Just like the cat that made him famous, Fred Penner is back, and while there may not be any plans to see him return to television, it’s likely he’ll be coming to a folk festival near you sometime this summer.
Penner has already played in Vancouver and Winnipeg this season, and with gigs at festivals such as Hillside in Guelph, Ont., and Evolve in Nova Scotia, he’ll be kept busy into the fall. His first big hit, The Cat Came Back, came out in 1979 and he became a household name during the 13 years his show, Fred Penner’s Place, was on the air. Unlike Raffi, who he used to tour with, Penner stuck to the music that first endeared him to children and families across the country.
It’s those children — now all grown-up — who make up the majority Penner’s audiences today.
“That generation, from the Fred Penner’s Place era — ’85 to ’97 — they’re now the 20 to 35 group and they’re really keen to reconnect, with or without children,” Penner says. “It’s quite wonderful. So the majority seems to be that demographic, but some of them are parents now and very excited about bringing their children to meet me.
“There’s a nostalgia, but it’s also the energy being rekindled for the next round — so it’s past, present and future, all wrapped up in one.”
Until it was pulled from the air in 1997, Penner’s TV show always began the same way: The musician, in one of many outfits, travelled across fields and through woods until reaching the secret spot where he would crawl through a hollow log into his “place.” The idea, Penner says, was to help children understand his show was a safe avenue for them to explore the world and learn new things — somewhere apart from their everyday life. Fred Penner’s Place ran five days a week and for a half-hour each morning Penner would sing, dance and address his audience like they were right in front of him in the Winnipeg studio.
Although his stage shows don’t involve a hollowed-out log, the idea is the same.
“This is what I’ve always done,” he says. “From the beginning, it’s always been talking directly to the audience in a totally non-condescending way: ‘We are all in this together, here’s something I’d like you to learn and share with me, universal concepts — this is a shared experience.’ ”
That idea clearly resonated with his fans, because Penner says he still gets a ton of fan mail. Now, though, instead of focusing on Penner’s family — he has four children of his own, but no grandchildren yet — the letters ask him how to become a children’s entertainer. His advice: know why you want to do it. Unfortunately, Penner says, he hasn’t seen any recent kid-focused entertainers who understand their responsibility to both the child and the family, something he hopes will change.
“It’s a tough gig being a performer at any time, but trying to do it for children requires a serious philosophical base and really understanding who you are and why you’re doing this,” he says. “Ultimately the philosophy is: never underestimate your ability to make a difference in the life of a child. And if we can make a positive connection with that vulnerable spirit then we can affect adult attitudes and that’s really the bottom line.”
Clearly, Penner’s work affected a huge number of people — some of whom have gone into music, albeit not for children. At Hillside, for example, Penner will take the same stage as such musicians as Serena Ryder, Hawksley Workman and Dan Mangan, all of whom grew up watching his show.
“We’ve been crossing paths across the way and there’s just a wonderful energy seeing these people, who have grown up with me, who are now taking their music into the next level,” Penner says. “So that’s really my prime concern and delight now is reconnecting with them and making music with them.”
As for whether he can see any of them taking over his mantel, or even collaborating with him in the future, Penner is game.
“There’s certainly a positive energy to say the least, and perhaps that will evolve into somewhere along the way. And that’s pretty cool, even just considering that.”
Fred Penner performs July 24 at the Hillside Festival in Guelph, Ont. For more information, visit hillsidefestival.ca and fredpenner.com
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