In October 1989, I released my eponymous debut album with a live acoustic performance at a small but legendary Toronto music venue. One of the albums I'd been listening to before the concert was Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814. A few days after my concert - on this very date, October 23rd - Janet's team released Rhythm Nation as a single. I was thrilled! Here was Janet calling out racism and social injustice, making people think while she made them dance. As an indie artist making my debut, I'd opted not to put my political tunes on the Anna Gutmanis album in the hopes of getting airplay across Canada. I got my cross-country airplay, helped by the single Then Came You, but I didn't get the breakout stardom I'd hoped for. Janet, on the other hand, released seven singles from Rhythm Nation 1814 and all of them hit top five on the Billboard Hot 100. Even her brother Michael could never equal that feat. None of this is to imply that putting a political tune or two on my debut album would have made me famous. After all, the challenges facing a debuting indie Canadian musician are very different from the challenges facing an already-famous American artist, no matter the era. I used to half-joke that, to be female and a pop star in Canada, your initials had to be AM, not AG (think Anne Murray, Alannah Myles, Alanis Morissette)! I do believe, though, that audiences respond to music that is passionately written, recorded, and performed. And since recording my debut album, I have not shied away from speaking my mind musically. I am proud to have released I am who I am, Another Way Out and Inspire, which speak to the prejudices (and joys!) experienced by LGBTQ+ folks; proud to have released People (Got To Get It Together), urging citizens to rise up against brutal oppression; proud to have released Middle Of The Line, telling the story of women who perform endless unpaid household labour caring for children and aging parents; proud to have released - with Artists 4 Racial Equality - Breonna, a memorial tribute to Breonna Taylor and a plea to end police violence against Black citizens. I have a treasure trove of songs that have not yet been recorded in the studio, songs about climate change, animal rescue, homelessness - and also about love. As my greatest singer/songwriter hero Laura Nyro said, “I don’t accept limitations. I can use whatever I want to in my work. And that, to me, is freedom." Time and circumstances will tell how many of my treasure trove tunes get recorded and released. In the mean time, I cherish you, dear music lover, and I thank you for being a part of my journey so far!