Lorraine Segato Regent Park’s Artist-in-Residence Album Release - Invincible Decency GAT PR Press Summary December 2014 – March 2015
Interviews Completed Wild Women (Don’t Get the Blues) Monday December 1
Proud FM A Fabulous Morning Interviewer: Pearse Murray
Friday December 5
Proud FM Riding Home Show Interviewer: Richard Ryder
Sunday December 7
I Can’t Believe My Earz (Blog) Interviewer: Bobby Gottesman
Monday December 8
CBC Radio-Canada L'heure de pointe Toronto Interviewer: Line Boily Lyne Tremblay interviewed
Wednesday December 10
Sirius XM (National Outlet) What She Said Interviewers: Christine Bentley, Sharon Caddy, Kate Wheeler Interviewed with Lyne Tremblay
Invincible Decency Album Release Monday January 5
Wall2Wall Media Neighbourhood Video Interview declined
Monday January 12
CBC Radio Here & Now Interviewer: Gill Deacon ‘All Went Wrong (At the Right Time)’ was chosen as song of the week, replayed daily. CBC Radio Album added to CBC radio music library. CBC TV Our Toronto Interviewer: Marivel Taruc
The Hamilton Spectator Interviewer: Graham Rockingham
Wednesday January 21
Sirius XM (National Outlet) The Ward & Al Show Interviewer: Ward Anderson and Allison Dore FUGUES Magazine (Quebec Outlet) Interviewer: Patrick Brunette The BUZZ Magazine Interviewer: Cat Grant
Thursday January 22
CIUT 89.5 FM The Bill King Show Interviewer: Bill King
Saturday January 24
The Winehouse (Blog) Interviewer: Chaka V. Newstalk 1010 The Ted Woloshyn Show Interviewer: Ted Woloshyn
Monday January 26
CHCH TV Hamilton Morning Live Interviewer: Bob Cowan
Wednesday January 28
CFMU (McMaster U Radio) Watermelon Throwdown Interviewer: James Tennant Album also added to music library.
Wednesday February 4
Sirius XM (National Outlet) The Shaun Proulx Show Interviewer: Shaun Proulx
Friday February 6
Global (National Outlet) ET Canada Interviewed with David Gray
Sunday February 8
CBC Radio Halifax Weekend Mornings Interviewer: Doug Barron Album was on rotation, and copy was given away.
Tuesday February 24
HMV.com Interviewer: Kim Hughes, Editor
Invincible Decency/March 3 Showcase/Wild Women (Don’t Get the Blues) Pt. II Monday March 2
Sirius XM (National Outlet)/ Newstalk 1010
Humble & Fred Interviewer: Humble & Fred AM 640 (National Outlet) The Bill Carroll Show Interviewer: Bill Carroll Tuesday March 3
CP24 CP24 Breakfast TV Interviewer: Steve Anthony Daily Xtra.com TV Interviewer: Lucas Silveira
Wednesday March 4
Rogers TV On the Mic with Rudy Blair Interviewer: Rudy Blair
Monday March 9
Sirius XM (National Outlet) What She Said Interviewers: Christine Bentley, Sharon Caddy, Kate Wheeler Monocle (International Outlet)
Monocle 24 Radio Interviewer: Tomos Lewis OMNI TV OMNI Italian Interviewer: Laura D’Aprile Tuesday March 17
Boom 97.3 Turntable Tuesday/Behind the Music Interviewer: Maie Pauts
I Can’t Believe My Earz –“LORRAINE SEGATO: From Artist In Residence To Wild Woman” by Bobby Gottesman https://icantbelievemyearz.wordpress.com/2014/12/10/lorraine-segato-from-artist-in-residence-to-wildwoman/?fb_ref=Default&fb_source=message I first met Lorraine Segato in 1979, or was it 1980? It doesn’t matter, really. She was fronting Mama Quilla II, a local Toronto band, and I caught their show somewhere on Queen St W, probably The Cameron House, or The Horseshoe Tavern, she advised me. Recently, I had been informed that she was currently the Artist in Residence for Regent Park, a Toronto community in the midst of revitalization. Curious, I made arrangements to sit down with her, and learn more about the Residency. Spearheaded by Mitchell Cohen, President of Daniels Corp., a Toronto developer actively involved in re-building Regent Park, the program is designed to enhanced the community’s arts and cultural scene. The unlikely union of Segato, a lifelong social activist, and Cohen, a corporate big wig, was made possible by Cohen’s dedication to the arts, and to Regent Park. As the first Artist in Residence, Segato’s 2 year term allows her to build the framework and template of a program, that all future Residents will follow. Her mission includes finding new ways to enrich, celebrate, and draw attention to this changing neighborhood. Her vision is selflessly awe inspiring. While developing the cultural and artistic talent pool of Regent Park, Segato envisions turning this into an international venture, by offering Residencies to artists around the globe. To help achieve this lofty goal, she has created 3 projects. First, she has recorded a new version of her iconic song, ‘Rise Up‘, first recorded by Parachute Club in 1983. ‘Rize Time‘ has a gospel arrangement, and an introduction by Regent Park poet, Mustafah. Proceeds from its sale will be donated to the Regent Park Artist in Residency program. She has created ‘The Legacy Salon‘, a 5 part series in which she interviews people who have contributed to the culture of Toronto. And finally, she is about to launch ‘Wild Women (Don’t Get The Blues)‘, a 5 part cabaret series in which she, and other artists perform the music of female singers who, she believes, impacted music significantly. The illustrious list includes Etta James, Amy Winehouse, and Annie Lennox. Segato informed me that there will also be a special guest from Regent Park performing. How cool is that? Driven by her desire to give back, Segato states that she is looking to teach others from the mistakes she has made. Giving back is the key for her. She feels it is her civic duty to help. The sense that the more you give, the more you get seems to permeate her Residency. Given all that she has accomplished, and all that she has given, I believe it to be true. I am impressed. With the program, and with the woman. If the Artist In Residency was an elected position, Lorraine Segato has my vote. f So, if you live in Toronto, or live nearby, head down to Regent Park, and take a look at the transformation. Check out the PaintBox Bistro on Dundas St E., and catch ‘Wild Women (Don’t Get The Blues)’. To purchase ‘Rize Time”: http://www.lorrainesegato.com/dair/ To find out more about ‘Wild Women (Don’t Get The Blues)': http://blog.paintboxbistro.ca/wild-women-dont-get-the-blues-show/
CBC Radio-Canada –Interview with Lyne Tremblay (Wild Women (Don’t Get the Blues)) [No online link available]
Proud FM –Pearse Murray Interview with Lorraine Segato [No online link available]
Proud FM –Richard Ryder Interview with Lorraine Segato [No online link available]
What She Said (Sirius XM) –Interview with Lorraine Segato and Lyne Tremblay [No online link available]
FYI Music News – “Today’s Video” (Dec 9) http://fyimusicnews.ca/post/104851443792/the-tuesday-dec-09-fyi-music-newsletter
Regent Park artist in residence Lorraine Segato teams up with Colleen Allen, Miku Graham, Stacie McGregor and Montreal chanteuse Lyne Tremblay at the Paintbox Bistro tomorrow night (Wednesday, 12/10) to celebrate iconic women trailblazers in the cabaret show, Wild Women (Don’t Get the Blues).
CBC’s Here and Now –Interview with Lorraine Segato/’All Went Wrong (At the Right Time)’ featured as Song of the Week [No online link available]
The Hamilton Spectator -“Hamilton’s Lorraine Segato pays homage in song” by Graham Rockingham http://www.thespec.com/whatson-story/5321698-paying-homage/
You could never accuse Lorraine Segato of writing silly love songs. The former lead singer of Parachute Club leans more toward message music such as Rise Up, her 1983 Juno-winning anthem of empowerment. Thirty years later, Segato is staying the course on her new solo album, Invincible Decency. The title track was inspired by a speech by Stephen Lewis, Canada's former United Nations ambassador. The Hamilton native, who is married to Lewis's daughter Ilana Landsberg-Lewis, has taken in many of his speeches, but the one that hit hard was about the AIDS crisis in Africa. "One day he was speaking about the grace, the dignity and the 'invincible decency' of the grandmothers of Africa who were holding together whole communities ravaged by HIV and taking care of the children of their children who had passed," said Segato, 58. "It was such a shocking statement to put those two words together — invincible and decency. Holy mackerel, can you imagine living a life and being called invincibly decent? What a great, beautiful thing." Lyrics explore the issue on a personal level, while paying homage to some of the men and women who have earned Segato's respect, including Lewis and her friend, former NDP leader Jack Layton (she sang Rise Up at his funeral in 2011). Parachute Club has performed only occasionally in recent years, allowing Segato to take on the role of Artist in Residence of Regent Park, a mixed-income neighbourhood in downtown Toronto. The position, funded by a Toronto developer, involves developing the area's artistic community and staging cultural events. She also has been writing a musical and theatrical show, "Get Off My Dress," loosely based on her life as a musician and social activist. She hopes to launch the show later this year. Many of the songs on Invincible Decency evolved from the one-woman show. "All of a sudden I started writing and songs started to appear. I felt at that point that I had a collection of songs that thematically resonated for me, thematically similar enough for an album."
The music, as with the other nine songs on the album, is heavily textured with Third World rhythms and grooves, reminiscent of Parachute Club during its peak in the '80s. Parachute Club fans will find much to like about Invincible Decency. The album, Segato's first solo effort in more than 15 years, is produced by former Parachute Club member David Gray and features guest spots by original bassist Steve Webster, and a timbales solo by former Parachute Club percussionist Billy Bryans, who died of cancer in 2012. A highlight is "Times Like This," a musical tribute written for Bryans shortly before his death. "That song came very quickly. I was singing portions of it around his hospital bed in the last days of his life … The song can be attached to any radical-change moment in life when you come right to the edge and say, 'Now what am I going to do.'" The album also features "Tengo Le Tasche Vuote," Segato's first song sung in her native Italian. "Italian was my first language," says Segato, who grew up on the west Mountain. "I didn't learn how to speak English until I went to school." She loosely translates the song's meaning as "my pockets may be empty but my heart is full of gold." Segato left Hamilton in the '70s to study film at Sheridan College and settled in Toronto in 1978 intent on making her mark in the new wave music scene. She recorded Parachute Club's debut album at Grant Avenue Studio in 1982 with Daniel Lanois, who has produced U2, Peter Gabriel and Bob Dylan. "Daniel (Lanois) really liked my mother's lasagna. We all used to go to my mother's house after the sessions and she'd cook for us. She cooks the best lasagna." Segato is working on an auto-biographical one-woman show called that will feature some of the tracks from Invincible Decency, as well as songs from her Parachute Club days. Invincible Decency can be purchased through Segato's website, lorrainesegato.com grockingham@thespec.com
Reposted:
http://foreveryoungnews.com/posts/3027-segato-rising-former-lead-singer-of-parachuteclub-releases-new-album
Article also featured in Forever Young Magazine’s March issue, and included: “Lorraine Segato performs in concert at Regent Park, Toronto, on March 3. Get more information HERE. She will also co-ordinate and perform in the Wild Women (Don’t Get the Blues) Cabaret series along with a host of other female performers from around Toronto. She will host her second (of five) on Thursday, March 5 at the Paintbox Bistro (555 Dundas St. E). Doors are at 7 pm, show starts at 8 pm and tickets are $20 in advance/$23 at the door. Tickets are available HERE. See lorrainesegato.com”
CBC’s Our Toronto – Interview with Lorraine Segato http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/Canada/Toronto/Our+Toronto/ID/2649650214/ Invincible Decency Toronto has made major contributions to the Canadian music scene. And many musicians continue to contribute to the creative community long after they've stood in the spotlight. Singer/songwriter Lorraine Segato has released a new album as a forum to fight for the things she believes in. Things she says helped shape her own life
The Ward & Al Show (Sirius XM) –Interview with Lorraine Segato [No online link available]
https://twitter.com/sxmcanadatalks/status/557980908016635904
Magazine FUGUES (March 2015) –“RENCONTRE AVEC LA CHANTEUSE LORRAINE SEGATO -Le groove dans le cœur” by Patrick Brunette http://www.fugues.com/241923-article-le-groove-dans-le-coeur.html
Autant passer aux aveux dès maintenant : je suis un fan inconditionnel de Lorraine Segato, ex-leader du groupe Parachute Club qui nous a donné des succès comme Rise up et At the Feet of the Moon dans les mythiques années 80. Près de 25 ans après la dissolution de ce groupe canadien, Lorraine Segato revient avec un tout nouvel album solo : Invincible Decency. Et le groove est toujours au rendez-vous Je me revois adolescent, collé à ma télé basse résolution, regarder le vidéoclip Rise up , le premier grand succès de Parachute Club. On y voyait le groupe chantant son hit sur une plateforme motorisée aux allures de char dans un défilé de la fierté! Je me rappelle aussi de Lorraine qui chantait « We want freedom, to love who we please » et je vivais un petit moment de fierté gaie…en cachette! Pourtant, à ce moment, je ne savais pas que Lorraine était elle-même gaie! « Je n’étais pas out à ce moment, me confirme la chanteuse de 58 ans. En fait, Parachute Club était davantage un groupe féministe. Et on militait aussi en faveur des droits des gais. C’est drôle que tu me parles de Rise up, car depuis des années, de nombreux jeunes gais m’ont dit que cette chanson les avait touchés. J’ai eu beaucoup de commentaires comme le tien. Je suis vraiment heureuse de constater que cette chanson ait eu cet impact! » Avec les années, cette chanson est devenue un hymne. On a pu entendre Lorraine l’interpréter lors des funérailles de Jack Layton, l’ancien leader du NPD, décédé d’un cancer, en 2011. «Jack était un ami et peu de temps après son décès, le cancer a aussi emporté mon grand ami et cofondateur de Parachute Club, Billy Bryans.» C’est à la mémoire de Billy que Lorraine a composé la touchante chanson Times Like This, que l’on retrouve sur son tout nouvel album, disponible depuis février dernier. Changer le monde Pour son troisième opus solo, Lorraine Segato plonge dans des rythmiques qui rappellent les années Parachute Club. Le groove y est omniprésent. Sa voix chaude et suave transporte des textes toujours teintés de justice sociale, d’espoir dans
un monde qui ne tourne pas toujours rond. « J’ai justement écrit ces chansons pour répandre un peu d’optimisme. Je ne veux pas verser dans le cynisme. » parachute clubToujours politisée et militante, Lorraine se voit aujourd’hui beaucoup moins idéaliste qu’elle ne l’a été lors de ses premiers pas comme chanteuse. « À l’époque de Parachute Club, je pensais que la musique pouvait changer le monde. J’y croyais parce que je voyais à quel point la musique était associée à tous nos souvenirs durant notre vie : le premier amour, le premier road trip, les souvenirs d’un ami qui meurt... Maintenant, je ne crois plus que la musique puisse changer le monde, mais ça ne veut pas dire que je ne suis plus idéaliste, car j’ai toujours espoir de voir une meilleure répartition des richesses, de voir que chaque être humain sur cette planète ait un toit et suffisamment de nourriture. J’ai espoir en un monde avec plus d’harmonie et moins de cupidité! » D’ailleurs, le titre de son album (et d’une chanson), Invincible Decency fait référence à un discours dans lequel l’ancien chef du NPD en Ontario et diplomate pour les Nations unies, Stephen Lewis, saluait ces grand-mères africaines qui combattaient les ra-vages du SIDA en prenant sous leurs ailes les enfants de leurs propres enfants décimés par le virus. Il qualifiait ces femmes de Invicibly Decent, qui rappelle la force et la persévérance dont font preuve ces grands-mères vivant une situation insurmontable. De toute évidence, Lorraine porte un respect sans borne pour Stephen Lewis. « Il m’inspirait avant même que je rencontre mon amoureuse, sa fille (Ilana Landsberg-Lewis), parce que chaque fois qu’il faisait un discours, j’étais épatée par son éloquence. Stephen est un homme intègre, authentique. Il veut faire le bien dans le monde, être utile pour les autres. Malheureusement, je ne le vois pas aussi souvent que je le voudrais, il est toujours parti à travers le monde! » Mariée à Ilana depuis 2009, Lorraine n’a que de bons mots pour son amoureuse qu’elle qualifie de « brilliant and beautiful »! Ilana a travaillé pendant de nombreuses années au sein d’UNIFEM (Fonds de développement des Nations unies pour la femme) et dirige, depuis 2003, la fondation qui porte le nom de son père. Intrigué, je cherche dans les nouvelles chansons de Lorraine quelques traces de cet amour… en vain! « Beaucoup de chansons ont été composées avant qu’on soit ensemble. Et c’est plutôt rare que j’écrive des chansons à propos des gens proches de moi. Je suis plutôt privée. » Si elle ne chante pas sa vie privée, elle la mettra toutefois en scène! La chanteuse qui a plusieurs flèches à son arc planche depuis six ans sur Get off my dress, une pièce autobiographique racontant son histoire, celle d’une fille d’immigrant née à Hamilton, Ontario. « Je prévois faire une tournée avec cette pièce dans quelques années. » Entre-temps, elle travaille sur de multiples autres projets, dont un film avec la documentariste Shelley Saywell. « On a trouvé des musiciens sans-abris à Toronto. Je les emmène en studio d’enregis-trement pour vivre un moment de partage : je produis leur chanson et en échange, ils me racontent leur histoire. Le film, Low Down Tracks, est terminé et devrait sortir cette année dans les festivals ». Des acquis à protéger Depuis toujours, Lorraine embrasse différentes causes : défense des sans-abris, droits des autochtones, droits des femmes, environnement et aussi la question des droits LGBT. « Je suis ravie de voir tout le progrès accompli en matière de droits des LGBT. Je me rappelle, plus jeune, j’étais de toutes les manifestations dans les rues. Je me souviens aussi avoir eu peur de marcher pendant les Pride. Ces jours ne me semblent pas si loin. En ville, on se sent en sécurité, mais dès que tu en sors, il y a encore beaucoup d’homophobie, de racisme. Avec le recul, je suis heureuse de voir que les mentalités ont évolué, mais je me dis qu’il faut rester vigilants pour ne pas perdre nos acquis car tout peut changer! Et il faut aussi apprendre à la jeune génération tout le chemin parcouru pour être ici aujourd’hui. » Lorraine Segato, femme de cœur, citoyenne impliquée, femme de tête et une musicienne de talent à découvrir ou à redécouvrir. INVINCIBLE DECENCY, disponible sur iTunes et aussi sur le site de Lorraine Segato www.lorrainesegato.com
New Canadian Music - “INVINCIBLE DECENCY - Lorraine Segato” by Kerry Doole http://www.newcanadianmusic.ca/releases/i/invincible-decency/lorraine-segato/2015-0127?autoplay=1#soundcloud The charismatic frontperson of '80s hitmakers Parachute Club (five Junos, two platinum albums), Lorraine Segato has continued to impress on her solo releases since. Her signature humanism remains, and, on her new album Invincible Decency, it is again paired with a vibrant and musically varied sound. PC fans will love tracks like "Only Human" (could this be a new "Rise Up"?), "Hole in the Wall" and "All Went Wrong (Right Time)", while the singer branches out by singing in Italian on "Tengo Le Tasche Vuote". Her tender tribute to late bandmate Billy Bryans, "Times Like This", is a highlight on an album lacking lowlights. Former Clubmate David Gray produced and played guitar on the record. Segato is also kept busy these days as Artist in Residence in Toronto's Regent Park. Expect live dates to be announced soon. –Kerry Doole
FYI Music News –“In the News” http://fyimusicnews.ca/post/108118852552/the-fyi-daily-thursday-jan-14 Lorraine Segato has parachuted back with a new album, her first in 15 years. “I see myself as a prolific creator - yet I am definitely not a prolific songwriter,” she says by way of explanation for her stretchable absence. Invincible Decency, as might be expected, is a smorgasbord of funk, Hammond B3 riffs, ska, and penetrating thought. Key tracks include “Only Humans,” “Times Like This,” “We Gave the Night Away” and the upbeat title track. Available direct from Segato’s website – here.
CHCH Morning Live –“Lorraine Segato’s new album: Invincible Decency” WATCH: http://www.chch.com/lorraine-segatos-new-album-invincible-decency-2/
Hamilton-born Canadian pop singer/songwriter Lorraine Segato is best known as the lead vocalist for the new wave and pop-rock group, Parachute Club. Now after 15 years, she is coming out with a new album, Invincible Decency and she joins Bob in studio. Lorraine’s website
CBC Radio Halifax –Interview with Lorraine Segato
[No online link available]
The Shaun Proulx Show (Sirius XM) –Interview with Lorraine Segato [No online link available]
https://twitter.com/shaunproulx/status/562652007870111744
The Winehouse Mag –“In the Winehouse with.. Lorraine Segato” by Chaka V. http://www.thewinehousemag.com/winehouse-lorraine-segato/ If you had ears in the ’80s – adult ears, teen ears, or even baby ears – you were probably grooving to the sounds of the Parachute Club and the unmistakable voice of singer-songwriter Lorraine Segato. Bringing pop sounds, world beats and important social issues to the top of the pop charts, the Parachute Club, along with artists such as Peter Gabriel and Tracy Chapman, made music that was more than just something to move your body to, but to open your mind and heart to. Video: “At The Feet of The Moon” Parachute Club In the ’90s Segato went on to a successful solo career, with albumsPhoenix (1990) and Luminous City (1998). As well, she continued lending her voice and credibility to causes she believed in, including collaborating on “Can’t Repress the Cause” alongside Michie Mee, Maestro Fresh Wes, and Dream Warriors, which was an early spotlight on the issue of Hip Hop’s exclusion from Canadian music media. But it’s been a moment since music fans last heard from Segato. Now she’s back, with Invincible Decency. It’s an album that finds her even wiser and radically compassionate. Check out my illuminating talk with the iconic Lorraine Segato. Chaka V. TWM: There’s a great story about how you decided upon the album title Invincible Decency — the track by that name is beautiful. Can you share the story behind the title? Lorraine Segato: Yes, over the years I’ve heard Stephen Lewis speak many times, and he really is quite a beautiful orator. He has the most eloquent command of the English language. He’s discussed the resiliency, grace and dignity of the Grandmothers of Africa, as he saw them dealing with the loss of their children to the ravages of HIV/AIDS. Many were left alone to raise their children’s children, most times without money or food or medical supplies. He spoke of their “Invincible Decency” in the face of this destruction and I felt a lightning bolt race through me, as if his words had reached in the farthest reaches of my emotional being. I thought, imagine living a life in which you would be referred to as “Invincibly Decent.” Imagine the legacy of a life lived, if you knew you could actually aspire to that. So it became a mantra, in a way, that I secretly held up. [It created] a desire to look for the ways in which I could live a life that might lead me there. I asked Stephen if he minded that I’d basically scoffed his phrase? And he was very generous about saying I could use it. TWM: Invincible Decency is very hopeful and light filled album. Did you have as much fun making it as it sounds? LS: I’m glad to hear that you find it hopeful and light filled. I often refer to this album as a mess of songs for people who’ve been through stuff. Coming out the other end of some interesting and challenging moments in my life I found that writing these songs allowed me to find the hope I needed in order to find my way back to enthusiasm. It is basically an insane world at the moment, and I found myself wanting to write something positive and reflective at the same time. I did not want to become a cynical person. That is the easy way out. TWM: “It All Went Wrong at the Same Time,” is my favourite track, as well as something I can really relate to. And, overall, the album feels like you went through a rebirth prior to the making of it? Can you share what led you to the making of this album? LS: There were many events that lead to the making of this particular album. Some of these songs I started writing a very long time ago and I wasn’t sure where they were going to go so I’d hung onto them for years. I was in the
middle of writing a one-woman show and some other material started to surface (“We Gave the Night Away” and “Hole in the Wall”), and I found that the themes were similar so I decided to put them all in the same project. I for sure went through a rebirth, and I’m happy to say that I’ve been through several in my lifetime. They seem to happen every seven years or so and I tend to do a big look at my life and ask myself where do I need to grow into now? What patterns am I running here that no longer serve me? And what is the best lesson I can take from this experience? TWM: How was it revisiting sounds that put you on the map with the Parachute Club, as well as working with David Gray again? Did it feel easy and familiar? Or did it come with challenges since it has been so long since you last collaborated? LS: I felt great revisiting the territory of a Parachute Club style groove in the songs because it comes easily to me and to David. We’ve been working together for well over thirty years now and so there is this shorthand that comes into play when we write or play together. We both like funky grooves and percussion etc. and Dave tends to lean towards a lot of chord changes. He likes to keep the song evolving and lifting harmonically as it goes along. I’d been feeling like I really missed the vibe of being in a room with great musicians and jamming it out together, and Dave and I both agreed we’d do a live off the floor portion of the record to give it the feeling of all of us jelling together. The timing was right to revisit the grooves and that made me happy. Our dear friend and the original drummer (also cofounder with me) for Parachute Club had passed away during the making of the record and in a way the project evolved into an opportunity to honour him and how he’s inspired me/us over the years. TWM: World sounds and beats play a big part in the album? Who are some of your favourite musicians in the international music scene? LS: Femi Kuti (Fela Kuti’s son–famous sax player) is fabulous. I still listen to Peter Gabriel’s older records. I love that band The Roots who play on Jimmy Fallon’s show. They are killer players. Closer to home Alex Cuba has a great mash of world and contemporary styles. Don’t have to go international anymore to catch a wave of great world music because Toronto has so many wonderful Cuban and Latin Artists, as well as reggae etc. TWM: From the days when you and the Parachute club band members challenged serious issues in the music industry — black artists not being played on the radio and MTV etc. — to today, what do you believe has declined in the industry? And what has improved? LS: Great question. You know I was asked the other day whether I felt there were bands that I could name that either considered themselves socially conscious or felt they had message music, and I was having a difficult time referencing them. In the ’80s you could refer to The Clash or Billy Bragg or any number of bands that took up issues because it was important to them. Perhaps, I am not looking or hearing in the right places but that doesn’t seem to be the case at the moment. It is true that there are more artists who are black or diverse who are being played on radio now, however that is a very specific sound you have to have to get played on radio now. I don’t even know what the definition of radio is anymore because they all pretty much use the same playlist. I believe there is a company that compiles the hits that could be [played] and they distribute the list to all the stations. The only station playing anything diverse these days is CBC Radio. Ten points for the Mother Corp. Things have indeed changed radically. I think what is great is that you no longer need to have a deal with the record company to be considered a good artist. Sure it helps to have marketing money and video money etc. However, given where the business is right now nothing is guaranteed. You just have to find a way to reach your audience. There is an audience for everyone and they are waiting for you to find them. So it makes you work hard as an entrepreneur. It’s a business and you have to value your time in that way. I tend to look upon the situation like this: Record companies are like banks. They give you the bridge financing and you pay them back the big bucks first with interest (recoupables). They can get you somewhere, but they have to not lose interest in you and most
often they do because even though they might like you, they have another slew of releases coming down the pike line and if you don’t hit it right away they have to move on. As an independent it is possible to do a slow build and work your people from the grassroots roots on up. It makes it possible for a David and Goliath moment to happen. That’s okay by me. I tend to love the big mythology stories where the underdog won the day. Hee Hee. (Wicked grin crossing my face) One thing I think has declined is the idea of the good song. I hear a lot of samples and song constructions or compilations of sounds but I don’t often hear where the musicians are playing together. There are some fabulous young artists however who write great songs like Ed Sheeran for instance. TWM: There is a generosity of spirit that is alive and well in this album. How have you nourished that spark of love, particularly in a world that can sometimes seem hopeless, and also being a part of an entertainment industry that can be fickle, superficial and competitive? LS: Thank you so much for hearing my intention for this particular album. I wanted it to come off as being positive and yet if you dig in there, there is actually some heavy stuff in there: grief, death, betrayal and transformation. I like this phrase I heard a while back: “Death brings life.” We are in a constant state of transformation, not only personally but also collectively, and when I look at the insanity of the world at the moment I really feel our psyches are locked in huge epic struggle to find light in a somewhat shaded world. It is true that the industry itself might be fickle, superficial and competitive but that is because the collective mantra is, “We love music, but we have to make money!” You can’t blame them. They’ve already told us that their god is Capitalism. It’s a free market, a free for all driven by faceless shareholders who want to see their investments perform. And I am saying this somewhat sarcastically, but also with a maturity of knowing this is the way it is. I don’t have to buy into it and that is what is truly liberating. I’m not a young pup with a dream of a big break coming around the corner. I’m a pragmatist with experience, who still believes that there are good people everywhere. You will always find people who work in the industry who really do love music and really do want to get it into the world. Unfortunately, it’s not their circus to run. I believe in people not products, so I tend to invest my energy in the intelligence of my audience and try not to get caught up in what the “industry” (whatever that might mean now) is thinking of what I’m doing. I’ve always been an outsider who came into mainstream success through the back door. It was the audience who got me/us there. Somewhere in this big big world there are people who will hear or see themselves in my/our songs and that’s where I’m setting my gaze. I’m looking for my tribal family to reconnect and say, “Hey I think you might want to hear this.” TWM: I can see you performing at festivals like Luminato this year, audiences would love it. Will you be taking the album on the road? LS: Presently, I am the Artist in Residence in the Regent Park area, and I have a whole slate of events planned over the year to bring some energy and attention to the area. I am also doing the editing and preparations for a workshop of my one-woman show that I’ve been working on, so I am hoping to perform a lot this year. If I were to tour, it would possibly be later in the year. But I will be doing one off performances here and there between my other creative commitments. Invincible Decency is now available on iTunes! Lorrainesegato.com ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Chaka V. is a writer, journalist and the founder of The Winehouse Mag.
The Buzz –“She Beat” by Cat Grant
The Bill King Show (CIUT) – Interview with Lorraine Segato http://www.mixcloud.com/6345789/the-bill-king-show-with-special-guest-lorraine-segatociut-895-fm/
Transcript posted:
http://fyimusicnews.ca/post/109189742027/a-conversation-with-lorraine-segato
CFMU (McMaster Campus Radio)- Interview with Lorraine Segato [No online link available]
The Buzz – “Cat’s Interview with Lorraine Segato” http://thebuzzmag.ca/2015/03/cats-interview-with-lorraine-segato I had the distinct pleasure of attending Lorraine Segato’s “Invincible Decency” CD release party, which was not just great music and fun, but an opportunity to see her influence on others as the inaugural Artist-in-Residence at Regent Park. She brought young talent onstage and it was an absolute treat. Inquiring about her start she explained,” I remember begging my mother to take guitar lessons so that I could learn an instrument and write songs. Songwriting was a way of making sense of all the alienated and impossible to understand feelings I had as a teenager. Playing guitar and writing songs or journals was my survival mechanism. In the early years it was not my dream to be singing or to become a singer, but then it became clear that somebody had to sing those awful early songs I was writing so I then began the long process of teaching myself how to sing.” Lorraine knew from this that she was “always going to be a creative”. In the mid-seventies she went to Media and Film school at Sheridan College. “I had announced to my chagrined guidance counsellor that I wanted to study music recording and she suggested I take a more rounded approach by studying Media Studies. There in my first year of college I chose to major in film-making instead of studio recording. It was at that moment that I realized I would be a creator for the whole of my life. Film opened my eyes to the larger world and deeply affected the way I made music. For the first time I understood that rhythm, colour, narrative, lift, and all the elements that made a good film, would also make a good song.” And good songs she has made! I asked her about how she met David Gray who has now produced “Invincible Decency”. “When The Parachute Club was in its earliest moments of getting together, we were looking for a guitar player who would play on our demo for the record company. Dave was playing in a whole bunch of funk, R&B, groove-oriented bands. I remember going down to a club and listening to him play and thought he was one of the funkiest guitar players I’d ever heard. He played on our demo and joined the band, and the rest is history. I have worked with him all through the years including all my own solo projects, either as a co-writer or a musical partner we are now in someway tied to each other in a long musical marriage. I’ve had two really important musical marriages. One is with David Gray and the other with my (recently deceased) co-founding partner in The Parachute Club, drummer, Billy Bryans. ” Lorraine gave Billy a shout out last night, and observing her interaction with her band mates, guests and audience, I was struck by her warmth and huge smile. There is a sense of humour she chided herself out loud for enthusiastically slinging her guitar over her shoulder before remembering it wasn’t working ” Don’t worry”, she joked” I am a professional !” Laughing, she shared with me a “particularly funny yet extremely embarrassing moment when we were playing the Dawson City Music festival . It was an awesome festival and you had to travel for hours and hours by all manner of vehicles to reach there. The sun doesn’t really set in the summer time in Dawson until 4am-ish, so people are up until all hours gambling in the saloon or hanging out. We were set to play a show and some workshops the day after we arrived, but because we were up partying we were pretty tired from travelling and such. Lauri Conger (the keyboard player) and myself had noticed there were a couple of bouncers who were arguing and trying to wrestle one of the guys to the ground. He happened to be a First Nations gentleman and Lauri and I thought they were discriminating against his entry onto the grounds, so we threw ourselves on top of the bouncers pounding and kicking trying to get them off of the poor guy. Lauri was yelling “Hey, you can’t do that. That’s not nice” . If you knew Lauri you would laugh because she is so sweet and diplomatic trying to talk sense into these bouncers while I’m on top of them like a frenzied maniac trying to pull a bouncer off of another guy. We didn’t stand a chance and when the scuffle was over, I looked up to see all the guys in the band and laughing at us and the whole crowd had encircled us and was cheering us on.”
Another embarrassing but hysterical moment that’s hard for her to forget was on tour in Germany on one of the biggest shows on German television. It had a viewership of millions of people much like “Top of the Pops” in Britain. They had some elaborate set for them that included many thousands of bubbles being spit into the air. During the rehearsal, the bubbles would naturally burst and the soap made the floors really slippery, so they were sliding all over the floor. “It was really quite treacherous and frightening”, Lorraine says, “So Lauri decided to try on her best German (that she’d probably learned the day before) to see if we could remedy the situation, because honestly who wants to die in a freak bubble accident on a German TV show right? So she goes up to one of the tech guys and says, Excuse me sir, Ich bin haben eina problemin wid di Blasen, or something like that and she is thinking that she is saying we are having a problem with the bubbles, but in fact she’s telling the guy that we were having a problem with gas!” Heading out taking a chance on her own after Parachute Club was both frightening and liberating for Lorraine. ” I didn’t really want to dismantle the band and do a solo career, but I could not see how to sustain the group through it’s challenges at the time. Now I would know what to do, but back then I was just tired and disillusioned with the business and the people in it and I just wanted to try something else. I also left not so much to start a solo career, but to go a journey of learning and further explore the other parts of my creative mind. In that piece of the journey it was liberating not to be defined by what I’d always done. The frightening part was that people had expectations about what they thought I should do or sound like or evolve into, and those projections were often uncomfortable because I had made a choice to walk away from my career right at the peak. It was a brave and scary moment, but it had to be done for me to become who I am now.” She is still an artist yes, but one who is now also a mentor. “I was asked by Mitchell Cohen who is the CEO of Daniel’s Corporation if I was interested in becoming the inaugural Artist-in-Residence at Regent Park. I saw how they invested not only the money to revitalize the area, but a great deal of emotional and financial commitment to supporting the residents, agencies and communities that live there.” Being able to see that first hand and see the commitment on the ground level was very appealing to her. “I just came in and listened and looked and tried to take the time to see what was happening there, to see how I might be able to come up with projects that might also augment and enhance what was already going on. I thought that would be a great project to take up, as it would allow me to continue learning and also allow me to utilize my contacts and experience to support what is already going on there. As a creator …one can never stop learning, that is for sure!” Lorraine will be there until January 2016, and is currently programming the 2015 slate of activities, “Two of the events that I began in December, The Legacy Salon- Spirited Conversations with Cultural Guardians, and the five-part Wild Women (Don’t get the Blues) will continue throughout this year. In all of those instances I am trying to incorporate as much talent as I can from the Regent Park area along with other performers.” Lorraine also joked about a question she keeps being asked – Why she waits so long between albums? “As much as I love technology I often find the recording process a painful one. I find I go into a mindset of being super critical and less spontaneous than I am when I am writing or performing material. Completion is always an exhilarating feeling. It is a feeling like not other, and yet I’ve been holding onto the release of this album for some time that I’m just starting to get that feeling now. Above all else though I love live performing. The connection to the audience is what does it for me.” She had been working on the one-woman show for several years on and off, along with other projects. The music started to arrive in a surprising way to augment what she was writing, and so then it became important for her to record as soon as possible. Lorraine has taken some risks as well. “Dave and I had talked for years about doing an Italian song. It was my very first language when I was a child. I was learning how to speak English as my parents were also. Once I’d learned English I spoke less Italian because my parents where wanting to practice. As years went by, the beauty of the language ] flow and the way it sounds has always evoked a memory, and a particular feeling in my body. Although I don’t speak Italian fluently now, I understand it quite comprehensively. I had always wanted to sing at least one song. But I also wanted to set it against an uptempo groove and I wanted to sing something that was really light and playful, so I wasn’t trying to take myself as a serious Italian singer. You know, to honour the language, but not pretend I was an expert at it.” I can tell you that that song was a big hit for the audience members, and many people want to know if she will be performing more live shows. She replied “Yes, I think in the spring I will start bringing out the music live, but I am also focusing on the moment in preparing the play to be able to workshop it this year. Both things will happen in tandem with each other, and can feed off each other too. “ So there you have it, there’s more Lorraine Segato on the horizon with many creative endeavors, which will make her many adoring her fans very happy!
HMV.com –“’The stakes are higher for me though not necessarily for my career…’ hmv.com talks to Lorraine Segato” by Kim Hughes http://www.hmv.com/ca/music/-the-stakes-are-higher-for-me-though-not-necessarily-higher-for-my-careerhmv-com-talks-to-lorraine-segato
One thing you can say for sure about Lorraine Segato: she doesn’t do things by half-measure. After keeping a fairly low profile for the better part of a decade – well, if you can call singing at the nationally televised 2011 funeral of Canada’s most loved politician, Jack Layton, keeping it on the down low – the onetime Parachute Club singer/songwriter is suddenly everywhere. Her new and third solo disc, the bouncy, ridiculously accessible and groove-goosed Invincible Decency – cut alongside long-time collaborator David Gray - finds Segato sounding at once cautiously optimistic and flat-out exuberant… not to mention eerily unchanged vocally from the days she urged us all to ‘Rise Up.’ She is now midway through a two-year, pilot Artist-in-Residence program in Regent Park, where her mandate as an ambassador is to shine a spotlight on Toronto’s once-troubled but gentrifying neighbourhood and to help “shed light on the artistic endeavours of many of the community members who are really talented and could stand some attention.” There are also various film and theatre projects in the pipeline, Parachute Club remixes and a cabaret show to oversee plus directing, speechwriting, producing cultural events and, well, you get the picture. Segato is very much at work. We spoke with the unfailingly affable singer about Invincible Decency, and why, ironically, social media might be the most organic way for reconnecting with fans. So Invisible Decency… 15 years in the making? “Ha yes (laughs). Maybe more like two years in the actual making and 15 years in the bubbling. There was a period back in 1996 when myself and a few other people in Parachute Club were doing gigs together. As we were jamming other music started to surface. That was also around the time we found out Billy Bryans might be sick (he succumbed to cancer in 2012) so we kind of shelved the reunion idea. But the song ‘Only Human’ started back then and went through many variations. David Gray and I just kept playing with that song until it landed in the form you hear on the record. ‘Living on the Outside’ was a song I’d play live from time to time but again, the fullness of that song didn’t really happen until a couple of years ago. It still seemed relevant and felt like it would fit with all the other material on the record.”
Does it feel like the stakes are higher because so much time has passed since your last solo record… or maybe it’s the opposite because you’re not facing a wall of expectations? “The stakes are higher for me though not necessarily higher for my career. That’s because I want to reconnect with my audience, not just because I haven’t put something out in so long. I mean, this stuff came about quite organically – I was writing a one-woman show and then the songs appeared and I thought to myself, ‘I have to listen to this.’” You’ve got some pretty hot players on the disc: keyboardist Chris Brown, drummer Mark Kelso… “I know, right? David and I did the bed tracks over a two-day period which meant that everybody had to really be on their game and able to get inside the feeling of the songs immediately. It was an amazing situation in a beautiful studio where we all got to play together. It’s was like the old days of Parachute Club – we just jammed together and things evolved.” Have you experimented much with social media? “I am still trying to find my authentic voice, so it sounds like Lorraine speaking and not someone hired to fire off messages. Although people have been finding me through social media which is fantastic and obviously very organic. But this is all very grassroots; there’s no big media plan. I am just trying to connect with the people I think would be interested in the music.” You sing a song on the new record in Italian… is that the language you grew up with? “Yes. It was my first language. I actually learned how to speak English at the exact same time as my parents. And I am trying to reclaim it. From what I could see, though, lots of Italian songs had this beautiful language but were lacking in the groove department (laughs). I wanted to nail a groove.” And are your parents still alive and able to hear this song? “Yes. They really like it. My dad was like (adopts rich Italian accent): ‘Oh you still know how to speak!’ Which isn’t exactly true. It’s a complicated language and I had to have a friend in Rome translate to make sure the lyrics scanned properly.” Younger listeners unfamiliar with Parachute Club might be more likely to recognize you as the singer from Jack Layton’s funeral, which pretty much the entire nation watched on TV. “That was an incredible moment… I was stepping outside performance and into public grieving. That event was so emotional and I was trying to deliver this song for a friend, Jack. It was a gateway moment for people to get to know me, that’s for sure. And not only did I have to perform that day but that was also my only opportunity to say goodbye because his body had been lying in state in Ottawa. I said goodbye to him just before the casket went on stage. I will never forget that day.”
ET Canada –“Canada’s Biggest Bands of the ‘80s: Parachute Club” http://www.etcanada.com/blogs/etc_130711/80s-fashion-flashback-with-menwithout-hats-and-parachute-club/music/ (incomplete segment)
ET Canada's series on Canada's Biggest Bands of the '80s wraps up tonight with a double whammy featuring Men Without Hats and Parachute Club. While they may be two different bands, they share a love of looking back at their '80s fashion sense. "It was all about the big shoulder pads and the big hair," says Lorraine Segato, the Parachute Club's lead singer. "There seemed to always be a lineup by the crimping iron," adds Lorraine's bandmate, guitarist Dave Gray. Well, their '80s style may have fizzled, but their music lives on. In fact, we caught up with Lorraine and Dave at a Toronto sound studio where they were listening to a remix of "Rise Up", and they reveal the original version didn't strike a strong chord with them. "It was just one of the songs," says Dave. "It didn't seem special at first." Lorraine adds, "I didn't like it that much to be honest with you." Shocker!
NOW Magazine – Review: “Lorraine Segato’s Invincible Decency” by Sarah Greene https://nowtoronto.com/music/album-reviews/lorraine-segato/#.VO-2AzbSmr8.twitter
Rating: NNN -Thirty years after Rise Up, Parachute Club's Lorraine Segato is still making us dance. Her third solo album and first in over 15 years is full of the soca-, funk- and reggaeinfused songs of affirmation and hope for which she's known. It's also almost a Parachute Club album, produced and co-written by longtime PC collaborator and cofounder David Gray. Numerous members past and present make appearances, including bassist Steve Webster, Chendy Leon, Vicki Randle and Rebecca Jenkins. Drummer Billy Bryans (who died in 2012) plays timbale on We Gave The Night Away. He also inspired the quietly mournful ballad Times Like This. Segato's soulful, distinct voice is charismatic whether she's singing high or delivering humorous spoken riffs, as she does at the tail end of endearing reggae jam Who You Are (Be What You Be). Her message is stronger on some songs than others - Stephen Lewis's reading of an Arundhati Roy quote on the title track is well-placed, as is d'bi young's poetry on jazzy closer Living On The Outside. At times Segato's writing could be stronger and Gray's production less dated. These seem like quibbles, however, about so sunny and feel-good an album. Lorraine Segato plays Daniels Spectrum Tuesday (March 3).
I Can’t Believe My Earz –“LORRAINE SEGATO -Invincible Decency” by Bobby Gottesman https://icantbelievemyearz.wordpress.com/2015/01/04/lorraine-segato-invincible-decency/ I started listening to Lorraine Segato way back in the days of Mama Quilla ll, a Toronto rock band playing the local club scene. I kept listening when she formed The Parachute Club. It was wonderfully exciting for me to have an opportunity to listen to her latest solo project,‘Invincible Decency’ prior to its January 2015 release. The album opens with “Only Human“, which gives us a great melody, a wonderful riff, and some way cool organ. “We Give The Night Away“, has wonderful harmonies, and what sounds like electronica. I like the reggae feel of “Hole In The Wall“, with its great vocal track, sweet harmonies, and a great bridge. There is a way cool offbeat groove to “All Went Wrong (At The Right Time)“, with a cool, bluesy vocal track, and organ. The changes are dynamite, and I know I heard a tambourine! I had to look up the translation to “Tengo Le Tasche Vuote“, which apparently means keep empty pockets. The song is sung in Italian, which I find molto bello, and I like the electric piano. The wonderful beat delivers a great Mediterranean groove. The social commentary of “Invincible Decency“, wonderfully Lorraine Segato, has beautiful Latin sensibilities.”Who You Are (Be What You Be)” delivers an incredibly powerful message over a great funk feel. “I’m Coming Back” offers more great organ, a dynamite melody, and sweetly simple guitar. “Times Like This“, one of the most beautifully touching songs I have ever heard, pays tribute to Billy Bryans, Segato’s friend and partner, who passed away. It delivers an emotional kick in the stomach, with a wonderfully sweet melody. The harmonies and guitar effects are incredibly cool. My favorite track on the album, “Living On The Outside“, offers way cool saxophone, some slick jazz piano, and a dynamite melody. The piano solo rocks, and the placing of reggae vocals over the jazz instrumentation,well, its brilliantly done. The track delivers a way cool jazz groove for the beatnik in all of us! Well, I didn’t really know what to expect from Invincible Decency, considering its Lorraine’s first release since 1998. I had asked her about the time between albums, and she said that she only makes a record when she feels she has something to say. Perhaps that’s what makes this release so enjoyable. I like what she has to say. I enjoy how she says it. Its been 16 years, but Lorraine Segato hasn’t lost the passion. Or the groove. And this album is all about the groove. Check it out for yourself: http://www.lorrainesegato.com/
Music Canada –“Lorraine Segato’s Invincible Decency” https://musiccanada.wordpress.com/2015/02/02/lorraine-segatos-invincible-decency/ Toronto’s The Parachute Club burst onto the scene in 1983 with #9 new wave hit “Rise Up”. The song nabbed the JUNO for Single of the Year. In 1985, “At the Feet of the Moon”, title track off the group’s platinum, socially conscious second album peaked at #11. Third album Small Victories in 1986 was to be the band’s last. It spawned #23 hit “Love Is Fire” which featured John from Hall & Oates. The Parachute Club won four JUNOs in all. The band, a collective of both men and women, successfully fused new wave, pop, dance, and world music, particularly Caribbean soca vibes. Lead singer Lorraine Segato, originally from Hamilton and of Italian descent, has released brand new solo album, Invincible Decency, her first in 15 years and a work that was two years in the making. The title of the album was inspired by a speech by Canada’s former UN Special Envoy Stephen Lewis in reference to the strength and perseverance of African grandmothers who were dealing with the ravages of AIDS and taking care of their grandchildren. Fans of the Parachute Club will recognize some of the world beats in the new album and of course Lorraine’s captivating vocals. It is perhaps more temperate than the intense, tropical rolls of the Chutes, and a little more laid back and earthy. We are super happy that Lorraine has, for the first time, performed a track in the Italian language, “Tengo Le Tasche Vuote,” which roughly translates to “my pockets may be empty, but I’m rich with friends, family and the joys that come from hanging and dancing with them.” “Times Like This” is a tribute to her former Parachute Club partner Billy Bryans who died from lung cancer in 2012. Upbeat opener “Only Human” has Segato reflecting on marginalized folks, curious about their stories. “We Gave the Night Away” was inspired by the thrill of sharing an amazing event in general and in particular her first view of the Aurora Borealis while performing at the Stein Valley Festival in Northern, B.C. “Hole in the Wall” examines the need for children to find a refuge from adults and their expectations of them. “All Went Wrong” explores bad occurrences evolving into opportunities to grow. “I’m Coming Back” is about drifting away from oneself and one’s dreams. “Who You Are” looks at the struggle between doing what you want to do in life versus what you feel you should be doing. Finally, “Living on the Outside” stems from an observation of a sudden rise in homeless people Lorraine witnessed in Toronto in 1995. iTunes
The Bill Carroll Show (AM 640) -Interview with Lorraine Segato
[No online link available]
The Ted Woloshyn Show (Newstalk 1010) –Interview with Lorraine Segato [No online link available]
What She Said (Sirius XM) –Interview with Lorraine Segato [No online link available]
Music Express –“Lorraine Segato –Invincible Decency” by Keith Sharp http://themusicexpress.ca/lorraine-segato-invincible-decency/
(Get Off My Dress Productions)
That voice on that song in that band will always make things difficult for Lorraine Segato to separate herself from her former Parachute Club, but in releasing her first solo album in 15 years, Segato gives it a shot with 10 tracks that evoke a spirit of social optimism while at the same time recapturing some of that magical Parachute Club soca percussive beat that made “Rise Up” such a Can Con classic. Co-produced and co-written by former band guitarist David Gray, Segato successfully recreates vintage Parachute Club-sounding tracks on cuts like “We Gave The Night Away, “Only Human” and “Who You Are (Be What You Be)”. Yet there’s also World Music awareness on tracks like the title cut; “Invincible Decency” and the dub poet spirit of “Living on the Outside”, infused by D’Bi Young’s spoken prose. If there is a slight knock it’s that Segato tries to be a little too ambitious here. “Her poignant tribute to former drummer Billy Bryans on “Times Like This” is an album high point but her Italian pop song “Tengo Le Tasche Vuote” seems a bit misplaced and other tracks like “Hole in the Wall” and her defiant “I’m Coming Back” seem at odds with the overall production. Still Segato succeeds in recapturing the spirit of former glories and her vocals are as magnetic as ever. Download: “We Gave The Night Away” “Times Like This”
Boom 97.3 –Turntable Tuesday with Lorraine Segato http://www.boom973.com/70s80s90s/2015/03/24/lorraine-segato-on-turntable-tuesday
Singer/Songwriter Lorraine Segato mostly notably from The Parachute Club joined Maie Pauts in the studio to chat vinyl, her upcoming projects and more!
Lead Vocalist and Songwriter of The Parachute Club, Lorraine Segato joined Maie for Turntable Tuesday! She talked about her favourite vinyl, her upcoming projects and more! Listen to the full uncut interview below:
Invincible Decency Album Showcase – March 3 –Daniels Spectrum
NOW Magazine –Invincible Decency Showcase featured in NOW’s “Tip Sheet” for week of February 26
Humble & Fred (Sirius XM) – Interview with Lorraine Segato http://www.humbleandfredradio.com/show-news/2015/03/lorraine-segato-march-2.html Canadian Singer and Songwriter Lorraine Segato
On the Mic with Rudy Blair (Rogers TV) – Interview with Lorraine Segato [No online link available]
CP24 Breakfast –Interview with Lorraine Segato http://www.cp24.com/video?clipId=562329
Monocle 24 Radio –Interview with Lorraine Segato [No online link available]
Daily Xtra –“VIDEO: Parachute Club's Lorraine Segato Releases New Music” http://dailyxtra.com/toronto/news/video-parachute-clubs-lorraine-segato-releases-new-music100079
Canadian musician launches first album in 15 years Canadian musician Lorraine Segato performs a track from her new album Invincible Decency at Daniels Spectrum in Torono. The Parachute Club's lead singer shot to fame with the release of "Rise Up" which continues to be an anthem for many movements. Segato, who is now Regent Park's first artist in residence, will be profiled in an upcoming video on Daily Xtra.
Daily Xtra –“Lorraine Segato Rises Again” https://vimeo.com/122135908
Lorraine Segato is releasing Invincible Decency, her first album in 15 years. The Parachute Club's lead singer rose to fame in the 80s with the release of "Rise Up." In the above interview with Daily Xtra’s Lucas Silveira, Segato discusses returning to early vibes of the Parachute Club and how her sexuality impacted her music career.
IN Toronto –“Lorraine Segato –Invincible Decency Album Launch”/Ticket giveaway for Wild Women (Don’t Get the Blues) https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.941101359235009.1073741831.124533840891769 &type=1
Getty Images –“Lorraine Segato Performance and Album Launch Party” http://www.gettyimages.ca/detail/news-photo/singer-songwriter-lorraine-segato-of-parachute-clubnews-photo/465201106 TORONTO, ON - MARCH 03: Singer/songwriter Lorraine Segato of Parachute Club performs at the launch party for Lorraine Segato's new solo album 'Invincible Decency' at the Daniels Spectrum on March 3, 2015 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Isaiah Trickey/FilmMagic) Credit: Isaiah Trickey / contributor
OMNI Italian – “A tu per tu con Lorraine Segato” http://www.omnitv.ca/on/pa/videos/4104020609001/
Intervista a tu per tu con la cantante ed artista, Lorraine Segato
FYI Music News –“Visible Decency” by Kerry Doole http://fyimusic.cmail2.com/t/ViewEmail/d/26D93D6F2BA52D94/9D043204598B11372540EF23F30FEDED
VISIBLE DECENCY - As the saying goes, there was a lot of love in the room as Lorraine Segato launched her long-awaited new album, Invincible Decency, Tuesday night at T.O.'s Daniels Spectrum in the re-launched Regent Park district. The venue was fitting, as the popular singer was recently appointed to a 2-year term as Regent Park’s 1st honorary Artist-In-Residence. The position comes with the intent to promote the 'hood's' cultural assets. She did just that in presenting local talents such as Thompson Egbo-Egbo, Shawn Byfield, DJ Subliminal, Trevlyn Kay and Mustafa The Poet. She also wowed her audience with a performance that left no doubt she has the pipes to heat an ice cooler, backed by an A-list band comprising Wilson Laurencin, Miku Graham, Michelle Willis, Rich Brown, Colleen Allen and Parachute Club guitarist (and Invincible Decency co-producer) David Gray. New tracks like "Only Human," and a tender tribute to late band mate Billy Bryans, "Times Like This," shimmered brightly in this intimate live setting on a cold winter's night. - Kerry Doole
Snapd Cabbagetown –“Lorraine Segato’s Album Launch Party” https://cabbagetown.snapd.com/event/816499#/ Parachute Club's Lorraine Segato kicked things off by performing a selection of songs from her powerful new album, Invincible Decency. The event occurred at Daniels Spectrum in Regent Park. She was accompanied by her band mates David Gray, Rich Brown, Wilson Laurencin, Michelle Willis and Miku Graham. There was also a great performance by Mustafa the Poet. The audience was filled with notable Torontonians and politicians, including Olivia Chow and Andrea Horwath. This was an amazing event for the community. Photos by Mike Carter
The Buzz Magazine – “Casey’s Review of Lorraine Segato’s Launch Party for Invincible Decency” by Casey Robertson http://thebuzzmag.ca/2015/03/caseys-review-of-lorraine-segatos-launch-party-for-invincibledecency/
When I recently had an offer to attend Lorraine Segato’s launch party for her upcoming album Invincible Decency, I enthusiastically jumped at the opportunity. In case you didn’t recognize the name, Segato is one of the founding members of the groundbreaking Canadian music group, The Parachute Club.
While many may recall her group’s memorable hit “Rise up”, winning a Juno award for best single of the year in 1984, and its later usage (against the band’s wishes) in a late-1990s McCain advertisement for rising crust pizzas, Segato’s music has always been much more than simply feel good themes of upbeat music with diverse aesthetics. “Rise Up” became an anthem and a positive force for numerous marginalized groups in Canada during the 1980s, and would later be chosen as a campaign song for the late NDP leader Jack Layton. For decades now, Segato’s music has continually reflected this same progressive sense to work together to conquer challenges and foster a sense of community.
This was my first time at Daniels Spectrum where Segato is current serving as the honourary Artist-in-Residence. As we entered the bustling centre, we were led to a large performance space uniquely setup for standing only with high-top tables dispersed throughout the venue. As the attendees began to enter, I noticed quite a diverse crowd; adults, both young and old, children and teens, all appearing very excited for the upcoming concert. Some were quite formally dressed for the occasion, while others appeared quite casual. Free mini-burgers, tacos, and boxes of jerk chicken with rice were offered to attendees, and a small bar was setup in the back which served a few types of drinks. As 8:00pm struck, the band which included Rich Brown, Wilson Laurencin, Michelle Willis, Miku Graham, and original Parachute Club member David Gray, entered the stage with a commanding presence. The performance embodied many of the elements of Segato’s earlier music, but with a fresh, modern context. The uptempo, eclectic tunes such as Only Human had the entire crowd energized, and participating actively, and Segato’s use of Italian in the song Tengo Le Tasche Vuote infused a new lyrical dimension to the music. Despite the venue’s considerable size, there was still a very intimate feel to the performance, almost reminiscent of an evening with VH1’s Storytellers back in the day, though with far more energy flowing through the room. There were many stories shared, and it was very much like a gathering of friends, both old and new. Local artists and celebrities casually interacted with those in attendance, while Segato’s mother was with the energetic crowds up front to dance along with her favourite songs. Also in attendance was her sister Carla, who had worked hard to arrange the event. There was a real community-feel to the night. To complement her set, a number of performance artists from the Regent Park area also took the stage throughout the evening to perform. These talented youth literally grasped the attention of their audience with powerful acts such as spoken-word pieces that projected highly personal and emotional stories that still managed to strike a chord and resonate with all those listening. One of the highlights was getting to hear Mustafa the Poet, who joined the band on stage at the end of the evening for a new elevating rendition of “Rise Up”, which had everyone dancing the night away. I must say that few musical events that I have attended projected such a unifying feel to them. It was clearly a memorable evening for all those who attended, which not only illuminated Segato’s musical aptitudes as an artist, but also her talent for skillfully engaging artists to work together in new ways which are bound to create positive reverberations in this city. While there is some video footage attached to this post, I might add that the video captured does not do the performances justice. The renowned composer Sergei Diaghilev once said that film could not capture the true artistry of a performance. Despite occurring nearly a century later, this evening was in a way quite reflective of this point. There was a collective energy present that night that one must experience in-person to truly understand and appreciate. If you have the chance to see one of Lorraine Segato’s projects, I highly recommend it, as you will experience an evening to always remember! Feature stage shot and video credit: Casey Robertson, All other photo images credit: Cat Grant
Twitter: https://storify.com/gatpr/lorraine-segato
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