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Press
Quotes PDF (School Program)
More press quotes for
Don's grown-up shows:
"I think he is extraordinary."
Roger Greenspun, New York Times
"Canadian culture his
forté"
NOW Magazine
"Don Freed
The Valley of Green and Blue
(Gabriel Dumont Institute)
Rated A
In just 65 minutes, veteran
Canadian singer/songwriter Don Freed tells the tale of an
entire people, from origin to present day, in a thoroughly
researched, wonderfully humanist history of the Métis
and the Red River Settlement. The scope and magnitude of this
project is almost unfathomable — work began with a small
grant in 1991 — yet Freed manages the journey from beginning
to end in just 15 songs, culminating with a breathtaking singalong
of When This Valley (considered by some to be the Métis
national anthem) at the old church in Batoche, Sask. This
musical trek, which encompasses folk, roots, blues, jigs and
reels, begins in the 17th century and touches on the fur-trade
wars, the first settlements at Red River, the massacre at
Seven Oaks, the politics of ‘Manitobah,’ the tale
of Louis Riel and Sir John A. Macdonald, and the struggle
of a people without a home. Along the way we meet many remarkable
characters, from the first man named ‘Sansregret’
to Gabriel Dumont and his rifle, ‘Le Petit.’ Aided
and abetted by a star-studded cast of local roots and bluegrass
players, from Dan Frechette to Sierra Noble to four-fifths
of The Duhks, the thin-voiced but always passionate Freed
has created a masterpiece of musical storytelling. How he’ll
recreate this live is anybody’s guess — but I’d
love to see him try."
John Kendle
Uptown Magazine Winnipeg Manitoba Canada
|
Don
Freed
#103-620 Toronto St. Victoria, BC V8V 1P9
PH [250] 590-7511
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