Music Review- Whisper in Your Ear

Photo by: Christine McFarlane

Music Review: Whisper In Your Ear

By: Christine McFarlane

Bio:

Sarah DeCarlo is an artist from the Peterborough area with roots in the Ojibwa Nation. She is a filmmaker, singer/songwriter and performer. Her film works have been screened at festivals across Canada and her music has been featured on APTN and Spirit Magazine. Sarah has worked advocating arts with youth in communities in Ontario, Quebec and across Canada.

After hearing Sarah DeCarlo perform at the Red Revue during PlanetIndigenUS, I wanted to do a quick review of her work. Sarah DeCarlo released her first album "Whisper In Your Ear" in June 2012.
It's a mix of tunes that are a celebration of life stories, experiences and travels from across Canada, and  it is music that is a mash up of rock, punk, folk, country and pop with a bit of something for everyone.

Songs such as “Whisper in your Ear” “Everybody Wants Something,” “Jesus Died,” show the diversity in her singing and songwriting abilities; with many a song being upbeat catchy tunes that move across a spectrum of emotions and intensity.

I am a picky music listener, but I can honestly say that I hope to hear more of Sarah DeCarlo and her music in the years to come!

Sarah DeCarlo can be found on myspace at www.myspace.com/sarahdecarlo and on Facebook. 

91st Warrior's Day Parade

 All Photos By: Christine McFarlane

91st Warrior's Day Parade

On Saturday August 18, 2012 the 91st Annual Warrior's Day Parade took place at the Canadian National Exhibition. More than 2,500 Veterans and currently serving members of the Canadian Forces marched into the Exhibition Place through the historic Princes' Gates and along the magnificent Princes' Boulevard to the sounds of military bands and cheering crowds.

Established in 1921, the Warrior's Day Parade is the longest running Veteran's parade in the free world and offered a unique opportunity to honour and pay tribute to our Veterans and the men and women of the Canadian Forces. It is also an opportunity to remember those brave men and women who gave their lives in the defence of Canada.

2012 marks the Bi-centennial of the War of 1812. The ground upon which the Warrior's Day Parade takes place witnessed on April 27, 1813, one of the bloodiest episodes of the war, the Battle of York, which began with an American advance upon the town of York just west of present day Exhibition Place and advanced eastward through what is now the CNE midway to Fort York.

"We remember all those who lost their lives during the War of 1812"

Chi miigwetch to our Veterans

Help Save the Aboriginal Arts Training and Mentorship Program

An Open Appeal from Renowned Author Lee Maracle:

There is a program in Winnipeg, Manitoba called the Aboriginal Arts Training and Mentorship Program (AAMTP) that serves the most underprivileged demographic in Winnipeg-Aboriginal children. I have witnessed AAMTP’s work with these children. Under the direction of Columpa Bobb, Artistic Director, they alongside veteran writers developed the play for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Launch in Winnipeg, Manitoba. (for a clip from the Moving Gallery follow this link: http://www.cbc.ca/manitoba/scene/other/2012/05/31/columpa-c-bobb/.)

At AATMP these young children acquire writing skills, performance arts skills, video and film making skills and are transformed from being underprivileged victims into children and youth who are confident and powerful good citizens. Unlike many programs for children, this one is free. The children of the North End in Winnipeg cannot afford tuition or even bus fares. Cultural Connection for Aboriginal Youth funds about half the cost of the program. These funds connected to Cultural Connection for Aboriginal Youth are in jeopardy. This means Aboriginal Arts Training and Mentorship is at risk of closing its doors, unless we can raise enough bridge funding. Manitoba Theatre for Young People cannot bridge the gap while the funds are up in the air. For CBC interview with Columpa Bobb regarding the freeze, follow this link: http://www.cbc.ca/player/Radio/Local+Shows/Manitoba/Information+Radio+-+MB/ID/2255434978/?sort=MostRecent)

Desperate for their program two of the children tried to help save it: “There was a beautiful little moment when two young girls from a grade 5 and 6 class held a little bake sale and raised $130.00 to try and save their program.” (Columpa Bobb, Artistic Director, AATMP) If our kids can do that, surely we can do something too.

I know some people. Some of you are close friends, some are family, some are colleagues, some I barely know, some have money, most don’t, but all of you have heart and so I am asking each of you to send $25.00 to Aboriginal Arts Training and Mentorship Program and send this appeal to two friends to keep the doors to the program open in the fall. I want my readership, those who have told me “they feel so inspired, empowered by my work”, to contribute as well. Our children need the empowerment and inspiration of Aboriginal Arts Training and Mentoring Program. Please send a note of well-wishing for our children to Columpa C. Bobb, Artistic Director, and send your cheque or money order to:

Aboriginal Arts Training and Mentorship Program

195 Young Street

Winnipeg, Manitoba

R3C 3S8

Lee Maracle

Music Review- Interwoven Roots

(Shy-Anne Hovorka- Photo By: Christine McFarlane)

Bio of Shy-Anne Hovorka

Shy-Anne is an award-winning songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and performer from Northwestern Ontario who began singing at the age of three and has been performing on stage since, she was nine years old.  Shy-Anne is a natural born performer whose talents shine in multiple genres.

Interwoven Roots is her third album and was released on June 25th 2012, in conjunction with the debut video release for one of the albums single releases, called "The Glue".


Review By: Christine McFarlane

Shy-Anne's 3rd album "Interwoven Roots"  is an amazing blend of country and pop music rolled into one. The 13 track album features many artists besides Horvoka which includes Grammy Award winning Native Flutist Bill Miller, hip hop artist, Coleman Hell and up and coming youth singer Christine Arnold.

Interwoven Roots starts with an almost slow melodic tune "Birch, Cedar, Spruce" which speaks about the three specific trees- birch, cedar and spruce that Horvoka witnessed growing from one root. The lyrics

"We may be all different, but we're all the same

Every seed sown from a common grain"

speaks to the interconnectedness that Aboriginal peoples are taught to believe in, and reminds the listener of the importance of leaning on each other and how we're never really alone, because our spirits stay together forever.

Another song that spoke to me was "The Glue" which is another song that shows testament to the strength and love we can experience as individuals and together. I particularly like the lyrics and how Horvoka sings

 "Another  day on this crazy road, sometimes i guess we both don't know

where this little love is going

sometimes it isn't showing

 anything at all

love can be like learning how to dance

you take two steps forward

and I'll take two back

and then we stumble on each other

and maybe even smother

this gracefulness"

Further along in the song, the listener is grabbed by the imagery of a canoe that Horvoka sings about and how it is the journey within the canoe, the love, the hard times and the tears we experience in love that help make us stronger and it is how

"we do what we love and it becomes the glue"

Though Shy-Anne Hovorka has been singing for years, I have only known about her and her music in the last couple of years, and the first time I heard her sing live was when she sang at the AFN AGA Welcome Concert at the Harbourfront Centre on the WestJet Stage on July 18, 2012.

All the songs on "Interwoven Roots" have a bit of something for everyone- for the young to the old and catchy songs like "The Glue" "Super Star" and "Summer Fling" will have you singing too.

Shy-Anne Horvoka is up for 6 Awards with the Aboriginal People's Choice Awards. Please vote for her for the following:

Entertainer of the Year
Best Produced (produced by Shy-Anne Horvoka and Jerry Vandiver and a couple of songs by Rob Bie)
Single of the Year (The Glue)
Best Country Album
Best Music Video (Too Young, Too Late: featuring Christine Arnold)
Best Album Design (artwork by Silver Suggashie and Liane Ross-Buckler)

Follow the below steps to cast your vote:

1. Returning voters www.aboriginalpeopleschoice.com (get your original email and password, sign in and vote…)

2. New Voters! ( a.) Click on 'Sign Up' if you are new to voting ( b.) You will receive a PIN # and Password in the email account inbox that you entered in the signup form (c.) Go back to www.aboriginalpeopleschoice.com and click on 'Log In' and type in your PIN and Password and then you're good to vote. Note: check junk mail if you don’t receive email.

To find out more about Shy-Anne Horvoka- please visit her website at http://shy-anne.com and to obtain a copy of "Interwoven Roots" please go to the website http://www.cdbaby.com

Poem- Until We Meet Again

By: Christine McFarlane

My heart

beats faster

when I think of you

I think of your smile

and how it made me

feel alive

and want to

 smile too

I remember your laugh

and how we laughed 

together

The moments 

we had

that only the two of us

could understand

There are memories

I can never erase

I wish

you were here

On this earthly plane

but you're long gone

Its been eight years

that's hard to believe

 but you're never far

from my mind

or thoughts

 You

are forever

 etched

into my heart

and memory

Until 

we meet again

A Short Story-Its Good To Dream

It’s Good to Dream:

By: Christine McFarlane

I’m bored. I’m sitting at my desk, staring at the word document I have opened before me. I’ve been here for an hour and the words are not forming like I would like them to. Except for the occasional hum from my refrigerator, or the creaking sound that comes from the chair I am sitting in, all is quiet.

To break the silence, I decide its time for some music. Leaning over, and my eyes squinting, my fingers tap the music icon on my laptop screen. My library opens and my eyes swiftly go down the list I have compiled over the years. I wonder what type of music I should listen to. My music tastes are eclectic-sappy love songs, like Air Supply’s “All Out of Love,” or Patty Smyth’s “Sometimes Love is Not Enough,” to songs like “I Am I” by Queensryche, to “The Unforgiven” by Metallica, and then back to ABBA songs like “I Have A Dream,” “Supertrouper,” and “Dancing Queen.”

The music I play depends on the mood I am in; today I don’t know what I feel like. My finger hits the play button. I forget that the last time I was checking out songs on my computer, that I had cranked up the volume. I’m almost blown out of my chair when the song by Queen blasts out of the cheap speakers attached to my laptop.

“We are the champions, no time for losers because we are the champions”

I pretend that I have a microphone in hand and kick back my chair and jump up to sing to the crowd. I get right into the beat of the music, swinging my arms, shaking my head, as I lip sync

“We are the champions, no time for losers because we are the champions”

My reverie is broken by the shrill ring of my phone

Ring…..Ring…Ring…

“Hello?” I yell into my cell phone.

Mumbled words come through my phone.

“Pardon me?” I yell

It’s my landlord. Oh crap! Forgetting that his store is right above me, I hear him say

“Please turn down your music! Your neighbors are complaining!”

“Yes sir” I yell back.

My dream of being a rock singer is shattered, as I am brought back to the reality that I’m just a writer diverting from the task at hand. Writing an article that is due in two hours.

Ah, its good to dream though.

16 Blogging Tips For Writing Fresh Content & Attracting Readers

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