Summertime reminds us to be grateful that we live on this beautiful planet with its lush greens and vast waters.
That said, Summer’s gift to slow down and be present with our community and land perfectly encapsulates two local events happening in our backyard.
Mimi O’Bonsawin Live at Fort William Historical Park
Music, we all know, is a universal language. It connects us beyond borders and beings. And no one values that more than singer-songwriter, Mimi O’Bonsawin
“Music is sacred. Music is so, so special,” says O’Bonsawin. “I want to respect that, whenever we play shows. There’s songs dedicated to the rivers and to the land. There’s songs about things that I’ve come across in my life as a mixed Indigenous woman. All of these stories that I’ve carried for so many years, arcs over a whole show.”
A proud member of Odinak First Nation, O’Bonsawin is a Franco-Ontarian and Wabanaki woman whose love of music began from an early age. With many cousins, O’Bonsawin always had an audience long before working on her first record in high school. Inspired by the natural world around her and the stories and sounds of folk singer-songwriters, this took her to a career touring around Canada, Europe, and Australia alongside her percussionist husband, Ryan Schurman.
“I started telling people that our sound is like folk with a groove and a little bit of whimsy on the side,” says O’Bonsawin. “A lot of folk music doesn’t have a groove that makes your booty shake, but we try to do that during our shows, especially outdoor shows. There’s a lot of dancing, but also a lot of sing-alongs and things that are heartfelt.”
The self-ascribed folk with funk sound O’Bonsawin curates blends the allure of pop and stories of folk together in a way that make her sound a unique exploration of the land and identity.
With inspiration from Australian songwriter John Butler, Bob Marley, and contemporaries such as Julian Taylor, her music finds a way to seep through to audiences beyond solely melody or lyric.
“I started touring just with my husband on a cool percussive kit, but I felt like I was hearing all these things in my mind when we were playing our songs, and the audience wasn’t. Unless you tell them musically, they’re not going to imagine everything you’re hearing in your heart. So we worked on ways that we could translate all these arrangements, grooves, and moments in our music that were happening in my mind.”
From this approach, O’Bonsawin and her husband have since crafted a show that explores dynamics. Not only in the way to bring these soundscapes to life, but also through story, tempo, and language.
“There’s moments where we dance, sing, celebrate, and howl together. Then I talk about more intimate moments,” she says. “For this show, because it’s sponsored by le Club culturel francophone de Thunder Bay, there’s going to be songs from our Francophone catalog too.
But O’Bonsawin says you do not have to be a francophone to enjoy this concert. There will be songs in both English and French not only to commemorate Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day on June 24th, but to celebrate the power music has to unite us all, languages aside.
Catch Mimi O’Bonsawin perform on Wednesday, June 24th at 6pm at Fort William Historical Park. For tickets, visit http//mimi.ca/shows
Arts & Culture Under the Lights
Starting the summer with an artist celebrating the power of music and home-land, Thunder Bay will cap off summer with a celebration of arts and culture found in our very own back yard with Arts & Culture Under the Lights.
“There’s so many wonderful things happening here in Thunder Bay, that a huge part of what we want to do is support and feature artists so others in Thunder Bay can see the wonderful things that they’re doing for our city,” says Caitlyn McMillan, the Cultural Development & Public Art Coordinator for the City of Thunder Bay.
Arts & Culture Under the Lights is what sets the Culture Days celebration to start on September 18th, until October 4th.
“Last year we started engaging an artist doing an art piece or an installation piece that was lit artwork. We want to go off that same scene this year of Under the Lights and showcase the beautiful twilight evenings Thunder Bay has throughout the summer and fall,” says McMillan. “We have a cultural stage that features cultural performers and dance groups from across the myriad of cultures that make up Thunder Bay, such as Chinese and Italian dance schools.”
From local arts organizations as vendors, to community groups coming together to perform song and dance, to poets reading their work, and artists showcasing their completed works and work in-progress, this evening offers a breath of fresh artistic air we don’t have to go to Toronto to see. An event for the artists and art lovers near and far, Arts & Culture Under the Lights is a community in and of itself.
“There’s a lot happening here, and if someone walked away, you know, with a greater appreciation of the arts and culture that Thunder Bay can offer, that’s really my best case scenario”, says McMillan.
Arts & Culture Under the Lights is on Fri., Sept. 18th at the Marina Park.
For more information, visit http://calendar.thunderbay.ca
