and shine. Thundering from the Legacy Stage this evening, Don Gibbons led a Rhythm Workshop for a crowd of drummers, explaining the technique, some history and even inventing a song at the request of his audience.  

If all that wasn't enough, the workshops stages curated by the Ottawa Folklore Centre are located on the point, a hunk of festival ground so perfect you almost feel it would look naked without the tents and the crowds.

Whether you are a folk legend in the making or just enjoy indulging in truly unique music, check out the Workshops on tomorrow starting noon @ottawafolk.

Andrea Petruzella