Jun 24, 2010
Return to C.R. Marchant

Well, today was the big day!
After three intensive weeks of creative work, the students of C.R. Marchant Middle School in Weston celebrated the results of the project we launched with them around the Six String Nation project back at the end of may - thanks to Mariposa in the Schools, Inner City Angels and the Department of Canadian Heritage.

Songwriter Chris Rawlings brought up each of the grade 6, 7 and 8s in turn to perform with him the songs they co-wrote based on traditional Quebecois forms. I had no idea the students would capture the story of Voyageur so completely. I expected perhaps a mention or two but each of the songs went into detail about stories in the guitar and expanded them with their own stories. Absolutely amazing.

And after the assembly, we went on a tour of the new mural painted by artist Allycia Uccello and a team of students. Absolutely extraordinary. Voyageur is depicted prominently on the first floor and as you go up the three storeys of the school, stories from within the elements of the guitar mix with other stories from Canadian history and from the history of the school. I feel truly honoured by this work. Congratulations to everyone involved for doing such a great job.

Thank you so much to Dolores Anderson from Mariposa in the Schools, Jane Baker from Inner City Angels, Chris Rawlings, Allycia Uccello, Principal Roula Skordakis, Vice Principal Robin White and the staff and students of C.R. Marchant Middle School.

Posted at 6:19 PM

Jun 23, 2010
Meeting a Canadian Legend

Back when Voyageur was just a glint in my eye, I was working at Harbourfront Centre in Toronto. One day, we were doing a show with songwriting legend Buffy Sainte-Marie. I was telling her road manager about the Six String Nation idea and he was very enthused. He disappeared into the dressing room and a few minutes later, Buffy emerged and came up to me and said: "Are you the guy with this guitar idea?". She loved it and agreed to let me use her name on my letterhead as an Honorary Patron. I kept her abreast of progress on the project over the years and she wrote me a few encouraging emails now and then. But I never managed to connect with her once the guitar was completed. Until tonight.

Laura Archibald is a Waterloo-based filmmaker currently in production on a documentary about the heyday of New York's Greenwich Village. Buffy had agreed to do an interview for the film during a stopover in Brantford Ontario near Six Nations. Laura had contacted me a while ago about Six String Nation and invited me to bring the guitar to the interview as a bit of a surprise. It took a little while to remind Buffy about all the details but she was absolutely amazing to listen to in the interview and extremely generous with her time. At the end of the interview, I gave her a tour of Voyageur and we finally got it into her hands.

Thanks to Buffy Sainte-Marie, Laura Archibald and her crew. Special thanks to Sarah Gillett for the great photo of Buffy.

Posted at 10:59 PM

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