To tens of millions of Canadians and music lovers around the world, he was the late, great Gordon Lightfoot. To Meredith Moon, he was simply 鈥楧ad鈥.
The youngest of Lightfootsa国际传媒 six children, Moon, 31, has followed in her fathersa国际传媒 footsteps as a singer-songwriter and a travelling musician.
She will bring her talents to the Dream Caf茅 in downtown Penticton on Wednesday, July 31.
In a phone interview from Edmonton earlier this week, Moon said being the daughter of the man many consider to be the greatest Canadian songwriter who ever lived, has presented its share of challenges.
However, she deeply admired her Dad and looked up to him much more as a good father than a musical mentor.
鈥淚 always did have and I still do maintain a healthy amount of cognitive dissonance about my Dad and his music,鈥 she said. 鈥淪o I don鈥檛 think I ever fully realized just how popular and important he was. I honestly think the work that my Dad did is definitely something to acknowledge. His music is incredible and everything, but to me he will just always be my Dad and I honestly hope I don鈥檛 ever fully realize my Dad is Gordon Lightfoot.
鈥淭o me, I keep, you know, a healthy amount of space from those two different personas.鈥
While this will be her first time performing in Penticton, Moon said she has nothing but fond memories of this city and the Okanagan Valley in general as she came here as a teenager to pick cherries and enjoy the beach and sunshine on top of all the other wonderful things this area of the country has to offer. 鈥淚 have fond memories of Penticton,鈥 she said.
鈥淚 came there at 18 or 19 to pick cherries and we had a great time. Itsa国际传媒 a beautiful part of Canada and the world.鈥
Growing up with the man who wrote and performed The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, Rainy Day People, Early Morning Rain, If You Could Read My Mind, Canadian Railroad Trilogy and Carefree Highway in front of millions of fans across Canada and around the world was interesting, but she repeated her fondest memories of her Dad will be the times they spent together as father and daughter.
鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 say I was constantly surrounded by music,鈥 she said. 鈥淒ad did a pretty good job of keeping his professional life separate from his family life. Of course, I heard him playing music when I was growing up, but I sort of went off on my own and got into different kinds of music, where eventually I landed on folk music.
鈥淭heresa国际传媒 no telling if I would have taken the path to music or not. I know a lot of people who don鈥檛 have musical parents and end up doing music.鈥
Moon learned to play the guitar t age 14, then added the Appalachian dulcimer and has spent the past few years writing most of her songs on a clawhammer banjo.
鈥淚 sort of wanted to learn the banjo, because, to me, it best represented Americana music, more than other instruments,鈥 she said. 鈥淭o me, there isn鈥檛 another instrument that carries the same historical weight.鈥
Moon has made a living as a musician for just over a dozen years and considers herself fortunate to have a strong enough audience to continue to do what she loves.
While Canadian fans are amongst her most loyal, shesa国际传媒 also grown her audience around the world.
鈥淚 play a lot in Canada, basically all of North America, as far down as Costa Rica,鈥 she said. 鈥淚鈥檝e done Europe and the United Kingdom twice in the past few years.鈥
Her latest recording of original tunes is called Constellations, which was released in March of 2023.
鈥淭his one features eight original songs and two traditional tunes,鈥 she said. 鈥淚tsa国际传媒 sort of a point in my career when I only release original music.鈥
She also just finished recording a brand new album in the past few weeks.
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 even have a name yet,鈥 she said.
Her show in Penticton will feature most of the Constellations album, as well as a few of her new unreleased tunes and a 鈥渁 lot 聽of traditional tunes on banjo,鈥 she said.
Her good friend, fiddle player Tony Allen will be accompanying her on this tour of Western Canada.
While music like hers will never be played on most public radio, the reality is a lot of music fans, including many older fans who grew up listening to her fathersa国际传媒 music, are returning in droves to listen to traditional, folk and Americana music, she said.
鈥淭here really has been quite the resurgence,鈥 she said. 鈥淚鈥檝e been doing it long enough to remember when this kind of music wasn鈥檛 popular. Itsa国际传媒 nice now that theresa国际传媒 now a bigger audience.鈥
The adrenaline boost you get when you hit the stage to play live music never diminishes for her, she said.
鈥淚 would say the rush never really goes away for me,鈥 she said. 鈥淎s a musician and other musicians I鈥檝e talked with, the highest point in your career is to play to a roomful of people who actually want to hear what you鈥檙e doing. The novelty never wears off.
鈥淚 never lose my gratitude, whether theresa国际传媒 five people or 200, I feel a great amount of gratitude for people being there at all.鈥
As for her future, Moon hopes to follow in her fathersa国际传媒 footsteps and be a performing musician her entire adult life.
鈥淚鈥檒l be doing this as long as my body allows me to,鈥 she said.
Tickets for Wednesdaysa国际传媒 show at the Dream Caf茅 at $30. The show begins at
8 p.m.
