WALKERTON – Amanda Rheaume “rang the bell” at Victoria Jubilee Hall Saturday night, April 22, in more ways than one.

First, she really did ring the bell. The crowd in the opera hall heard it. And second, she struck all the right notes for the appreciative audience.

The singer-songwriter, with five albums in 15 years on her list of musical accomplishments, comes from a long line of tireless, transformational organizers and activists, and carries this lineage forward in her ever-growing role as a crucial builder of Indigenous music infrastructure and community.

She’s a proud citizen of the Métis Nation, and of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. Her music comes from her heart, and the land.

Her 2013 album Keep a Fire was nominated for a JUNO Award and won a Canadian Folk Music Award for Indigenous Songwriter of the Year.

Her music speaks to people, just as the land and water speak to her. She sings what she knows – family, relationships, history and heritage – always heritage. And she shares it in a style that defies description.

Her music is folk, it’s country, and it has elements of rock, jazz, blues, and other influences more difficult to identify. Just when the audience relaxes into her smooth and melodious vocals, a foot-tapping jig will burst out, and no one is as delighted to hear it as Rheaume herself.

This show was different from the usual VJH fare, and at the same time, enhanced its reputation for unique, top-notch entertainment.

Next on the VJH’s busy agenda will be the County Towne Players’ production of Reunion Two, I DO … I DO, Friday, May 26 and Saturday, May 27 at 7:30 p.m., Sunday, May 28 at 2 p.m., Wednesday, May 31, Thursday, June 1 and Friday, June 2 at 7:30 p.m., and Saturday, June 3 at 2 p.m.

Pauline Kerr, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Walkerton Herald Times