Fred Penner grows with his audiences
Top Canadian children’s entertainer indulges Fredheads’ sense of nostalgia
Fred Penner With: The Awesome Hots When: Saturday at 8 p.m. Where: The ARTery, 9535 Jasper Avenue Tickets: Sold out
Nostalgia tours aren’t just restricted to our favourite ’80s and ’90s pop and rock stars.
One of Canada’s top children’s entertainers, Fred Penner, is also getting in on the action — performing some of his most cherished tunes, such as The Cat Came Back and Otto the Hippo, to bars filled with adults. In Edmonton, he’ll be playing a sold-out show to 149 fans at The ARTery on Saturday night.
“They’re already Fredheads; they’ve grown up with me,” says the 67-year-old singer and guitarist.
“They’ll make requests and they can be really, really basic. It’s like primal therapy, going back to a time in their life when the song had meaning to them.”
For Edmonton vocalist/guitarist Amy van Keeken, Penner’s music always brings back memories of her younger siblings. Her folk band, the Awesome Hots, will be opening for the Canadian legend at The ARTery, and perhaps playing some songs with him, too.
“Fred Penner’s Place was a (TV)
It’s like primal therapy, going back to a time in their life when the song had meaning to them.
Fred Pener
show that my brother and sister used to watch all the time,” van Keeken reminisces. “I was already a bit too old for it, but I loved the opening sequence where he goes through the forest, across the field, through the log, et cetera, to get to his special hideout. I thought that was pretty cool. He always seemed really kind and genuine. Caring and smart and fun. I am really looking forward to meeting him and to being a part of his adult show! The Awesome Hots are starting to write some kids songs and Fred Penner is definitely a big influence there!”
Don’t expect an “adult show,” though. Penner, who recently welcomed the arrival of his first grandson, doesn’t get X-rated and likely won’t even swear, but he’ll play some newer songs about discovery, about growing, from more of an adult perspective.
“I don’t want to leave the audience with just a nostalgic perspective of Fred Penner, but for them to see that ‘I’m growing with you.’ I’m following my audience through their lifecycle now, and many of that generation are bringing their children to my soft-seat concerts,” including a sold-out show at St. Albert’s Arden Theatre on Sunday afternoon.
For his older audiences, Penner also might rant about political and social issues — such as cutting arts education in schools or the interest rates charged by credit card companies.
“The government allows the credit system to charge 19.9 per cent, which is so abusive,” he says. “The government should be held responsible.”
Penner, who studied economics and psychology, at the University of Winnipeg, almost went to work for the man — as a civil servant. With the untimely deaths of his father and sister, who had Down syndrome, Penner decided to follow his heart, playing in bars, developing his style and honing his craft. He started a children’s dance theatre company with his wife, which led to albums, TV shows, Juno awards, and in 1991, an Order of Canada. After his CBC TV series, Fred Penner’s Place, was cancelled in 1997, he spent a few years out of the spotlight, then re-emerged with his first shows for adults in 2008.
More recently, Penner was inducted into the Hall of Fame at the Western Canadian Music Awards in Winnipeg. The ceremony, in early October, included a rendition of his song, Proud, by his four adult children.
“They tried to initially make it a secret, but it was pretty impossible; we’re always together,” he says. “So I did know they were going to do it, but it didn’t lessen the intensity and the power of their performance. There were tearful moments, certainly, throughout the course of the evening.”
While his son and three daughters used to perform with Penner over the years, only one has followed in his footsteps as a musician. Hayley Gene, also known as W. Darling, is a vocalist and songwriter in Los Angeles, penning tunes for budding pop stars and established DJs/producers such as Bassnectar.
The two recently performed their collaboration, You & Me, during his show at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
“She’s on a very cool journey,” says Penner. “She’s a very good lyricist and she has really good sense of melody and timing. She’s working hard and is on the brink of some major steps in her world.”
Could this lead to a whole new world for Penner — perhaps a dance remix of The Cat Came Back?
“She threatens to do that,” he says. “I think I need to get on it and just make it happen.”