Acrpost: A Project of the Pacific Association of Artist Run Centres

Event Description

A unique evening celebrating music and art from the west coast. A compelling collaboration between award winning singer and lawyer Terri-Lynn Williams-Davidson and legendary musicians, Bill Henderson and Claire Lawrence, of the acclaimed rock band Chilliwack. With music from her new album Grizzly Bear Town—an exceptional album integrating ancient Haida knowledge and oral traditions with contemporary music.
And, special extras:
Saffron and Camille Henderson--two of Vancouver’s finest vocalists, providing background vocals.
Robert Davidson and Terri-Lynn Williams-Davidson—traditional songs from Haida Gwaii.
Out of Concealment: Female Supernatural Beings of Haida Gwaii—an introduction to the book illustrating ancient Haida narratives in a modern context.
Terri-Lynn Williams-Davidson has made it her life’s work and passion to preserve the Haida songs of her culture.
Born in Haida Gwaii off the west coast of Canada, Terri-Lynn has been a promoter of Haida music since the age of 13. She began singing Haida songs at a time when there were few Haida singers practicing this musical tradition. For her work, which has spanned over 30 years and has helped bring renewal to Haida songs, she received a ‘Keeper of Traditions’ Canadian Aboriginal Music Award in 2008.
Terri-Lynn founded the Haida Gwaii Singers Society with other veteran Haida singers including her husband, artist Robert Davidson in 2000. The two box set collections, ‘Songs of Haida Gwaii: Haida Gwaii Singers Anthology’ (contemporary recordings) and ‘Songs of Haida Gwaii: Archival Anthology’ are now part of museum and school collections and preserve songs that might otherwise have been lost.
One of the CD’s from the Contemporary box set featuring Terri-Lynn as a solo singer: ‘Lalaxaaygans: Beautiful Sound’, received the Best Female Traditional/Cultural Roots award at the 2009 Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards (CAMA).
In 2011 Terri-Lynn released her first solo CD with original compositions – ‘New Journeys’. She was awarded ‘Best Female Artist’ at the 2011 Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards for the release which was a collaboration with classical composer Bruce Ruddell. Adding instrumentation to songs sung in the Haida language represented a new and ground-breaking concept intended to build a bridge for a wider audience to appreciate the beauty of the Haida language and musical traditions.
‘New Journeys” also received nominations for two Aboriginal People’s Choice Awards, three Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards, two Canadian Folk Music Awards and a Western Canadian Music Award. Terri-Lynn was nominated as ‘Best Female Artist’ at the Native American Music Awards, and the CD was nominated for ‘Best Historical/Linguistic’ Recording. The CD was cited as one of the top 10 Most Influential Indigenous Albums of 2011 by RPM Indigenous Music Culture. In 2012, ‘Have a Light Heart on Your New Journey’ reached No 2 on the National Aboriginal Music Countdown, and was on this chart for almost 40 weeks.
Terri-Lynn has also recorded for film and television, and she has performed throughout the world including Indonesia, Italy, Amsterdam and New York.
Terri-Lynn is also a well-known lawyer representing the Haida Nation in the area of aboriginal-environmental law, and is a Principal Lawyer at White Raven Law Corporation.
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