MEDICINE SONGS
This is a collection of front line songs about unity and resistance – some brand new and some classics – and I want to put them to work. These are songs I’ve been writing for over fifty years, and what troubles people today are still the same damn issues from 30-40-50 years ago: war, oppression, inequity, violence, rankism of all kinds, the pecking order, bullying, racketeering and systemic greed. Some of these songs come from the other side of that: positivity, common sense, romance, equity and enthusiasm for life.
I’ve found that a song can be more effective than a 400-page textbook. It’s immediate and replicable, portable and efficient, easy to understand – and sometimes you can dance to it. Effective songs are shared, person-to-person, by artists and friends, as opposed to news stories that are marketed by the fellas who may own the town, the media, the company store and the mine. I hope you use these songs, share them, and that they inspire change and your own voice.
It might seem strange that along with the new ones, I re-recorded and updated some of these songs from the past using current technologies and new instrumentations – giving a new life to them from today’s perspective. The thing is, some of these songs were too controversial for radio play when they first came out, so nobody ever heard them, and now is my chance to offer them to new generations of like-minded people dealing with these same concerns. It’s like the play is the same but the actors are new.
I really want this collection of songs to be like medicine, to be of some help or encouragement, to maybe do some good. Songs can motivate you and advance your own ideas, encourage and support collaborations and be part of making change globally and at home. They do that for me and I hope this album can be positive and provide thoughts and remedies that rock your world and inspire new ideas of your own. ~ Buffy
NEWS
Buffy Sainte-Marie: The Authorized Biography - Available in Paperback
- Buffy Sainte-Marie: The Authorized Biography by Andrea Warner is now available on paperback via Greystone Books, in stores and online. In what is Sainte-Marie's first and only authorized biography, author and music critic Andrea Warner draws from more than sixty hours of exclusive interviews to offer a powerful, intimate look at the life of the beloved ...more
Andy Kim Christmas Special - December 19
- Buffy Sainte-Marie and a star-studded lineup of Canadian talent will appear on the 16th annual Andy Kim Christmas Special Presented by Air Miles, in support of Food Banks Canada, CAMH Foundation Gifts of Light, and Crew Nation. This special will air across Canada Saturday, December 19 at 8:00pm local time on City TV, and will live ...more
Australia Touring 2021 - Postponed
- Due to Australia's international border restrictions in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Buffy Sainte-Marie's Australian tour performances in April 2021 will not go forward as scheduled. Byron Bay Bluesfest will go forward on April 1-5 with an all-Australian lineup, and ticket holders will be contacted directly regarding their options. Ticket holders for Buffy Sainte-Marie's performance ...more
"It's My Way!" Wins the Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize
- Buffy Sainte-Marie's 1964 debut album It's My Way! has won the 2020 Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize. The Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize honours Canadian albums of the past from four distinct time periods: 1960-75, 1976-85, 1986-95 and 1996-05. Like the Polaris Music Prize, winners and nominees for the Heritage Prize are albums of the artistic ...more