Canadian Indigenous singer/songwriter RAVEN REID releases Waiting For Change LP
Raven Reid has released her debut album Waiting For Change, via Merilainen Music and on all digital platforms. Making music has been her primary method of healing, and the eight songs on Waiting For Change pull no punches, offering a powerful glimpse into not only her own life as an Indigenous woman but also the lives of the many just like her who have struggled to find their voices in the face of addiction, suicide, domestic violence, and discrimination.
Working with producer Marc Merilainen (NADJIWAN), the focus is placed squarely on framing Raven’s hard-hitting lyrics with simple but dramatic arrangements, as heard on the previously released singles “The Government Song” and “A Johnny Cash Night.” Other tracks such as “Bruises” and “For Kelly”—a tribute to the late Indigenous pop star Kelly Fraser—document years of hardship, yet the strength and beauty Raven displays in her performances are undeniably life-affirming.
She explains,
“All my life I’ve had my voice stopped or silenced, so music is a way for me to be able to speak out loud about my life. These songs give validity to the trauma and also triumph of overcoming the past, the present and the future obstacles I’ll face as an Indigenous woman. Waiting For Change is just that, I’m waiting for the music to change my world.”
Born in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, and a member of the Mikisew First Nation in Alberta, Raven was a victim of the Canadian government’s “Sixties Scoop” policies that took Indigenous children from their birth parents and placed them into the child welfare system, making them eligible to be adopted by white families. In Raven’s case, she was raised in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan where her artistic journey began at age six with short stories and poetry that she eventually turned into songs once teaching herself how to play guitar.
Now based in Saskatoon, she has become a notable figure in Saskatchewan through sharing her stories in song, and as a public speaker engaged in inspiring young people and other Sixties Scoop survivors.