The Dutch Lake Community Centre will host a performance by folk and roots singer/songwriter Meaghan Blanchard next month, as part of a Home Routes tour that has Canadian musicians set up in intimate venues for up close performances.
Blanchard, who comes from Prince Edward Island, said she’ll play songs from her latest album The Great Escape, with some of her favorite folk covers thrown in the mix.
“It’s just me and a guitar, telling stories about where I’m from and my experiences; I love collecting stories from the people I’ve come across in my travels for the last 15 years as a touring musician in Canada,” said Blanchard.
“I’ve toured mostly between Scotland, England and Canada, so it’s just a big mix of stories about who I am and the people I have met.”
Blanchard added she’s toured most of Canada from Alberta to the East Coast, but has yet to explore much of British Columbia, which is something she’s also looking forward to as part of this current tour.
She’s released four albums since she began her journey into music and said she was first inspired to be a musician when she found her mother’s Yamaha guitar as a child. Her grandparents were also country music musicians, so perhaps taking on the family’s tradition of music was inevitable.
“There’s a lot of stories about shy kids and I always had a hard time communicating and asking for what I need growing up,” said Blanchard.
“I was a shy introverted child and when I found my mom’s Yamaha guitar it just made it easy to say what I was feeling through an instrument and through singing.”
It’s that same love of communicating and connecting with people that keeps her touring and entertaining audiences, she said, adding she believes music is therapeutic both for the performer and those in the audience.
“Just being on stage and being able to share a space with people (is what I love); I think music is very healing—I think it’s healing for me to write it and healing to share it with people and have people connect with it,” said Blanchard.
“It’s nice to share the space with people for an hour or so and hear their stories as well; I’m just an East Coast girl coming up to share stories about herself, telling my story about being a kid growing up in the country in a musical family.”
Blanchard’s Clearwater performance takes place on Feb. 4 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tickets are $20 and $17 for seniors at the door.
“If you love music and you love hearing stories, and if you love meeting other people who like sharing music and hearing stories, then you’ve come to the right place.”