Episode 103: I Pity the Country – The Life and Legacy of Willie Dunn

After a long winter hibernation, The Rebel Beat is finally back and ready to roll out some new episodes this spring!

On this episode, we had the pleasure of speaking with Lawrence Dunn, the son of the late folk singer Willie Dunn. Willie Dunn was of mixed Scottish/Irish and Mi’ma’ki ancestry, and wore many hats throughout his prolific career. He was a powerful anti-colonial songwriter, a film director, an activist, and even took a run for elected office once. Some say that his music didn’t get the attention that it deserved during his career, but now his son Lawrence Dunn has teamed up with Light in the Attic records to release an anthology of Willie’s work, “Creation never sleeps, Creation never dies“. Lawrence joins us for a heart-felt discussion on his father’s music, activism and legacy.

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Playlist

Willie Dunn – Charlie

Willie Dunn – The Ballad of Crowfoot

Willie Dunn – The Carver

Willie Dunn – O Canada!

Willie Dunn – Louis Riel

Willie Dunn – Broker

Willie Dunn – I Pity the Country

Willie Dunn – The Pacific

Further resources

The Rebel Beat episode 013 – Native North America

The Ballad of Crowfoot (1968 film, National Film Board)

Theme music for the Rebel Beat by Cee from Test Their Logik

The Rebel Beat podast 013 – Native North America

LITA103_Highres

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We’re very excited to bring you this week’s podcast of The Rebel Beat, which offers a special feature on the amazing “Native North America (Vol. 1)” which came out on Light in the Attic records last November. Light in the Attic has put out some amazing reissues over the years, but this one is a powerful reflection on older Native folk tunes which speak to issues of decolonization, spirituality, love, and rock n’ roll.

From the Light in the Attic website;

Largely unheard, criminally undocumented, but at their core, utterly revolutionary, the recordings of the diverse North American Aboriginal community will finally take their rightful place in our collective history in the form of NativeNorth America (Vol. 1): Aboriginal Folk, Rock, and Country 1966–1985. An anthology of music that was once near-extinct and off-the-grid is now available for all to hear, in what is, without a doubt, Light In The Attic’s most ambitious and historically significant project in the label’s 12-year journey.

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