Come By Here on Rogers TV Toronto!
Heather Hill and I perform our song Come By Here on Daytime Toronto on Rogers TV. See Elizabeth Baugh from Ovarian Cancer Canada discuss ovarian cancer and its symptoms as well as the event and compilation CD She’s Listening which Heather and I were a part of among other generous and gifted artists.
For more on the process of Come By Here and lyrics, visit my blog on the matter here!
For more information and to help or donate, visit Ovarian Cancer Canada.
🙂
New Show Announced: She’s Listening!
You heard it here, folks! She’s Listening at the Beaver! Are yoooooou? 🙂 Hope to see you in the new year! Join Kristine St-Pierre, Heather Hill, Jessica Speziale and Angela Saini and me at The Flying Beaver Pubaret as we once again raise some funds for Ovarian Cancer Canada– this time flying high at the Flying Beaver in Toronto! Come have some amazing food and fun-loving fundraising entertainment all rolled into one evening extravaganza! Ya! 🙂
She’s Listening II success: funds raised for Ovarian Cancer Canada!
She’s Listening II was a great success last week; they listened and we raised applause and funds for Ovarian Cancer Canada.
Thank you to my wonderful co-horts and beautiful friends (from left to right) Angela Saini, Jessica Spezziale, Heather Hill, Melanie Peterson
Photography: Cate McKim
And thank you to Life With More Cowbell for this recap of the show!
What exactly does Ovarian Cancer Canada do?
Ovarian Cancer Canada is the only registered Canadian charity solely dedicated to overcoming ovarian cancer. They provide leadership by:
- Supporting women living with the disease and their families
- Raising awareness among the general public and health care professionals
- Funding research to develop early detection techniques, improved treatments and, ultimately, a cure.
Ovarian Cancer Canada is funded by donations of the generous public and they could use your support. If you’d like to help, there are many ways to get involved; check them out here. Among the ways: you can donate directly, volunteer, create an event such as She’s Listening, participate in a hike, dance or walk. The annual Ovarian Cancer Walk of Hope happens this year Sunday September 7th in cities all across Canada. Find one near you and register on the website.
Keeping giving, everybuddy!
Let’s fill the world with kindness and hope.
love Kat xoxox
Come By Here!
Once upon a time I wrote lyrics which depicted experiences with Cancer of three people that affected me greatly. Of course there are more than three that have affected me, but writing about them all would create an epic song for which the music video would be a multi-ogy. So I highlighted these three. What to do about music? Enter the astounding Heather Hill who created the music and worked with me to finesse the lyrics and come up with a resounding chorus and title. Come By Here; it’s what the term “Kumbaya” translates to. You may remember the spiritual song Kumbaya from the 1930s about human bonding, empathy and compassion. During the songwriting process Heather had goosebumps, so we knew we were onto something special.
Foreground: Heather Hill’s goosebumps
Background: Heather Hill’s hitmaker piano
Then came along the brilliant Orville Heyn who helped to finalize the lyrics and music. It was with Orville that I went into the studio this past July to record the track.
1. My reflective self! 2. My mic and my notes!
3. My producer/vocal coach/director Orville Heyn!
The result? These are the final lyrics.
COME BY HERE
-Kat Leonard, Heather Hill, Orville Heyn
(c) 2013
I had an aunt with grace untold
A hefty laugh, warm hand to hold
You’d fall in love before you knew it
Her smile was bright, her humour sharp
Encouraging words dispelled the dark
She was gone before we knew it
Chorus:
Come by here
Come by here
Oh god
Come by here
Grampie fought the great evil abroad
He’s the old kind of brave we’ll forever applaud
He fought for light and liberty
Taught me I was never alone
Gave a young girl a place to belong
When all was done he fell to only one enemy
[repeat chorus]
I have a friend who’s fought before
The devil it seems came back for more
She struggles inside, you’d never know it
Like a buoyant wave on a frantic sea
She’s the kind of friend I strive to be
An army of hope she marches on
[repeat chorus]
In perpetual echo our lost live on!
Where can you hear the song?
For one, you can listen here on Soundcloud!
For two, it is part of an artist compilation CD called She’s Listening which is in support of Ovarian Cancer Canada! If you’d like, you can pre-order your copy for $12 here. If you’re in Ottawa on September 8th, you can join Heather Hill and I at the Walk Of Hope and hear us perform the song live then pick up your copy of She’s Listening! There will also be other artists from She’s Listening performing! Sounds like a hoot and holla to me! 🙂
For three, you can see the music video… once there is one! The aim is to produce the video this fall. Come By Here, all!
Love Kat
@Katbandoo
www.KatLeonard.com
Knowledge is Power!
She’s Listening!
OVARIAN CANCER – The Little-Known Killer of Women!
We the Four Winds Collective (independent artists Kat Leonard, Arlene Paculan, Meghan Morrison and Heather Hill) played a fundraising event for Ovarian Cancer Canada last Friday night with local artist Kelly Sloan at Bass Line Station in Ottawa, Ontario. Mike Anderson of CanadaParties.ca organized the event. As the Winds traveled the 401 east, we discussed our issues with supporting certain types of charity fundraising events. We agreed that we are not as interested in supporting organizations that are backed by pharmaceutical companies as much as we want to support the charities that are lean, agile and creative and not backed by organizations that serve to benefit from the illness and its treatments.
Upon arrival at Bass Line Station we met Lynn Griffiths, who has been an active volunteer for Ovarian Cancer Canada since losing her dear sister Ann to the disease in 2007. The Four Winds were pleased to learn that Ovarian Cancer Canada is not backed by pharmaceuticals and relies heavily on volunteers and donations to help raise awareness and funds for research. Lynn had all kinds of literature for us and she shared some incredible information.
When Corinne Boyer succumbed to ovarian cancer in 1997 at the age of 57 years old, she left an enduring legacy. Corinne’s husband, Patrick Boyer, created the Corinne Boyer Fund to advance ovarian cancer research and awareness. In 1999 the name was changed to National Ovarian Cancer Association (NOCA). In 2002 the name was changed to Ovarian Cancer Canada, and it remains a member-based and funded organization. There is a research chair at the University of Ottawa as well as one that was added recently in Toronto.
Every year, 2600 Canadian women are diagnosed and 1750 women succumb to ovarian cancer. What is most difficult is that there is no test to screen for whether you have ovarian cancer, and the symptoms are incredibly generic and subtle and very easily missed. And ovarian cancer must be treated early to increase the chances of successful healing. Lynn mentioned that one of the risk factors is ovulation, that the more you ovulate the greater the risk of ovarian cancer. So women who have not given birth and are not on the birth control pill could be at greater risk for developing ovarian cancer.
For more information, please visit www.ovariancanada.org.
What every woman NEEDS TO KNOW – or tell a woman you love!
▪ There is a lifetime risk of 1 in 70 that you will develop ovarian cancer
▪ Many doctors are unfamiliar with the signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer and fail to consider it as a possible diagnosis
▪ Failure to find the disease in its early stages is partly due to (i) lack of sensitive detection tests and (ii) health care providers and even women themselves may ignore warning symptoms
▪ A Pap smear does not detect ovarian cancer
▪ HPV vaccine helps prevent cervical cancer, not ovarian cancer
▪ Recent research has found that a large proportion of ovarian cancers actually start in the fallopian tubes rather than the ovaries. If you are having gynecologic surgery, ask your doctor whether or not removal of the fallopian tubes would be beneficial to you. For more information, visit ovcare.ca
▪ Pain in the abdomen is not necessarily a symptom of ovarian cancer – even if you have no pain, your doctor cannot rule out ovarian cancer
▪ Even though ovarian cancer is known as the “disease that whispers” the majority of women with ovarian cancer report symptoms, including women diagnosed at an early stage
▪ Ovarian cancer rates rise after menopause, peaking from age 60-75, although it can occur at any age
▪ The hereditary form, found in families where many close relatives have had breast and/or ovarian cancer, tends to occur at an earlier age
The Four Winds enjoyed a warm night of music and amusement with Lynn and the staff of Bass Line Station as well as friends and audience who came out to join us. We were thrilled to learn that many of the audience members donated very generously to Ovarian Cancer Canada and we were happy to donate proceeds of CD sales to the important cause.
Please do inform yourself about ovarian cancer and its symptoms as well as other insidious diseases, and please share information with your friends and loved ones. As the Ovarian Cancer Canada tagline states: Knowledge is Power.
Four Winds with Mike Anderson and Lynn Griffiths
And now, for your listening pleasure, please enjoy two of the Winds’ cancer-inspired tunes: How Long by Heather Hill and Fuck Cancer by Kat Leonard.
Be well and be informed.
Love, Heather and Kat
(Two of the Four Winds Collective)
KAT LEONARD 