The Okanagan feels like home to Canadian multi-platinum award-winning singer/songwriter Jann Arden, who has been visiting the valley consistently since childhood.
“My mom and dad drove us to Wood Lake all the time,” Arden said. “A lot of artists are very remiss in not coming to the Kootenays, not coming to the Okanagan. There’s so many beautiful places to play and there’s so many gorgeous theatres that sit empty half the year and that’s heartbreaking to me. They are beautiful and the people are amazing.”
The eight-time Juno award winner was in the valley this past weekend to perform two sold-out shows — one at the Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre on Nov. 16 and the other at the Kelowna Community Theatre on Nov. 18.
“It’s a little bit of new and old stuff,” the singer said. “I think we do four or five songs off the new record and then the rest of it is just a step back in time.”
Arden’s newest record These are the Days was influenced by her mother who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. The singer also penned a book called Feeding my Mother which talks about her experience as a caregiver.
”It was just an experience I had with my mom that is still ongoing,” Arden said. “My mom is still suffering with Alzheimer’s and every day is an adventure.”
Arden was born in Calgary and says being Canadian has given her so much as an artist.
“It’s a free society where we have a lot of things here that people can only dream about experiencing in other parts of the world. We really do live in the best country on the planet,” Arden said. “It’s been an amazing journey and I’ve had a lot of great singers and songwriters plowing their way before me like Leonard Cohen and Neil Young.”
With 14 albums and 19 top-10 singles like Insensitive and Would Die for You under her belt, music has always been a critical part of Arden’s world.
“I think music is such an important part of being a human being, such an important backdrop to our entire existence,” the artist said. “We attach so many memories to songs.”
Arden is currently on a Canadian tour and has been on the road for two months straight.
“The country feels different. There’s lots of things going on,” Arden said. “And I think people are on edge a little bit. It’s nice for them to come in and to hear music and not worry about what’s going on around them for a few hours. That’s what musicians have done for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. We grab our instruments and we go from town to town and we tell our stories.”
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