A tribute to Kate McGarrigle

Here's some fond remembrances from the Calgary Herald.


'Irreplaceable' folksinger Kate McGarrigle dies

Max Harrold
Canwest News Service; With files from Heath McCoy, Calgary Herald

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Montreal folksinger and songwriter Kate McGarrigle has died.

The folksinger, famous for her collaboration with her sister Anna, was 63 and had been battling clear-cell carcinoma. She died Monday at home in Montreal surrounded by family members, her brother-in-law Dane Lanken said.

The McGarrigle sisters sang in English and French and played piano, guitar, banjo, and button accordion.

"Sadly, our sweet Kate had to leave us last night," said a statement on the McGarrigle sisters' website. "She departed in a haze of song and love surrounded by family and good friends. She is irreplaceable."

Mike Regenstreif, 55, a music writer and producer of the McGarrigle sisters' tours in the 1970s, described Kate as "one of Canada's greatest singers. It was the sisters' wonderful harmonies that first attracted me to them."

Their sound and style had a closeness that reflected their tight-knit family and it added to their art, he said.

Kerry Clarke, artistic director of the Calgary Folk Music Festival, added her voice to a chorus detailing McGarrigle's impact on the Canadian music scene. "(Kate and Anna McGarrigle) were almost like building blocks of folk music in Canada," Clarke said. "(They were) that crucial. And they're so influential, when you get people like Emmylou Harris covering their songs."

Clarke fondly remembered watching the McGarrigle sisters perform at the Calgary folk fest over the years, noting their quirkiness behind the scenes and the magic of their music onstage.

"(Before their set) it was almost like they were a little bumbling and not quite ready," Clarke said. "They seemed hesitant and a little disorganized. . . . Not quite set up. But then they'd do this amazing, mesmerizing brilliant kind of show. There's nobody like them."

In the 1960s, the sisters were influenced by Bob Dylan and Pete Seger and the McGarrigless gwriting had strong appeal. Over the years the McGarrigles' songs have been recorded by Judy Collins, Marianne Faithful, Emmylou Harris and Nana Mouskouri.

Anna's Heart Like a Wheel was recorded in 1972 by McKendree Spring and, as the title song of an LP, in 1975 by Linda Ronstadt; Anna's Work Song and Kate's Cool River and Lying Song were included on LPs by Maria Muldaur in this same period.

The sisters were awarded the Order of Canada in 1994.

Kate McGarrigle was the mother of singers Rufus Wainwright and Martha Wainwright.

© Calgary Herald 2010

Another loss for the folk community

If bad news comes in threes, let's hope Lhasa's is the last remembrance we post for a good long while...

The wonderful artist Lhasa de Sela who mesmerized audiences at folk festivals and other venues across Canada passed away in her Montreal home on January 1, at the age of 37. She succumbed to breast cancer after a twenty-one month long struggle, which she faced with courage and determination.

Throughout this difficult period, she continued to touch the lives of those around her with her characteristic grace, beauty and humor. The strength of her will carried her once again into the recording studio, where she completed her latest album, followed by successful record launches in Montreal at the Théatre Corona and in Paris at the Théatre des Bouffes du Nord. Two concerts in Iceland in May were to be her last.

Lhasa's unusual childhood was marked by long periods of nomadic wandering through Mexico and the U.S., with her parents and sisters in the school bus which was their home. During this period the children improvised, both theatrically and musically, performing for their parents on a nightly basis. Lhasa grew up in a world imbued with artistic discovery, far from conventional culture.

Later Lhasa became the exceptional artist that the world discovered in 1997 with La Llorona, followed by 2003's The Living Road, and 2009's self-titled LHASA. Her unique voice and stage presence, earned her iconic status in many countries throughout the world. She has been described as passionate, sensual, untameable, tender, profound, troubling, enchanting, hypnotic, hushed, powerful, intense, a voice for all time. Lhasa had a unique way of communicating with her public. She dared to open her heart on stage, allowing her audience to experience an intimate connection and communion with her.

An old friend of Lhasa's, Jules Beckman, offered these words:

"We have always heard something ancestral coming through her. She has always spoken from the threshold between the worlds, outside of time. She has always sung of human tragedy and triumph, estrangement and seeking with a witness's wisdom. She has placed her life at the feet of the unseen."