The Midland Cultural Centre is pleased to host celebrated Canadian folk singer Laura Smith on Sunday, April 15. The award-winning Cape Breton artist is best known for her 1995 single Shade of Your Love as well as her adaptation of My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean (simply titled My Bonny) which she recorded with Celtic powerhouse group, The Chieftains.
Baby career steps turned to self-confident strides when she recorded B’tween the Earth and My Soul in 1995 at the St. Mary’s University Art Gallery. The stunning result ignited a blaze of radio and television appearances, a tour, and a plethora of special performances.
In 1996, she won two East Coast Music Awards (Female Artist, Album of the Year) and received two Juno nominations (Best New Solo Artist, and Best Roots and Traditional Album). In 1997, she won a Gemini Award for Best Performance in a Performing Arts Program or Series. At the request of CBC radio personality Peter Gzowski, who was receiving a Governor’s General Award, she performed My Bonny during the Ottawa ceremony. Her heartbreaking adaptation of the Scottish chestnut had haunted the broadcast host since he first heard it. Of the evening, she recalls, “It will always stand as one of the great honours of my career.”
In May 2003, Laura received an Honorary Doctorate in Humanities from Mount Saint Vincent University on the strength of her songwriting. This was followed with an opportunity to perform the role of Marilla in Anne and Gilbert: the Musical during the summers of 2005 and 2006.
Tickets for Laura Smith’s appearance at the Midland Cultural Centre on April 15 are $20 each (plus taxes and fees), and may be purchased online here. Doors open that evening at 7 p.m. Smith will take the stage at 7:30 p.m.
For more information about Laura Smith, please click here.
