Alessandra Woodward
Special to The Morning Star
Cam Penner is one of those musicians who can haunt you long after the music has stopped.
There is something up-front and present about his lyrics and the gravelly tone of his voice – the words sink right into that place you thought was untouched, which is exactly his intent.
For folk music to ring true, the artist cannot simply regurgitate worn-out songs; they must live what their music is meant to portray, and in this way, Penner is one of the most authentic purveyors of folk music around today.
Locals can see, hear and feel for themselves when the Vernon Folk-Roots Music Society presents Penner at the Vernon Army Navy Airforce Club’s Spitfire Lounge Sept. 27.
With a soulful, honest sound, Penner conveys the dual nature of tragedy and hope that is intrinsic to a life well lived. There are equal parts past experience, present mindfulness, and future dreaming that meld together in the musical tales he reveals on stage.
Penner says he is inspired by the people who get up day to day and show their strength by surviving, and even thriving, through everything life has to throw at them. It is their raw honesty that inspires him to write and perform as he does, because those are the stories that matter.
Penner also reveals that his time spent working as a janitor also inspired his music.
“I would listen to the jangle of keys beat against my thigh as I moved that mop back and forth,” he said. “The beat would be different every time, and it never failed to strike something in me that I couldn’t get out of my head. I would sing that beat until I got home and could get it out into song.”
The resulting sound is uniquely his.
From his roots in a small Canadian Mennonite community, to his experiences in the unfiltered, rough-hewn world of homeless havens, soup kitchens, and women’s shelters, Penner uses the sometimes brutal, sometimes beautiful marrow of life to infuse his lyrics and music with feeling. He does this by refusing to shy away from the spectrum of light and dark, from memories of loneliness and seclusion, from hopes and dreams kindled on cold nights, or from being vulnerable in front of an audience of strangers. All of these elements continue to inform his own life and artistic expression, as well as inspire others to be mindful of the message contained within the medium.
“Being uninhibited on stage is important, and has become easier as I get older,” he said. “Honesty and vulnerability are important parts of my message, and my way of relating with the audience. Not everyone will like what I sing, but if they feel something, anything, I will have done what I want to do.”
One does not depart a Penner performance without some stirring of ennui, or joy, or grief, or humour, because he succeeds in reminding us that we are all traveling on the same road, no matter what our circumstances.
In this way, artists such as Penner and his musical cohort, Jon Wood, remind us of what it really means to experience being human.
Penner and Wood began collaborating artistically about eight years ago, and have been touring together for the last six.
“The challenge is for two people to create a symphony of sound,” Penner says of their collaboration on stage. “And it happens with us, because there is floor stomping, and ghosts in the background, and music, and creation. There is passion.”
Penner and Wood share a common quirk of abstaining from listening to their own genre of folk music, in order to not be unduly influenced by sounds they may not consider authentic to their own voices.
Instead, Penner says he enjoys the sounds of soul, Motown, and underground hip hop (perhaps a residual influence from his time spent in Chicago.) Some of these sounds have wended their way into his latest album To Build a Fire, released in 2013. His fifth album, Fire shows a steady progression of depth, musical enlightenment, and rugged honesty from his former releases. Penner’s 2011 album, Gypsy Summer, was nominated for a Western Canadian Music Award after debuting at #16 on the folk Billboard charts.
Those songs, along with his latest release, have garnered him a loyal following, especially in the U.K. and Europe, but the time spent crossing our own expansive country has paid off as well.
Having spent the summer touring festivals in Western Canada, Penner will be performing just a few more shows on home turf before he and Wood head overseas for a full string of European performances.
Penner will be joined by up-and-coming country artist Jesse Mast from Salmon Arm as the opening act at his Vernon performance Saturday, Sept. 27. Doors to the ANAF Club’s Spitfire Lounge open at 6:45 p.m., with Mast taking the stage at 7:30 p.m., and Penner at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased online at www.vernonfolkroots.com, at the Bean Scene, or at the door. (Members to the VFRMS receive $5 off at the door. Memberships are $20/year and can be purchased online or at the concerts.)
More information on Penner is available at www.campenner.com.
