[Mb-civic] CBC Arts - JONI MITCHELL PAYS TRIBUTE TO THE PRAIRIES

[CBC Arts]

This email has been sent to you by harry.sifton at sympatico.ca
The following is a news item posted on CBC ARTS
at http://www.cbc.ca/arts
____________________________________________________
JONI MITCHELL PAYS TRIBUTE TO THE PRAIRIES
WebPosted Tue Apr 26 13:13:46 2005

TORONTO---Songs of a Prairie Girl , the new album by music legend Joni
Mitchell, landed in record stores Tuesday.

The disc is her way of tipping her hat to Saskatchewan, the province
where she came of age.

It does not contain any new material, but is instead a compilation of 13
songs that all touch on her home province in some way – tunes like
Let The Wind Carry Me , Raised on Robbery and River .

"You carry your childhood with you. Saskatchewan is in my veins," she
said in an interview this week with the CTV morning show Canada AM .

Born in Alberta in 1943, Mitchell moved with her family to
Saskatoon – which she still considers her hometown – at
the age of nine.

According to Mitchell, many of her memories are of the prairie winters.

"When I put this together I thought, 'Oh dear, it's all about wanting to
get out of the cold,'" she said from her home in Los Angeles.

The album's liner notes invite her fans to "get yourself a hot beverage
and stand by the heater as you listen to these musical tales of long,
cold winters, with a hint of short but glorious summers."

The release of Prairie Girl comes ahead of Mitchell's planned appearance
at a gala to mark Saskatchewan's centennial on May 19.

FROM APRIL 21, 2005: Joni Mitchell to attend Saskatchewan centennial

Mitchell confirmed she will not perform at the event.

"I've retired, basically. They wanted me to perform [for the centennial]
but I don't do that anymore. I'm a painter now."

The singer, known for her elastic vocals on songs like Big Yellow Taxi ,
also said she's dismayed at the current state of the music industry,
which she sees as being dominated by economic – rather than
artistic – considerations.

"The idea that our youth is being brainwashed by this sarcasm and bad
potty training … this contrived money music. You hear young artists
talking and they're talking demographics."

"There's no muse in this. There's a drive to be looked at. These are not
creative people. These are created people."

Copyright (C) 2005 CBC. All rights reserved.