Saw a lovely documentary on Donald Freed on the CBC's National news
program a couple of weeks ago. The program showed Freed teaching
songwriting to Native Canadian children in a Saskatchewan school. The
children were encouraged to create songs out of their own culture and experiences.
Freed's dedication impressed me. He talked about how unsatisfying it was
to work as a soloist in clubs and folk festivals and about how his own
'ego' had no place in his work with the Native kids. (There was no
mention of Her Blondness.)
Several of the songs the children wrote are being recorded and will be
released on CD later this year. The CBC may have something about this on
their website at cbc.ca.
Jim
