The legendary Cougar Annie (see www.boatbasin.org) will be brought to life on Friday, January 29th at the Gabriola Coffeehouse (see event time, place, price) as Katrina Kadoski brings her original songs, stories and pictures of the person and place to us.

As caretaker at Cougar Annie’s Garden, in its spectacular setting of coastal rainforest in Clayoquot Sound, Katrina has in some ways inhabited the persona of Cougar Annie since she arrived there almost 3 years ago. She has connected with the land in a reflective way to Annie, and has a personal experience to what it might have felt like to be a young woman, in a remote place, with all the work, in all kinds of weather. Her show will provide a deeper sense of both the land and the pioneers who lived there.

The stories of Cougar Annie, who survived in the wilderness by her wily ways, having arrived on these forbidding shores almost 100 years ago, have been the subject of a huge repository of folklore. Katrina has drawn upon many sources as she composed her more than 30 songs and narrative about this colourful character and her unconventional life.

Having won a Rotary Music youth vocalist scholarship at age 9, Katrina has since become a skilled guitarist, songwriter, and has studied piano and banjo to accompany many years of vocal training, which include jazz, musical theater and opera. Her voice has been described as powerful, sweet, and unapologetic. Her debut CD of original songs, Whirlpools, was recorded in Calgary, AB and released independently in 1998. She has since performed in Canada, the USA, Ireland, and England.

Katrina is also working toward producing a recording of the songs on CD entitled Pioneer ballads and Cougar Annie’s tales.

Cougar Annie’s Garden is now owned by the charitable organization, Boat Basin Foundation. The Foundation works to maintain the heritage site where Annie eked out an existence for herself and her family, and stewards the surrounding 117 acres of remote west coast forest that has become the site of an educational retreat facility.

As well as drawing from her more than 30 original songs on this topic, Katrina will show a series of slides, both new and old, of the area, accompanied by narrative drawn from her considerable research on the area and Cougar Annie.

For more about Katrina, see her website at katrinakadoski.com, or her myspace page.

Event details: Location: Agi Hall. The evening’s schedule: 6:30 pm: set-up and jam. 7:00 pm: open stage. 9-10pm: feature. Admission is $5.00.

Tags: Agi Hall, Cougar Annie, Gabriola Coffehouse, Katrina Kadoski