Got together with a bunch of friends at the weekend just to play some cds and have a few pints. As it turns out all of the cds we chose were by Canadians. Thjat started us talking about how many great female artists have come from a country witha relatively small population. As we started to go throuh the names of some of our favourites, I was amazed at the names we listed and how talented they are. We also discussed the common features of all of them and, with few, exceptions we found that they seem to be perfromers and writers with an introspective bent. They are also very good poets, musicians....is it the climate ? Here is the list we came up with..we were amazed.. Joni Mitchell, Sarah Maclaughlin, Jane siberry, Alanis Morrisette, Loreena McKennit, Laura Smith, Sylvia Tyson, Jan Arden, Anne Murray, Rita MacNeil,Margot Timmins,Mary Jane Lammond,Diana Krall, Shirley Eickhard, Natalie MacMaster Then we got to thinking about other like Celine Dionne, BTO, The Cowboy Junkies,Tragically Hip, Blue Rodeo, Barenaked Ladies, Crash Test Dummies and so on. Then there are some very famous men..Gordon Lightfoot, Neil Young, Leonard Cohen, Bruce Cockburn, Ian Tyson,well the list goes on. In any case , it seems amazing that all of these people come from a place that is paranoid about its giant neighbour overwhelming its culture. Canada seems to be doing o.k. But I see a common feature in many of these artists, a sensitivity and sense of lyricism that is often moving and profound, somewhat like the country itself, I guess. Anyway, I am sure many of you can add to the list and offer some suggestion about what it is in Canadian culture that has shaped so many great preformers.