Cherokee roots brought to St. Albert theatre

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On Dec. 10, amidst Christmas decorations, including a huge Christmas tree, singer Rita Coolidge strode onto the Arden Theatre stage in St. Albert dressed in a red crushed velvet pantsuit and white turtleneck.

Coolidge, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, made more than a dozen albums, one of which, titled Anytime...Anywhere, produced Top 10 hits such as 'The way you do the things you do,' 'Higher and Higher' and 'We're all alone.'

Coolidge, who is also a two-time Grammy award winner, is as well known for her music as she is for her marriage to singer-actor, Kris Kristopherson.

Coolidge, who was on a Christmas tour, performed a few of her well known songs, but mainly did traditional Christmas tunes such as Jingle Bell Rock and Silent Night. About halfway through the night, the St. Albert Children's Theatre Choir joined her on stage and helped her perform a few of the festive tunes. Her Christmas tour saw her performing in eight cities across North America. She was booked to do a New Year's engagement in Europe.

During the St. Albert performance, Coolidge, with long, dark hair flowing, spoke of her Cherokee heritage and sang "Amazing Grace" in her Native language.

"I will be releasing a new record on March 1," she said. "In it I wrote a song about my grandmother. It is called "Cherokee Rose." It is about my grandmother's life, about the wild Cherokee rose. I also wrote a song about a friend of mine who is a doctor. She is Lakota Sioux. It is about her life and what she went through. A while back, there were a lot of Indian children adopted by non-Indian families, and she grew up near the reservation and had contact with her people, but she was never given an Indian name. So the song is called "I Have No Indian Name." It goes for a lot of kids that are connected with their people and yet they are not. My Indian name has always kept me in contact with my people, which is Walela. The name was given to me by my grandmother," she said.

Coolidge is planning to tour with her sister and a niece. The group, called Walela, will perform songs with a blend of Aboriginal and contemporary pop influences.