In September 2008, my friends Dave and Chelle Stearns introduced me to the music of Karine Polwart. They had discovered her while studying for their PhDs in Scotland and suggested that her song Follow the Heron might suit my repertoire. Oh indeed.
Karin’s website bio describes her style this way:
“A former children's rights worker, Karine allows images, narratives, questions and wry comic asides to do much of her work. She tries never to say too much. And whether it's the dilemmas of modern parenthood, the unsettling kindness of lies, or the resilience of hope, she admits most of her songs are an attempt to make sense of the fact that "there are people in this world who don't think like you do" (as she herself sings in 2006 song "Daisy"). All of which is precisely the kind of sideways, allegorical approach to contemporary living that you might expect from someone with a Masters degree in philosophy.”
I recently heard her say in an interview on streaming radio (wish I could remember the source) that her song Daisy was written with her sister’s children in mind, the need to protect, teach, and equip them for life in this world, and avoiding cynicism. Poignant.
But Karine is not a pessimist. Clearly the “restlessly creative” artist is “gonna do it all.”
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