Ginger Beef lights up the stage at this year’s Folk Festival

By Daman Singh, July 31 2024—

This year’s Calgary Music Folk Festival lineup was full of surprises but many familiar faces were also present — one of which was the eccentric local duo Ginger Beef. Jiajia Li’s flute-driven rhythm paired with Warren Tse’s production was one of the standout acts through the weekend. 

The duo took the stage a couple of times throughout the weekend but the highlight for me was their concert set on Sunday, at the National Stage Four. Playing a selection of tracks from their 2023 self-titled debut album, Ginger Beef delivered a set of instrumental excellence. Li’s skill with the flute is undeniably one of the most memorable things about their act, blending a classical sound with a Western touch. 

“Who doesn’t wanna play rockstar for 45 minutes?” Tse told the Gauntlet. 

Their performance was a true testament to his statement. Li talked about how everything that goes behind their project lives up to that one moment on stage that is very precious to them. 

“All of this work was basically made, kind of like made for that moment. So it’s very precious. I just wanted to enjoy it,” she said.

What makes Ginger Beef such a special project is the lyricless instrumental pop sound that the duo has created. Having worked as instrumentalists in their careers, both have crafted their art and noticed how the vocalists take all the attention on the stage. 

“We did notice over the years that anytime that there is a vocalist on stage, all of the focus snaps to the vocalist and people just kind of forget that there are incredible musicians, backing them up, playing, putting decades training into it,” Tse said as he continued discussing how by removing the vocalist from the equation, they bring the focus to the instrumentalists.

Tracks like “Flashback” exhibit this beautifully. An introduction to the world of Ginger Beef, the melodic flute meets a retro pop bass and drum groove and you’re in for a treat. The project draws influence from vocal-less genres of music like classical, jazz and film music. 

“Film music is a big one because, you know, it’s made to shove your emotions around. And we thought well, why haven’t we seen that in pop, especially in the year of our Lord 2024. It’s like there were big pop instrumental hits, but I think the last big one was probably 50 years old, right?” the duo said.

Commenting more on how their sound came to be,  Li talked about how moving to Calgary allowed her to explore improvisation, which felt liberating compared to her training in classical music. 

“I feel like it also fits my personality so much better, because I’m just like a free-spirited kind of person, spontaneous, I like to live in the moment,” said Li. 

The duo played in two workshop sessions for this year’s Folk Festival and the impromptu “jam-like” nature of the sessions was reflected in the band noting it was uncharted territory for them. 

Tse talked about how both sessions were representative of their respective styles. The Surf and Turf session felt structured and more produced, giving Tse the opportunity to become a conductor with his background in production. Doing his research before about the bands performing so Tse could understand what the artists’ wheelhouse is, he proposed that one of the bands cover “Heart of Glass”. 

“Once we proposed it, [the other artist] was like ‘I don’t know why I haven’t covered that song,’” Li continued. 

Surf and Turf and Fantasia were two of the most fun workshops at this year’s Folk Festival, both showcased the duo’s ability to collaborate with artists that they have never worked with and do so with exceptional synergy.

Ginger Beef’s merch stands out as much as their music does. Some of the most beautiful merch in the festival’s merch tent was theirs. The album cover art was designed by Jarret Lee Sitter (@deepcuts on Instagram) based on a list of things the duo wanted on their cover. Talking about the nature of the Calgary music scene, Li noted how it’s a small scene and everyone knows everyone. 

“The best thing for us, to thrive, is to support each other, and for artists to root for each other,” said Li.

Finishing off, the duo reflected on how the community has shaped their relationship with music. 

“It’s the community that made it all happen,” said Tse. “They heard it, they loved it and they asked, where’s the rest of the music? So then we had to make more music, and then every step along the way, [the] community helped pull us along.”

Ginger Beef is one of Calgary’s finest and loveliest musicians, and their sets at this year’s Folk Festival were a special highlight through the lineup. More about Ginger Beef can be found on their website.