For the past seven years, I’ve been working on an autobiographical project called Tar Sands Songbook. It’s a one-woman show about what happens when your hometown turns into “the largest—and most destructive—industrial project in human history.”
It’s also the story of my life. I was born in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada, the site of the world’s third largest proven oil reserve. As a teenager, I decided I would become a professional musician because music had “nothing to do with oil.” But when Fort McMurray shot to international attention as the flashpoint of clashes over energy, the environment, and the economy, I knew I needed to go home.
Tar Sands Songbook weaves together storytelling, original research, field recordings, photography, and a live, improvised musical score—played by me and Andrew Boudreau. I’ve gathered voices of elders, activists, oil patch workers, and members of my own family into an arresting meditation on our complex interdependence with nature and machines.
It’s a long-term labour of love—and my love letter to northern Alberta, a place that most people I meet will never see, but that has everything to do with how we live today.
Trans Mountain Pipeline Tour
I didn’t make this show for people in soft-seaters. I made this for people whose homes and families, like mine, are profoundly shaped by their intimacy with oil. This month, I’m taking the show on tour along the route of the Trans Mountain pipeline — about 1,150 kilometers (715 miles) from Edmonton, Alberta to Burnaby, British Columbia from November 20-30. And I’m bringing filmmaker Michael MacDonald along to document the journey.
Thanks to the generous support of the Canada Council for the Arts, I’m able to offer performances free of charge in partnership with community hosts. We’re performing in a retreat centre and a ranch, livings room and classrooms, a museum and co-housing development. See the list of tour dates below to reserve a seat—all performances are offered free of charge to audiences, with registration.
In towns dominated by extraction industries, it can be hard to talk about climate and environmental impacts. It’s intimate and raw, and there’s a lot at stake. But music and storytelling open an emotional window. It breaks the spell of the status quo, and serves as a catalyst for a different kind of conversation—from one rooted in connections, commitment to a livable future, and a renewed relationship to place.
Last month, we took Tar Sands Songbook for private workshop performances in Edmonton and Fort McMurray. The comments from our audience members help me know that I’m moving in the right directions.
I feel like a hypocrite because of pipeline company hat I wore to the performance, so I took it off and enjoyed the music and perspective that will keep balance in my mind on this Alberta journey. — Audience member at Edmonton workshop, October 20
November 2023 Tour Dates
Monday, Nov 20: Star of the North Retreat Centre, St. Albert, AB. RSVP on Eventbrite.
Tuesday, Nov 21: Private House Concert, Edmonton, AB. Contact Louise Casemore.
Wednesday, Nov 22: Entrance Ranch, Hinton, AB. Contact Entrance Ranch to RSVP.
Saturday, Nov 25: Nicola Valley Institute of Technology, Merritt, BC. RSVP on Eventbrite.
Monday, Nov 27: University of the Fraser Valley, Abbotsford, BC. RSVP on Eventbrite.
Tuesday, Nov 28: Museum of Vancouver, Vancouver, BC. RSVP on Eventbrite.
Wednesday, Nov 29: Cranberry Commons Co-Housing, Burnaby, BC. RSVP on Eventbrite.
Tar Sands Songbok Credits
Written, performed, composed, and produced by: Tanya Kalmanovitch. Dramaturgy: Katie Pearl, with additional dramaturgy by Vicki Stroich. Associate Producer: Louise Casemore. Artistic Consultant: Glynis Rigsby. Piano and Music Direction: Andrew Boudreau. Song “Though With Trying” by Sheldon Hughes. Logo Design: Wall On The Fly. An early version of this piece was developed with Cecilia Rubino.
I gratefully acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Tishman Environment and Design Center, The New School’s Faculty Research Fund, Futures/Forward and the International Center for Arts for Social Change, and the MAP Fund.
For more information, please contact Associate Producer Louise Casemore at lcasemor@ualberta.ca.
Glad to see the tour take off. All the best. Albertans, you’re in for a transformative experience!