Arlette Alcock

Arlette Alcock (born Arlette Christine Aida Brabant, 8 October 1958) is a Métis-Canadian folk musician, songwriter and social activist. Arlette is best known for performing her outspoken songs which detail the past and current challenges facing Metis and Aboriginal Canadians.[1] [2] Since 1997 she has released two full-length albums of original music under the mononym Arlette. Both albums have received extensive Aboriginal Radio airplay in Canada and the United States.[3] Arlette has been nominated for a variety of Aboriginal music awards in North America and won the Songwriter of the Year award at the Native-E Music Awards in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 2008.[4]

Arlette Alcock
Arlette Alcock Performing at the Nighthawk Aboriginal Arts and Music Festival in 2010
Background information
Birth nameArlette Christine Aida Brabant
Born (1958-10-08) 8 October 1958
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
GenresFolk, Country
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter
InstrumentsVocals, guitar
Years active1997–present
Websitewww.arlettemusic.com

Career

Arlette began writing poetry and playing guitar when she was a teenager, building a reputation as a songwriter. Her writing focuses on her Indigenous heritage, spirituality, racism and residential school abuse.[5] [6]

Her debut album Tribe of One was released in 1997. Her second album, Wolfgirl was produced by Grammy Award Nominee Gaye Delorme [7] and released in 2007. Both albums received airplay on Aboriginal Radio stations in Canada and the United States, as well as the CBC National Radio in Canada. [8][9][3] [10]

In 2008 Arlette won the Songwriter of the Year award at the Native-E Music Awards, [11][5] in Albuquerque, New Mexico.[12] She was nominated for Best Folk Recording at the Native American Music Awards the same year,[13] and her single "Her Suitcase" was an Honor Award Finalist for acoustic folk single in the 2008 Great American Song Contest.[14]

Arlette has been featured on the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network show Beyond Words,[15] is a member of the National Aboriginal Recording Industry Association[16] and has collaborated with many other notable Métis Canadian musicians including Cheryl l'Hirondelle,[17][18] Sandy Scofield,[19] and Janet Panic.[20] [21]

Personal life

Arlette Alcock was born in Trail, British Columbia on 8 October 1958 to Roseline Chartrand, of the Pine Creek First Nation of Manitoba and Raymond Adam Brabant, of the Little Black Bear First Nation of Saskatchewan.

Arlette is a Métis descendant of Blackfoot , Saulteaux , and Irish lineage on her mother's side, together with Cree and French ancestry on her father's side. Her parents were both Canadian residential school survivors. [5] [9]

In addition to her career as a musician, Arlette has also worked as a library technician for the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations, the Union of BC Indian Chiefs,[22] and the First Nations University in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.

Arlette is a vocal advocate for many social justice issues in Canada [23] [24][25] including missing and murdered Indigenous women (MMIW),[26] the protection of women's reproductive rights [27] and people living with addictions in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, where her mother died 1988. Her mother's story is referenced in the lyrics of her song Roseline.

Discography
Year Album
1997 Tribe of one
2007 Wolfgirl

References
  1. "Aboriginal Leaders and Role Models". manachihtowin.
  2. "Truths from the Earth". 3 February 2011.
  3. "Aboriginal radio most active list. - Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com.
  4. "Arlette Alcock - RPM.fm". rpm.fm.
  5. "Indigenous Music Awards". ima.functionfour.ca. Archived from the original on 2017-08-24. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  6. "Award-winning songwriter—and CUPE member—plays for AWG".
  7. "ARLETTE: Wolfgirl (Independent)". 2 October 2010.
  8. Lizard, Visual. "Nominees and Winners - Indigenous Music Awards". www.indigenousmusicawards.com.
  9. Music, CBC. "CBC Music - Artists". artists.cbcmusic.ca. Archived from the original on 2017-08-24. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  10. "Métis women singers, songwriters, storytellers of Métis struggles and perseverance - Aboriginal CKCU - 2014-03-23". CKCU.
  11. "Truths from the Earth". 3 February 2011.
  12. Keillor, Elaine; Archambault, Tim; Kelly, John M. H. (27 March 2013). Encyclopedia of Native American Music of North America. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9780313055065 – via Google Books.
  13. http://www.nativevillage.org/Messages%20from%20the%20People/NAMMYS%20and%20Aboriginal%20Music%20Awards/2008%20Native%20American%20Music%20Awards.htm
  14. "FINALISTS 2008 - Great American Song Contest". www.greatamericansong.com.
  15. "Beyond Words". TVGuide.com.
  16. "MEMBERSHIP – NARIA". www.esp-sostenible.org. Archived from the original on 2017-08-24. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  17. Pechawis., Archer. "Cheryl L'Hirondelle". www.firstvisionart.com.
  18. http://www.pavedarts.ca/galleries/21/21_artist_bio.pdf
  19. Music, Manitoba. "The Aboriginal Music Lab in Vancouver".
  20. "Women of the Coast! Janet Panic hosts 10 female singer songwriters, including: Skye Wallace , Sister Says, Lindsay May, Caitlin Toom, Arlette Alcock, Jillian Lebeck, Kaya Fraser, & Many More! @ Railway Club - Jul 17, 2011 Vancouver BC". livevan.com.
  21. "4REAL". www.4real.com.
  22. https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/ubcic/pages/1440/attachments/original/1484861488/24_ubcic_ourfuture.pdf?1484861488
  23. eMinor. "Show at CUPE BC's Aboriginal Gathering and Human Rights Conference". ReverbNation.
  24. "Truth and Reconciliation Commission update: Bamoseda report - 680 NEWS". 1 October 2010.
  25. "IT Application".
  26. "Nathalie Bertin". nathaliebertin.blogspot.ca. Archived from the original on 2017-08-28. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  27. http://www.arcc-cdac.ca/action/notable-canadian-women-oppose-motion312.pdf
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