Prairie Wind is a difficult song for me to play live. I wrote it for two of my aunts–one who we lost to cancer and the other, whose partner left her in a mean way. To me, it felt like losing an aunt and uncle in the same year and although the losses were not nearly equivalent, the fact that they happened at the same time, compounded my feelings of loss. I was heartbroken and the song fed off of that. 

Then, as I was preparing to launch the album, I lost my incredible grandmother, Ingrid Kaldor. My grandmother was an amazing woman. She lived to 103 and still lived in the house my mother grew up in. She entertained, she painted prairie skies like no one else and she loved deeply. Although she is missing the launch, I am blessed to have had the opportunity to play the album for her before she passed. She particularly like Prairie Wind (and told me Dancing Back to Back was, “too loud”, but I digress). Now, when I play the song, I also think of her.

And finally, I could not end an hommage to my matriarchs without thanking my mother. This song is deeply indebted to my mother, Connie Kaldor, a juno award winning singer-songwriter and indebted to the prairies she grew up in. She is the best songwriter I have ever come across and I endeavor to write songs like her one day. She has an incredible discography of 15 albums and counting, and although songs like Wood River and Bird on a Wind are canadian classics, I thought I would share her song 'Grandmother's song'. My mom wrote it about her own grandmother when she was around my age. The song still floors me today and feels fitting to share here.

Grandmother's Song by Connie Kaldor: