Media Club and Showcase '99 featured Laura Langstaff

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Saskatchewan-born singer-songwriter, Laura Langstaff, performed at the City Media Club in Edmonton on Oct. 14. Her voice, the style of which is a close blend of Joni Mitchel and Sylvia Tyson, delivered her music with raw emotion. Langstaff's music, which she writes as well as performs, is based on her Metis culture.

Langstaff put her singing career on hold to raise four children, one of whom is a son with multiple disabilities.

"When the kids were young I asked the Creator to bless my music. I promised him if he kept me from being just another Aboriginal statistic that I'd do something about it," said Lanstaff. "And just as I prayed for, when my kids were all grown, my music career started to pick up," she said.

As an entertainer, Langstaff has a long list of professional accomplishments to her name. Some of the places she's performed are the Edmonton's Dreamspeaker's Festival, the Louis Riel Gala in Ottawa, New York City's Carnegie Hall, and Sarah McLachlan's 'Lilith Fair.' She has also opened for performers Valdy, and Tom Jackson.

For Langstaff, the highlight of her career was when she performed in New York.

"I was invited to go and perform in Carnegie Hall. We played to a packed audience and all of a sudden I thought 'wow, here I'm singing here,'" said Langstaff. "Carnegie Hall was everything anyone said about it and more," she said.

In 1994 Langstaff co-wrote the song Coming Home that was used in the soundtrack of a historical documentary about the battle of Batoche.

Coming Home later became the theme for the 1995 International Year of the Family in Saskatchewan.

Langstaff's back-up group, called Summer Sage, includes three women, Deb Coulter, Janice Friedel and Cathy Long. The group uses a hand drum, Aboriginal percussion and a harmonica to even out the musical score.

Although Langstaff has performed at several venues throughout Canada, she does not yet have an album out.

"I plan to have a CD out in January sometime," said Langstaff. "I've been asked a lot about my music and where to get a tape or CD. I'm really excited about having one out there," she said.

Langstaff was also in Edmonton for Showcase '99, an annual arts marketing conference that encourages entertainment groups to book Canadian artists.