Canadian matriarch of the blues and veritable musical force of nature Dalannah takes an optimistic, introspective, and encouraging “Look Ahead” with her latest single and video.
“This song is an invitation and a reminder for us all as ‘stewards of the land’ to ensure we walk consciously and conscientiously in regard to Mother Earth and all living things,” Dalannah said. “The current climate in regards to Mother Earth is a sign that we must be aware of the damage we are causing; waters are receding and flooding, ancient icebergs are melting.
“We have entered a crucial time in our relationship to Mother Earth, and it is our responsibility to be active in ‘changing the tide.’ We cannot be idle in our daily practices. I encourage everyone to act with consideration and be an example of the positive and good way to respect the environment and all living things. We must carry the torch of respect for Mother Earth.
“As Chief Dan George says, ‘We are as much alive as we keep the earth alive.’”
The song is the latest to come from Dalannah’s fifth and most recent studio album, Looking Back, out via Quest Records and with support from Creative BC and the Province of British Columbia.
“There has always been an underlying theme for my recordings,” she added. “For Looking Back, I woke up one morning and knew I still had something to say musically at this crucial time. The more I thought about it, I knew that it was — and is — the undeniable fact that we need to take a good look at how we walk on Mother Earth…
“A good look at how we ‘be.’
“One of the basic hereditary teachings and beliefs of our tribal Indigenous communities is that we are not just casual visitors on this planet,”said Dalannah, who is of African-Canadian and Cherokee heritage. “We are the current generation of ancestral caretakers who must see that the needs of our children and their children’s children are not squandered, but harvested and shared and replenished for their use.
“As I was looking back on my life and its successes and failures to write songs for this album, I realized my worst times came from self-indulgence and a lack of concern or awareness of my personal footprints and behaviours in life and how they effected others,” she recalled. “But also my best and most rewarding experiences were those that required giving, sharing, loving, and caring.
“For example,” she continued, “the era of my ‘hippie’ years with protests against war, nuclear power, pollution, and injustices, there was camaraderie in fighting for a just cause; that has become a sustaining purpose in my life and will remain so as I look Ahead.”
HI, MY name is Dalannah Gail Bowen and I am writing to find out if there is an opportunity to share my music with Roots Music for a stream concert for your audience. in peace, Dalannah Gail Bowen
http://www.dalannah.com
Hi Dalannah,
What did you have in mind? Free? Ticketed? Time frame?
HI Heather,
Thanks for the response.
First, I would like to suggest it is by donation or free as some people are struggling and I don’t want to exclude anyone.
Possibility
…We could share it early in the new year to ride the positive response wave of how the music of LOOKING BACK is being received.
Questions:
Does Roots Music have a budget?
Does Roots Music have a timeline to adhere to?
Thanks for your interest
in peace, Dalannah
Hi Dalannah,
Notwithstanding your publicist’s suggestion that we take this private, I’m going to answer you here so other artists with the same questions can see the answers.
So Roots Music Canada has the technology to host ticketed live streams on our web site. We can also host streams that are password protected (ie: you can give the password to people who have donated, either through your site or through ours), and obviously, we can host streams that are free and post a donation button.
At this point, Roots Music Canada can loan our technology to artists who want to use it, but we don’t profess to be concert promoters and we don’t have a budget for presenting shows. We may experiment with promoting a small concert series later this winter, depending on feedback from artists and readers, but those would have to be ticketed, play-for-the-door affairs, which we would simply put our volunteer resources into promoting. For the time being, though, our site is essentially a venue, and an artist using it would be responsible for self-promoting. As for timelines, it’s just a matter of finding availability when we’ve got volunteers available to provide tech support.
If you are looking to team up with a promoter, Sidedoor has a much more sophisticated platform than ours that allows artists to divert a per centage of revenue to a promoter who would take on the task of promoting the show. Again though, the deals don’t come with guarantees.
I hope that provides some clarification.