While much of the Saturday evening at the 2024 Peterborough Folk Festival would be heavily disrupted by a sequence of electrical storms passing across Southern Ontario, the weather gods relented when Calgary, AB artist Mariel Buckley graced the main stage for her mid-afternoon slot – performing to an intimate crowd under a blanket of sunshine and with just a few clouds lingering in the sky.
Having tracked Mariel’s tours over the last few years, her seemingly sporadic visits out to the the eastern provinces has made it difficult to catch this artist live. Undeterred, with this open Saturday on our vacation calendar that placed us just under a two-hour drive away from Peterborough, the only potential spoiler could have been the storm clouds looming on the horizon – themselves not enough to prevent us from making the journey. Enjoying this 40-minute set on the grounds of Nicholls Oval Park, we finally scratched Mariel’s name from our concert wish list.
With her full band in tow (and having just arrived from Winnipeg late the previous evening), Mariel delighted us when launching immediately into material from her stunning 2022 “Everywhere I Used To Be” album (a GDW Top 20 Album finalist from that year). The distinct low-end atmospheric guitar twang of the SiriusXM hit tune “Neon Blue” made for the perfect opening tune, establishing a solid tone for the remainder of the set to follow – with other popular cuts such as “Shooting At The Moon” and “Whatever Helps You” sprinkled in too.
Some may recall that we had the pleasure of interviewing Mariel back in 2018 about the release of her “Driving In The Dark” album, so the inclusion of “Jumping The Fence” from this album on this given day put additional smiles on our faces – as did “No Surprise,” Mariel’s standalone ‘country’ single from 2020. Prior to performing this single, the artist would hint of maybe wanting to add a little more country back to her repertoire – no complaints here.
Granted, Mariel Buckley may not look or dress the part to conform to our stereotypes of ‘what’ a ‘country star’ should be – but to be honest, why should she? Mariel appears genuinely comfortable rocking her ‘fresh from the prairies’ guise, letting her songwriting and hauntingly beautiful vocal presence do all the talking. A voice so wrought with emotion and sincerity – and one that pierces your heart like a knife into butter, tugging constantly at your heartstrings until her closing lines. Yeah, we’ll opt for this genuine kind of country artist each, and every, time.
Set List:
- Neon Blue
- Whatever Helps You
- Jumping The Fence
- *Unknown Title*
- No Surprise
- Driving Around
- Shooting At The Moon
- *Unknown Title*
- Let You Down
The British guy that crossed the ocean and crash landed in central Pennsylvania (to quote Greg Keelor, “And I wonder what am I doing here?”). As the youngest of four siblings, exposure to music from a very early age nurtured my passion and appreciation for many musical genres. Continuing to discover some amazingly diverse and talented musicians based in Canada, I gravitate to live music experiences and remain devoted to spreading the word about such a vibrant music scene.
