Musician Lowry Olafson is on tour right now. There's nothing unusual about that, since the Gibsons' song-writer has had seven CDs released in his career and has frequently toured the country to give concerts.
But this time there's a difference: he will make 86 stops in a Canada Council funded whirlwind tour of B.C. and Saskatchewan in which all of the venues are schools. Olafson will be giving his workshop, From the Page to the Stage in One Day, to kids in grades 3 to 7. The kids come up with a song in the morning, and then sing their song before a school assembly in the afternoon. Olafson finds it a really interesting departure from his other work.
"Kids have so much to say," he says.
He starts the day by asking kids for their input for song themes. "We fill the board with song titles, then we vote on them. It's very democratic," he said.
He usually works on the melody while the kids come up with the rest. "If they give me rhymes like moon and June, I ask them to dig deeper," he says. "I want them to experience something in their hearts."
Often the process of creating takes up the whole morning. "Sometimes it's quarter to twelve and we have only one verse written. But we always manage to do it on time," Olafson said.
Then, all the kids sing together in front of a live audience. Some of the impromptu choir voices are good, some not so good, and all are recorded for posterity using only one microphone.
Last year, Olafson gave similar song writing workshops on the Coast. The children at Sechelt Elementary School came up with a powerful song about poverty, Along This Dusty Road, based on one child's visit to the Dominican Republic.
"My feet are sore, I've walked so far/ I have no shoes, I am so poor/ The tourist buses pass me by/ Along this dusty road."
Others, such as Gibsons Elementary School students, produced a song about bringing an end to war, entitled Sunshine Ends. The Coast's Alternative School chipped in with a similar theme put to a catchy tune: Freedom Isn't Free.Many of the children's songs are more light hearted and talk about topics that they can relate to, such as friends: Friends are Like Noodles (from a Prince George school) or fleas: Unstoppable Itch was written by Davis Bay Elementary School students.
Kinnikinnick Elementary School in Sechelt came up with Any Kind of Pie, in which they mention every flavour of pie known to kids, including a cow pie. One Saskatchewan school came up with an unusual title: 21 Ways to Bug Your Teacher. It gave Olafson a chance to have a brief discussion about what's funny in a song and what's hurtful. But he always tries to work with what the kids give him: in one case, in Prince George, they decided on a title: Hope is Like a Chicken.
"What do you do with a line like that?" he laughs. They went on to write a thought-provoking song: "Keep going, keep trying/ Never quit, keep flying." Olafson always talks to the students about not listening to the inner critic. "I encourage them to put up their hand even if it means making a fool of yourself," he said.
All of the songs written with the students can be read or heard by going to Olafson's website www.lowryolafson.com and clicking on the link From the Page to the Stage.
He intends for kids to see what they have created and what other schools are doing, then they can download the songs for their own enjoyment. Olafson's progress across B.C. can be charted on the same website, because as soon as he finishes the workshop he posts the new song.
This summer, he hopes to pick some favourites and produce a CD. Since the workshop participants own half the song, the money raised from the CD will go back to the school for much needed music programs.
