Who’s Who in Canadian Music?
Canadian musicians are cool to the extreme. How many of them do you know? Have a look:
How about if we give you the names – not in order, of course:
Barenaked Ladies Joni Mitchell Bryan Adams Alanis Morisette Leonard Cohen Alannah Myles Celine Dion Robbie Robertson Jeff Healey Stan Rogers Diana Krall Shania Twain Gordon Lightfoot Neil Young k.d. Lang Great Big Sea
If you’re still not 100% in the know:
Answers (from the top, left to right): Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Robbie Robertson, Bryan Adams, Celine Dion, Diana Krall, Shania Twain, k.d. Lang, Leonard Cohen, Gordon Lightfoot, Alanis Morissette, Alannah Myles, Stan Rogers, Jeff Healey, Barenaked Ladies, Great Big Sea.
Here’s What to Do:
Choose a musician or a group to research. You can work alone or with a partner, but make sure individuals or partners work on different people so at the final stage you’ll have a really fine overview of the music scene in Canada.
The idea is to write up a biography briefly outlining major events in the life of the artist(s), then to design a Powerpoint presentation including a shortened version of the biography, photos, clip-art, lyrics, album or CD covers, and music clips. When you present
the finished product you can go into more biographical detail, and even play complete versions of selected songs on CD.
Instructions on writing up a biography: http://www.edumatic.qc.ca/english See the section on Understanding Biography which is in the Language Arts section. You will find an autobiographical sketch under writing biographies that can serve as a model.
A tutorial on Powerpoint presentations: http://www.actden.com/
Here’s More on the Artists and Where to Find out About Them:
1. Joni Mitchell – An accomplished singer/songwriter/ producer and artist, she’s won a number of Canadian awards, has the voice of an angel, and wrote the lyrics to “Woodstock,” the song dedicated to the music festival of that name – happened in the summer of 1969. http://www.jonimitchell.com/
Joniword.jpg
2. Neil Young – Formerly of Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. Now he’s flying solo with a number of great albums in the bag. His voice is strangely haunting. Neil’s song,”Keep On Rocking In The Free World” plays during the closing credits in Michael Moore’s Farenheit 9/11. http://www.neilyoung.com/ and http://hyperrust.org/
3. Robbie Robertson – Grew up on a Mohawk reservation in Ontario and joined a group called The Band. These guys palled around with people like Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Eric Clapton, and tons of other people. http://www.canoe.ca
There’s a great video called, “The Last Waltz,” about their last appearance as a band. This picture is a clip. Who can you identify in this photo?
Answer:(Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Robbie Robbertson, and others)
4. Bryan Adams – Rock and roll guitarist and West Coast sensation, Bryan is also an avid photographer who exhibits his work. You can listen to clips from his newest cd on his official website. http://www.bryanadams.com
5. Celine Dion – This Quebecer has always been adored by her fans here; she started getting rave reviews in the United States in the 1990’s. She’s an expert at singing love songs and she’s best known for having sung the theme song to the movie Titanic in 1997. http://celinedion.com/
6. Diana Krall – Well-renowned jazz singer and pianist from British Columbia, Diana has won a Grammy and Several Juno awards for her work. Her star has been rising for the past several years; she did a popular cover version of “The Look of Love.” See more at: http://www.canehdian.com/ http://www.dianakrall.com/
7. Shania Twain – This popular singer has topped the country music charts with the album she recorded in 1997, Come On Over. It went platinum 20 times in the United States. Shania received the People’s Choice Award for Favorite Country Female Singer in 2005. http://www.shania-twain.com/
8. k.d. Lang – A small town girl from Alberta rose to stardom in both country and pop genres. Her vocals are amazingly strong. She’s quirky and controversial. Get more info at:
http://www.canehdian.com/artistlinks/
9. Leonard Cohen – Leonard is an extremely famous Montreal poet/songwriter. One of his best albums – although they’re all great – is The Future (1992). His poetic talent comes blazing through his musical lyrics in a philosophic and powerful way. Leonard spent some years in a Zen Buddhist monastery, and many of his songs reflect his deep sense of spiritual values. http://www.leonardcohen.com/
10. Gordon Lightfoot – Well-known singer and guitarist, Gordon received the Governor-General award for excellence in promoting Canadian culture (Joni Mitchell has also been awarded this prestigious prize) in 2004. His songs are melodic and romantic – one of the best being, “If You Could Read My Mind.” He continues to tour the country, enjoying live performance. http://www.corfid.com/
11. Alanis Morissette - Ottawa born, Alanis is an alternative Rock singer. Her album Jagged Little Pill won her 4 Grammy awards. Go to http://www.alanismorissette.com/ for great music downloads. There is also a fan site at http://www.alanisutopia.com/.
12. Alannah Myles – Alannah is a Toronto native who has won a Grammy for Best Rock Vocal. Her first recording “Love is,” was in 1990, and she followed this hit with the much acclaimed ”Black Velvet,” a tribute to Elvis Presley. You’ll find a comprehensive biography at http://canadianbands.com/
13. Stan Rogers – From a Maritime background, Stan Rogers was a rising star in the folk music genre when he died in an airplane crash in 1983. There’s a story that went around that he helped a woman passenger out of the burning plane to safety, losing his own life in the process. This story illustrates the heroic nature of the man. In recordings his voice is deep, rich, and rousing. Well worth a listen. http://www.stanrogers.net/
14. Jeff Healey – Member of The Jeff Healey Band, Jeff was born in Ontario, and has been blind since the age of one. However, he was playing guitar tunes when he was three. He’s done many successful cover versions of old blues and rock tunes. His performances are charged with energy and feeling. http://www.jeffhealeyband.com/ http://www.canadianbands.com/
15. Barenaked Ladies – Famous for their live shows and popular with college audiences, these comical pop musicians have audiences rolling in the aisles with their jokes and their energetic moves on stage. Well known for their hit single, “If I had a $1,000,000.” http://canehdian.com/artistlinks/
16. Great Big Sea – This band is enjoying popularity for the ability to combine pop and traditional Newfoundland/Irish music. Their harmonies are both energetic and harmonious. The lead singer Alan Doyle is featured below. http://www.greatbigsea.com/
More Notable Musicians
April Wine Men Without Hats Blue Rodeo Anne Murray Bruce Cockburn Raffi The Crash Test Dummies Buffy Sainte-Marie Patsy Gallant Sharon, Lois, & Bram Corey Hart Jane Silberry The Irish Descendants Steppenwolf Rita MacNeil The Tragically Hip Loreena McKinnett Valdy
Go to http://canadianbands.com/ And http://www.canehdian.com/artistlinks/ for an even more comprehensive listing of artists.
What to do next
1. The biography
Once you’ve gathered enough biographical information on the musician or band of your choice, write up a biography on that person. There is a link above to help you. Save the biography on a word document to print out. You’ll want to be reading it out in class to accompany your Powerpoint presentation.
2. Gather materials
A good place to go for pictures of the artist: http://www.google.ca Click on Images and type in the name you are looking for. When you find a photo you like, right click and Save As on to your “C” drive under My Documents or My Pictures. Then you can Insert it on to any Powerpoint slide when you are ready. If you are working on floppy disks the same applies, only Save the image on to the “A” drive.
You can get other pictures on official or unofficial sites which feature the artist. See the links under the featured musicians above. These sites usually offer free music downloads, music clips, and even videos of performances.
Should you want to play an entire song by an artist, Another option is to download the tune you want from WinMX.
To upgrade your Powerpoint clipart selection go to: http://office.microsoft.com/clipart/
In the Teacher section of this activity is a sample of a Powerpoint presentation, and a few more details. Be sure to go through the tutorial at http://www.actden.com/ before you begin designing your Presentation.