Pamela Jane Gerrand
Stratford, Ontario, Canada | Established. Jan 01, 2001 | INDIE | AFTRA
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Wise and good things take time.
That's what Stratford singer-songwriter Pamela Gerrand tells people when she talks about the "epic journey" behind her new album, The Sound of the Dove.
"It's been a birth. It just really feels like this incredible gestation," she said in an interview this week as she prepared for a CD release tour that kicks off later this month.
Gerrand spent more than two years recording the album, starting in Toronto, restarting in Wisconsin, and then moving to a Niagara- area studio where things finally came together.
Like Goldilocks, she was selective.
The first two producers didn't quite fit with the direction she wanted the record to take, she said.
The third, Mark Lalama, was just right.
"He was so invested in this being an honest and true reflection of me as an artist," said Gerrand.
Lalama, who spent several years as the Canadian Idol piano man and coach, recognized the need for The Sound of the Dove to be an extremely personal collection of songs, she noted.
Together with a "cream-of-the-crop" group of musicians that also included Kevin Breit, Davide Direnzo and Rich Moore, they wove "a most amazing alchemy" that elevated each of the 11 poetic folk-pop tracks on the album.
The songs themselves had a voice of their own, said Gerrand.
"With this record, I've really come to understand that it wasn't about how I wanted the music to be," she said. "It was how the music wanted me to be."
The creative process was about the need, in short, to let go.
That's also the title of one of the songs added to The Sound of the Dove at the 11th hour, and the theme for the album as a whole.
"It really is about surrender," said Gerrand. "We're shaped by the challenges in our life, but when we just let go of that white-knuckle ride, and enjoy the process and enjoy life, the sun comes out and it all of a sudden gets a lot sweeter."
Still, the dove of the title track is significant, and dovetails nicely with Gerrand's deep-rooted belief in the transformational power of music.
That's something she'll explore further in a pair of Forum events at the Stratford Festival July 6 and 7 -Into the Void: Songs and Poems to Light the Lamp of the Heart, and Music as Medicine for Body, Mind and Soul -with Emmy Award-winning composer and speaker Gary Malkin.
"We live in a chaotic, turbulent world right now, and for me, music is a place of solace, and it's a place where we can go to find peace and connection," said Gerrand. "And that, to me, is what the dove represents."
The Sound of the Dove, her third album, is also her most personal, she noted.
The opening track, Prairie Sky, reflects Gerrand's roots, growing up in Regina, Sask.
Unadorned, a song about unconditional love, is a tribute to her dog Henry.
Some songs touch on the spiritual (The Buddha Smiles), and some on the environment and social justice (Enough Already).
And there's an absolutely haunting rendition of the traditional Yorkshire ballad Scarborough Fair.
"It feels like the most authentic record I've ever done," said Gerrand.
Her CD launch tour for The Sound of the Dove kicks off May 29 at the Guelph Youth Music Centre, followed by a performance at Factory 163 in Stratford May 30. It continues at the Aeolian Hall in London June 7 and Hugh's Room in Toronto June 11.
Gerrand said she's particularly looking forward to the show in her home community, where she has been "so supported and encouraged and blessed."
Advance tickets for the 8 p.m. show are available at Fanfare Books in Stratford, or online at www.ticketscene.ca.
mike.beitz@sunmedia.ca - Stratford Beacon Herald
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
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Bio
"You made me cry. In the best way…" Award-winning, internationally beloved singer songwriter Pamela Jane Gerrand has been teasing tears from the eyes of audience members since she began singing her original brand of poetic, passionate, soul pop over a decade and a half ago. Singing to the places where beauty and pain collide, Gerrand kindles an unbridled connection to the hearts of listeners with a voice that has been described as 'angelic, powerful, soulful, soaring…'
Born and raised in Regina, Saskatchewan, the heart of the Canadian prairies, Pamela´s roots are evident in the expansiveness of her voice, and the strength at the core of her lyrics. Her lineage includes a long line of lawyers and poets; seeking justice and beauty is in her blood. Her music is intensely personal, and invitingly universal, and her original songs have been described as “uncommonly moving”.
Pamela has been making music since her kindergarten teacher noticed her passion for singing and encouraged the family to get her an instrument. She graduated from that first xylophone and ukelele to piano, and has been singing for most of her life, in genres ranging from broadway/operetta, world/folk/jazz to pop/contemporary. She has enjoyed a vast and varied career, performing with full orchestras on stages such as the Hummingbird Centre, at international festivals such as the Angsbacka Festival in Sweden, where she was the headliner for their finale concert, to intimate house concerts, and a plethora of benefit concerts supporting the many causes she believes in.
Pamela began her performance career as an actor/singer/dancer, working on stages coast to coast, including four seasons at the Stratford Festival. Over a decade ago, she released her first CD of
original music and has toured in the U.K, U.S., Costa Rica and Sweden. Pamela is a passionate advocate for the environment and social justice, and delivers keynote talks and workshops combining a unique blend of her music, poetry and message.
She has had the honour of performing her original music at keynote talks given by Stephen Lewis, Margaret Trudeau, Deepak Chopra, Byron Katie, Bruce Lipton, don Miguel Ruiz and Barbara Marx Hubbard. A recent Stratford Festival Guthrie Award recipient, Pamela is also the recipient of the 'Women In The Arts' award, recognizing outstanding achievement and contribution to the Arts in Stratford and Perth County, Ontario. In 2005, Pamela was featured in 'Herstory', a calendar 'celebrating the efforts and achievements of Canadian women who have worked to make the world a better place.'
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