Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
These are the words that fuel Janet Bates passion. These are the words that fuel her music. These are the words that give her a voice.
Canadian born Janet Bates voice has been compared to Joan Baez and Judy Collins in the past, but certainly has a quality of its own. At times her music has been described as traditional folk, having a touch of Celtic influence in her vocal approach, with some songs having a slight bluegrass feel to them. Combined with a feel reminiscent of the 60s, her lyrics are powerful and display her passion to pass along her message.
Starting from an early age, Janets music teachers noticed her spectacular voice and encouraged her to participate in music and drama festivals. When she was 13 she began playing the guitar, with her talents carrying over into high school where she regularly played in coffeehouses and was inspired to pursue a professional music career.
The war in Iraq marked the beginning of Janets musical approach. After attending an anti-war rally, she happened to read a brochure that contained excerpts of Martin Luther Kings Riverside Speech. Bates had long disagreed with the actions taken against Afghanistan and the plans for Iraq; and wanted to do something about it. Along with Kings immortal words and her husband, Kens encouragement, she began to write letters to newspaper and magazine editors and organize rallies. Following her husbands advice to turn her feelings into songs, it was not long before she had a number of meaningful tracks and was performing them for her friends. She hooked up with acoustic guitarist Gary Montesano and formed a trio and created the debut album A Time has come.
Although A Time has come was inspired from anti-war emotions, it also contained songs about relationships, love and life in general. It was played on various syndicated Internet radio stations around the U.S. and was featured as and editors pick on various music websites. The music also received airplay in folk music programs in over 39 states and provinces throughout the US and Canada, in addition to various stations in Europe, the UK and Australia. The song For whom was later chosen for the compilation CD, Songs for a Better Planet.
It wasnt long before her inspiration to write new music had taken over her soul, and it was time to create a new album. "The Colours Will Come Back" was recorded earlier this year, produced by Canadian folk legend and founder of Borealis records Bill Garrett, the album contains the folk and bluegrass sound that compliments Janets voice so well, containing songs that range from anti-war sentiment, love, and life.
The album has already made its mark with over 50 radio stations playing songs from the advance copy on their programs.
Martin Luther King once said, Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. These are the words that fuel Bates passion. These are the words that fuel the music. These are the words that will forever give us a voice.
Janet was a finalist in the Vermont Solarfest songwriting contest 2005 as well as a semifinalist in the UK songwriting contest. She has also captivated the interest of Thom Hartmann, (radio show host for a national political radio show) and has been on his show 6 times to date..
Hi Janet, we love your tunes, hope you are still charging forward in the good fight, American Soldier rocks and humbles...we believe you will like our songs. Cheers, John Caelan, quebb
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