Words & Photo Denis Donnelly
Our friends south of the border are proud of their “Great American Songbook,” but we in Wavelengths Community Choir are saying “hold on a minute!” In Canada we have an amazing tradition of musicians, singers and songwriters that do not for a minute take a back seat to any other songwriting tradition, and it’s time to wave our Canadian musical flag!
Canada punches way above its weight in our rich tradition of songwriters! The musicians who came out of the 1960s – like Joni Mitchell, Gordon Lightfoot, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young, Bruce Cockburn, Gilles Vigneault and Stan Rogers – elevated Canada to a position in the global cultural ecosystem far above what Gwould be expected from our population numbers. And there are so many artists who have come along since then, like Sarah McLachlan, Alanis Morissette, Bryan Adams, Shania Twain, and, of course, Raffi. And this is not even to mention the groups and bands like BTO, Harmonium, Blue Rodeo, The Tragically Hip, Great Big Sea, Rush, Barenaked Ladies, The McGarrigles, Spirit of the West and many others who have made waves internationally with their music.
Of course, in reading this article you might be thinking, “But what about ?! You left out !” And isn’t that a beautiful thing! It turns out that we Canadians do get a bit passionate about our music! We all carry the music of our favourite artists and bands that accompanied us through the various stages of our lives.
As the choir director (at left), I had a difficult time making choices for this concert to reflect different genres, decades, regions, ethnic backgrounds and other factors. I wanted musical touchstones for everyone – our audience as well as my choir members. I have included some of my own favourites from our unbelievably rich store of Canadian songs, but I have also discovered songs that I might not otherwise have considered, and now they resonate with me as lovely new discoveries.
It seems we develop a two-way conversational relationship with the songs we love – they help to define us, and our love for them helps to define Canada. Our Canadian musical landscape is as rich, textured and varied as the landscapes under our feet. We can never know all of either of them, but by dropping in here and there we can taste a bit of what it means to be Canadian in this beautiful and evolving country.
Wavelengths Community Choir presents “The Great Canadian Songbook” at the Mary Winspear Centre in Sidney on June 27 and 28.
www.wavelengthschoir.ca
