Album Notes

Folk singer/songwriter, Phyllis Sinclair is best described as a musical raconteur. Her sensitively crafted lyrics, delicately capture the struggles and triumphs of everyday people who meet their challenges with dignity and grace. Take for example, the indomitable ocean fisher who returns to the sea again and again only to face unpredictable elements and dangers that threaten his very living. Or, the saxophonist who bravely plays on after experiencing the loss of his wife of sixty years. Poignantly, yet dynamically, depicting life's realities is her gift.

Music and writing have always been Phyllis' passion so it's no surprise that song writing resulted. Phyllis began writing songs in late 1970's, but laid her pen down to raise a family and later pursue a career in journalism. In 2003, she returned to song writing, writing "Fence Posts and Stones"- the sentiments of a prairie farmer on his eroding farm. This song ended thirty-years of silence and reignited her passion for song writing and performing.

Cree, Phyllis was raised by her mother and grandmother on the western shore of the Hudson Bay in Churchill, Manitoba. It was here that the basis of her music was formed while listening to reels and jigs tapped out on spoons and boot bottoms at spirited gatherings. Indicative of her writing is the poignant and humorous story-tellling style, characteristic of Cree narrative and legends that paint pictures in the mind.

Phyllis Sinclair has opened for Juno Award Winner, Ray Bonneville, Maria Dunn (with Singer-Songwriter, Ron Mason), has been requested for repeat performances at the Springboard Hoedown held annually in Athabasca, Alberta, featured at the Rangeton Farmer's Festival Songwriter's Circle in Rangeton, Alberta, the Medicine Hat Exhibition and Stampede, and "Spectrum", a music festival held annually in Medicine Hat, Alberta, among other venues.