Transperformance Pays Homage
to Canadian Singers

Dave Madeloni

BRATTLEBORO--Every High School has one--that affable, somewhat oversized, good-natured lunk who is widely respected by his peers, yet teased mercilessly by buddies. His teachers adore him because he is unflaggingly polite and surprisingly creative, though exasperatingly unambitious. His frustrated coaches wish that he would use his girth more aggressively. The girls think he's cute, but he always ends up with lots of girls who are friends, and no real girlfriend. And although he is an enigma, the one thing everyone agrees about him, is that there is a lot more going on in his head and heart than he lets on.

If this kid were a country, he'd be Canada.

On Tuesday, Aug. 20, some of the Pioneer Valley's best musicians will be emulating, interpreting and impersonating some of the world's finest pop stars (and a few pretenders) from our underrated neighbor to the North. "Oh!, Canada," the 12th Annual Transperformance fund-raiser for the arts at Look Park in Florence, Mass., will present the likes of folk icons Joni Mitchell and Neil Young, the prodigious pipes of Celine Dion and k d lang, the irrepressible Alanis Morissette and laconic Leonard Cohen and the enduring rock of Steppenwolf, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, The Band and so many more.

Like the lovable but awkward high-schooler, a Canadian music sensibility (if there is one) is elusive yet alluring. I asked several of the participants about the nature of Canada and its music, and the artists they chose to transperform. Their responses were, for the most part, polite.

Dennis Crommett, who recently released his first solo record, I Count None But Sunny Hours, and fronts the band Spanish For Hitchiking, will become the cuddly starship captain William Shatner (who has become a parody of himself over the years). Crommett will be heard singing a Shatner version of "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds," and will play along as a member of Neil Young's legendary band Crazy Horse.

"When I think of Canada, I think of a place I've never been, but that I know I'd love," said Crommett. "Between hearing (singer-songwriter) Andy Stochansky and his fiancee talk about Toronto once, hearing the Innocence Mission song 'The Lakes of Canada,' listening to Canadian music, and the idea of cooler weather ... well it just sounds good to me!"

Bassist/vocalist Mary Witt of The O-Tones, talked of her group's choice. "Diana Krall is a wonderful singer and piano player and performs great jazz standards, which our band is partial to," she said. "We do three-part harmonies on swing tunes, so we will be (three) Diana Kralls. Besides, I think we all secretly wish to be blond..." She added, "When I think of Canada, I think of cold weather, neat culture and a lot of open space." As for their music, "I'd say maybe more subtle and understated overall than US music."

The event's organizer Bob Cilman tried to pin down the slippery sensibility. "Canadian music is more varied than I would have thought, but there are a lot of ballad singers, both in French and English. It's very emotional stuff when you think of Neil Young, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Robert Charlebois, Raymond Levesque ... and Celine Dion--well I guess that does in that theory!"

The popular Katryna Nields, who just released the fine CD Love and China" with her sister Nerissa, will transperform Moxy Fruvous. "In my experience, the Canadian musical sensibility is wide open," she said. "We have had the pleasure of playing a bunch of Canadian music festivals. They are filled with amazing music from all over the world. The entire city of Winnipeg seems to turn out for their folk festival. The headliners are often acts that no one has ever heard of. But the festival is the event of the summer so people go to discover something new. As a result I think that bizarre and wonderful music can become hugely popular and successful in Canada."

I personally can't wait to see Ben Demerath as Nelly Furtado, Wolf Krakowski and the Lonesome Brothers klesmerizing Steppenwolf, and the soon-to-be-disbanding Aloha Steamtrain taking on the Guess Who.

Perhaps The Steamtrain's drummer, astute musicologist Brian Marchese, says it best: "Canadians give themselves less to worry about than Americans. So, you get more flights of fancy, and to me there's a direct link from Neil Young's 'After the Goldrush' ('the loading had begun') to any of Rush's space fantasies. Robbie Robertson fantasized about a history he never experienced. There's also, I'd guess, a lot of time for self-reflection--and Neil, Joni and Leonard (Cohen) are all masters of that. And Rush lets everyone know it's all right to be a misfit."

It is all right. Especially if you are affable, good-natured and really large.

Dave Madeloni writes a weekly music column for the Arts & Entertainment section. He can be reached at madeloni@aol.com.

This column by Dave Madeloni was first published in my local newspaper, Vermont's Brattleboro Reformer, on Thursday, August 15, 2002.

Southern Fried Transperformance 2003

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Copyright © 2002 by Dave Madeloni.
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Used with permission.