Anna Gutmanis

Karen Kane passed away on March 7, 2024, just before International Women's Day. It is fitting that her legacy will be forever attached to Women's History Month. Karen audaciously became an audio engineer and music producer at a time when women were shut out of those aspects of the music business. When I returned to music in 2007 after a 15-year hiatus, Karen was the only producer I wanted to record with. I deeply admired her work - after all, she'd recorded with people like Tracy Chapman and Janis Ian. Karen wound up producing several singles and a full-length album for me over the years, and I am very proud of all the music we recorded together. The making of Glimmer In the Dark was a particularly wonderful, magical experience that I'll always cherish. I'd like to think that the Carolina Music Awards Producer of the Year statuette she took home the following year was partly due to her great work on Glimmer.

Right now, I can't quite believe that she's gone, and in a big way, she IS still with us because of the music. But Rock and Roll Heaven also has a new denizen. Karen, I hear that the music up there is great, and I hope you're enjoying it.

Some of you have been writing to ask when I'll drop a new song, and I thank you for your enthusiasm! Rest assured that my muse has been quite active. As an indie artist of limited financial means, I am not yet ready to go back into the studio. But this morning, it occurred to me that I DO have one unheard, professionally-recorded song I can share. Are you ready for a nostalgic trip back to the 90s? My 1992 song "Lesson in Love" was actually a co-write lyrically, the first time I'd done that. The producer with whom I was working at the time wanted to turn my song "Heartbreak" into something more commercial-sounding, and he suggested that we re-write the lyrics together. I hesitated, but became enthused upon hearing who would contribute tracks to the refurbished tune: Debbie Johnson (background vocals) and Don Breithaupt (keyboards). Debbie was a pioneer on the Canadian R & B scene, receiving 6 Juno Award nominations over the course of her career; Don was a rising star, going on to win an Emmy for his work. Listening to "Lesson" for the first time in MANY years, I still deeply appreciate Debbie's gorgeous singing and Don's lovely keyboard solo. "Lesson in Love" received a FACTOR Grant and was included on the FACTOR - A Compilation Of New Canadian Talent 1993 CD. I hope that you enjoy the time-travelling experience of having a listen!

A major music career milestone is coming up for me next month: the 40th anniversary of my first multi-instrument demo recording, "Empire". In January 1984, I was working as a waitress in a .... creperie (not a cocktail bar, thank you Human League), where I'd met a couple of talented singer/songwriter/musicians. Chuck and Andrew formed the core of L'étranger, a socially-conscious Canadian punk rock band. I knew through their song lyrics and activism that both guys shared my concerns about sexism and anti-Black racism, and that all members of the band would lay down strong tracks for the song. The verses of "Empire" told about the ways in which the everyday lives of Black Canadian women are impacted by discrimination, harassment and outright hatred. The chorus made the case that Empire has been built on the bones and blood of people of colour.

I am proud that I wrote and recorded this song 4 decades ago, before the ensuing waves of scholarship on colonialism, institutionalized racism, and intersectionality. Needless to say, circulation of the demo to record companies did not result in any offers. But campus radio liked "Empire", and it charted at stations across my home province of Ontario.

I really and truly wish that the song were not still relevant today, but sadly, it is. I re-released "Empire" in 2017 as an mp3 because it needed to be heard again by a new generation. Please enjoy the video, which contains photos and concert posters from the early part of my music career!

The people who continue to benefit from empire built on bones and blood are pulling out all the stops these days to minimize and even deny the truth. Don't believe those people. When they ban books, seek out those books and read them. And listen to artists who have always told the truth about empire, like Stevie Wonder, Mavis Staples, and Faith Nolan. You'll be energized for the coming year!

In October 1989, I released my eponymous debut album with a live acoustic performance at a small but legendary Toronto music venue. One of the albums I'd been listening to before the concert was Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814. A few days after my concert - on this very date, October 23rd - Janet's team released Rhythm Nation as a single. I was thrilled! Here was Janet calling out racism and social injustice, making people think while she made them dance. As an indie artist making my debut, I'd opted not to put my political tunes on the Anna Gutmanis album in the hopes of getting airplay across Canada. I got my cross-country airplay, helped by the single Then Came You, but I didn't get the breakout stardom I'd hoped for. Janet, on the other hand, released seven singles from Rhythm Nation 1814 and all of them hit top five on the Billboard Hot 100. Even her brother Michael could never equal that feat.

None of this is to imply that putting a political tune or two on my debut album would have made me famous. After all, the challenges facing a debuting indie Canadian musician are very different from the challenges facing an already-famous American artist, no matter the era. I used to half-joke that, to be female and a pop star in Canada, your initials had to be AM, not AG (think Anne Murray, Alannah Myles, Alanis Morissette)!

I do believe, though, that audiences respond to music that is passionately written, recorded, and performed. And since recording my debut album, I have not shied away from speaking my mind musically. I am proud to have released I am who I am, Another Way Out and Inspire, which speak to the prejudices (and joys!) experienced by LGBTQ+ folks; proud to have released People (Got To Get It Together), urging citizens to rise up against brutal oppression; proud to have released Middle Of The Line, telling the story of women who perform endless unpaid household labour caring for children and aging parents; proud to have released - with Artists 4 Racial Equality - Breonna, a memorial tribute to Breonna Taylor and a plea to end police violence against Black citizens.

I have a treasure trove of songs that have not yet been recorded in the studio, songs about climate change, animal rescue, homelessness - and also about love. As my greatest singer/songwriter hero Laura Nyro said, “I don’t accept limitations. I can use whatever I want to in my work. And that, to me, is freedom." Time and circumstances will tell how many of my treasure trove tunes get recorded and released. In the mean time, I cherish you, dear music lover, and I thank you for being a part of my journey so far!

I see that my song "People (Got To Get It Together)", released over a dozen years ago, has been enjoying a resurgence of late. This makes me very happy. The tune urges people to organize and protest when the wealthy steal from the poor and mistreat the earth. Recent events in my home province of Ontario have shown that when enough people and members of the press get upset about democracy turning to kleptocracy, meaningful change can happen. Thanks to near-constant protesting and reporting, a harmful provincial government decision to give thousands of acres of The Greenbelt to greedy developers has been halted. The protected area containing green space, farmland, forests, wetlands, and watersheds will now continue to clean our air and water, reduce flood risk, provide a home for wildlife (including many endangered species) and grow our food.

Ontarians who care about the well-being of others are also in the process of fighting for continued public health care. A recent citizen referendum saw 99% of voters cast a ballot against privatization of our public hospitals. Tomorrow (Monday September 25th), thousands of us will descend upon the provincial legislature to demand an end to privatization, and the scandal-plagued, unpopular government will have to take notice. Canada's Founder of Medicare Tommy Douglas famously stated "unless those of us who believe in Medicare raise our voices in no uncertain terms, unless we arouse our neighbours and our friends and our communities, we are sounding the death knell of Medicare in this country". I agree, Tommy, and I say "People got to get it together / People got to fight". We will fight that good fight and WE WILL WIN!

I recently experienced both an emotional and a physical injury in rapid succession, so I've been thinking about songs that heal. A few days before all of this went down, a song that I hadn't thought about in a long time popped into my head: "Healing, Part 1" by Todd Rundgren. This tune has been one of my favourites since I first heard it over 4 decades ago. It was not released as a single from Todd's 1981 album Healing, and so folks who are not TR fans likely do not know it. Listening to the tune today, it sure holds up. And I've happily re-discovered "Healing, Part 2" and part 3. The lyrics are profound and beautiful. Todd takes the listener on a journey during which she discovers eternal inner strength and peace that she can access during times of trouble. Then, she can become - or resume being - a guiding light for others. Thank you Todd. May we all work toward healing ourselves and shining our light.

Laura Nyro's song "And When I Die" has been giving me a lot of comfort as we continue to lose so many musical greats. The chorus of Nyro's song goes: "And when I die / And when I'm gone / There'll be one child born / And a world to carry on". As I think about Tina Turner's amazing legacy, I wonder who was born on the day that Tina passed away. Somewhere in the world, is there now a child who will become one of the greatest live performers of all time? Was there a child born on May 24th who will speak out against intimate partner abuse, become a role model for women over the age of 40, and be a great ally to the LGBTQ2S+ community? The world could really use more people like that.

The most commercially successful cover version of "And When I Die" was recorded and released in 1969 by Blood, Sweat & Tears. The band's rendition of Nyro's song was a huge international hit. Fronted by Canadian David Clayton-Thomas, Blood, Sweat & Tears had a strong connection to Laura. "Laura used to come to our rehearsals and hang out. Sometimes she'd bring a pizza to the rehearsal place - we were just all pals, and we knew Laura's songs. Even before she got her recording career launched, she was one of the inner circle of people we hung out with" recalls Clayton-Thomas.

So imagine my joy after the "Lately It's Cold" recording sessions when I discovered that Clayton-Thomas also chose to record at Toronto's Number 9 studios. My producer Karen Kane and I were invited to sign the big wall piano at the studio, and half a year later, David Clayton-Thomas' autograph was inscribed close to mine. When I went back to Number 9 to celebrate the Global Music Award I won for "Lately", I had my photo taken in front of that priceless wall piano. I wonder who will add their indelible signature in the future? It may well be someone born on May 24th, 2023.

During my youth, there were a number of enchanting and irresistible songs that I played over and over again, driving family members and roommates to distraction. One of those songs was "Something Very Special" by Gordon Lightfoot. To me, that tune is the "Bolero" of pop/folk music, utterly mesmerizing the listener. The Canadian singing songwriting legend passed away yesterday in Toronto, and I feel the loss. I'm also still mourning the death of Harry Belafonte, and the loss of Gordon so soon afterward feels like a cruel blow to the music world. Harry was among the artists who covered Gordon's brilliant songs. I can just imagine the musical electricity in the room When Harry Met Gordon in 1967, and I have tried to depict that here.

The closest I ever came to meeting Gordon Lightfoot was in 2013. To prepare for my February 2014 showcase gig at Jane Harbury's "Discoveries", I attended the fall "Discoveries" at Toronto's legendary Hugh's Room. One of the musicians performing that night was Meredith Moon. I did not know it at the time, but Moon is Gordon's daughter, and Gordon was in the audience cheering her on. You want to be very careful about sharing air these days, but I am grateful to have shared some pre-pandemic air with Gordon. And his beautiful music will live forever, as will Harry Belafonte's. Enjoy Harry performing his version of Gordon's "Song for a Winter's Night".

For those of you who are familiar with my 2012 album Glimmer In The Dark, you'll know that I have great love and respect for felines. When I picked up the Glimmer CDs from the manufacturer 11 years ago, I cried tears of pride and joy - not for my own work, but for the beautiful album cover and lyric booklet featuring photos of my cat Bliss. His incredible patience during the hour-and-a-half-long album photo session yielded such beautiful results. My producer Karen Kane and I even gave him his own vocal track on the album, a soulful a cappella lament aptly named The Voice of Bliss. My beloved boy crossed the Rainbow Bridge 3 years later, and I continue to draw great comfort from the way he has been memorialized.

Many other MEWsicians share my great love and respect for cats, including one of my earliest and biggest songwriting influences, Mr. Billy Joel. As a teen-aged fan girl, I learned through Billy's Root Beer Rag newsletter that he loves cats, and that he had a cat named Claws at that time. Like me, Billy has contributed to cat rescue work. While my work has involved cat adoption counseling and driving, Billy gave a great deal of money to the cat rescue program at Beth Stern's North Shore Animal League. The league now has two Billy Joel-themed Cat Rooms. The “Piano Cat” room features a piano focal point that is both a cat climber and a working piano. (Note: like me, Billy is a fan of Nora The Piano Cat, and once sent her a photo autographed "To the Piano Cat from the Piano Man"). The “New York State of Mind” room sports cat-sized replicas of the Brooklyn Bridge, the Yankee Stadium facade, and Empire State Building.

So here's to cats and the MEWsicians and other folks who love them! We hope you're FELINE FINE today >^^<

You can count me among the people who celebrate Black history 365 days a year, but I do mark the importance of the month of February in particular. Today I'd like to introduce you to a Living Legend, Canadian First Lady of Jazz Eleanor Collins. Born in Edmonton in 1919, Eleanor won a local talent contest at the age of 15. Three years later, she moved to Vancouver to form the Swing Low Quartette, which was often featured on CBC Radio. CBC Television later invited her to star in The Eleanor Show (1955), making her the first Black TV host in North America. Comparisons to Ella Fitzgerald and offers to tour and record in the United States soon followed, but Eleanor chose to remain in Canada. Lucky for us! She was named to the Order of Canada in 2014, and last year, Canada Post issued a stamp in her honour.

As I watch a CBC News tribute that debuted on her 100th birthday 3 years ago, I am struck by Eleanor's boundless energy, joy, and gratitude. In turn, I am grateful to celebrate her stunning talent and accomplishments. Please enjoy her 1965 rendition of Lullaby of Birdland and become a fan!

I can't help but think of the opening words from "A Tale of Two Cities" as I write this year-end news email: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." On the one hand, I am devastated by the continuation of the pandemic and the human greed, cruelty, apathy and foolishness it has amplified; on the other hand, 2022 has been such a wonderful year for me musically. To date, "Breonna", the video containing the song by Artists 4 Racial Equality, has been a part of 18 film / film award festivals across 5 continents (Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America), and we have now won 8 awards. To know that people around the world are moved by our tribute to Breonna Taylor and our plea to end white supremacy means a lot.

But here comes the worst of times part: I have not performed live since March 2020. This was inevitable given the fact that I come from a medical family and keep up with current scientific knowledge about the coronavirus. My fellow Canadian musician Cadence Weapon states that musicians are risking our lives every night when we go on tour, given that venue safety standards are either severely lacking or non-existent. American indie band Superchunk goes further in their observations: “When the band are the only masked people in the venue, it’s clear that this stage of the pandemic is going to be around for awhile.”

However, there is an upside to performing live far less often. Decades before the pandemic hit, legendary musicians like Kate Bush and Steely Dan gave up all or most live performance opportunities to concentrate on recording and other projects. I can't even imagine my record collection without their stellar contributions, LPs that would not have been made had the artists been forced to tour.

What kind of recordings are in my future I can't yet say, but I do know that I've done some of my finest writing during the pandemic. A big thanks to those of you who kindly reach out to me asking about new material. There's plenty of it, but how and when it gets recorded has yet to be determined.

Please remember to spread joy, celebrate the New Year safely, and listen to great music!

Hugs,
Anna

Only one month to go until Christmas! Last year at this time, I was asking myself: why do societies across time and space seem to have such a problem with carpenters who try to help people? Just over 2022 years ago, the parents of a certain carpenter-to-be weren't able to find a place to sleep in Bethlehem, and we all know how his efforts to help people 3 decades later were received by the authorities. One year ago, another carpenter who built tiny houses for homeless folks on the other side of the pond was forced to stop when the City of Toronto filed a court injunction against him. Let it be known - I have huge admiration for Khaleel Seivwright and his work, which continues in a slightly different form.

So what does all of this have to do with music? For starters, Khaleel himself is a musician. Two years ago, when the first pandemic winter was raging and vaccines were not yet available, over 400 musicians (including me) formed an Ad Hoc group called Musicians Against Encampment Evictions and signed on to a letter opposing these evictions in Toronto. As our letter stated, "The shelter system is at capacity, and yet more people are being evicted from their housing every day. Now the city is asking some people to make an impossible choice: Go inside and risk dying of COVID in an unsafe emergency shelter or stay outside and freeze to death." Sadly, nothing has changed over the past two years; things have actually gotten worse. As The Shelter and Housing Justice Network recently wrote, "Accessing emergency shelter is now nearly impossible". Almost 150 people died on the street in Toronto in 2020, and that number rose to well over 200 last year.

It's always so much easier to tear something down than it is to build something from the ground up, but people like Khaleel can't even imagine giving in to selfishness and destruction. Here's hoping that the next carpenter who tries to make all of our lives better is treated with respect and admiration.