They say that home is where the heart is...
... I guess they're right. Welcome to:
Pete's U.S. Connie Kaldor Site
UPDATED OCTOBER 4, 2007
A
little "corner" of Saskatchewan here in the States!
Welcome one and all to conniekaldorusa.com. If you're new to Connie Kaldor's music and are wondering why we're all here, click on "Introduction" in the left frame.
Scroll down to read the latest news and events...
NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS
Click on one of the articles below to jump right to it.
Connie is named a member of The Order of Canada
Find out how to download Connie's latest song -- currently only available on the Internet.
Kaldor fans join the YouTube craze, plus info on a classroom webcast of "A Duck In New York City."
AOL offers Connie's children's songs on it's kids-friendly branch, KOL.
Remeber "@Wood River Hall" and Live Tracks? We still got 'em.
CONNIE AWARDED CANADA'S HIGHEST CIVILIAN HONOR
2007
marked the 40th anniversary of the creation of The Order of Canada honor.
The medal awarded is not only symbolic of the achievements of the citizen it is
pinned on, but also of the pride and determination of the Canadian public
to strive for excellence themselves and to make their homeland a better place.
As it is circumscribed around the maple leaf on the medals, "DESIDERANTES MELIOREM PATRIAM" -- Latin for "they deserve a better country."
Each year, medals are awarded to 215 Canadians (as well as 5 honorary awards to non-citizens.) In 2007, Connie Kaldor was recognized for her achievements in bettering Canada through her music and her charitable contributions, as well as through laughter and lasting impression of good will.
Connie was pronounced a "Member" of the Order of Canada, one of the three which recognizes, according to the Governor General of Canada's website, "a lifetime of distinguished service in or to a particular community, group or field of activity."
Governal
General Michaëlle Jean cites Connie's songwriting
and iconic presence on the Canadian folk
scene as her credentials for the honor. She also highlights Connie's cultural ambassadorship for Western Canada and
The Prairies to the rest of Canada and the world. Her Honor also points out that this is not
the end-all crowning achievement, stating
that "she continues to inspire and entertain."
Connie Kaldor, C.M., B.F.A., as you may now address her, makes a similar assessment of her career in an entertaining article by Maria Cootauco of The Regina Leader-Post from February 22, a day after her honor was formally announced. You can read the article by clicking HERE.
She will be awarded with the medal itself during a ceremony at Ottawa's Rideau Hall on October 26.
Click HERE for the official Canadian Government Website for the Order of Canada.
Congrats to Connie from all her fans and us here at CKUSA. After her Queen's Golden Jubilee medal, her Saskatchewan centennial award and meeting Elizabeth II in the flesh, can "Dame Connie Kaldor" be far behind...?
As mentioned before, Connie is gathering up new ideas for her next album as if she were a combine in the middle of a Saskatchewan wheat field. As a sneak preview, you can download and hear one of those songs right now at eMusic. "Sweet as Okanagan Peaches" is an ode to the beautiful British Columbia valley where one may find such a delectable fruit, as well as the nearby Rocky Mountains and a certain someone waiting there...
The song
has it origins around late 2006. As described by husband and fellow
musician Paul Campagne, they were driving through the Rocky Mountains from
British Columbia to their next gig in Alberta. In transit, Connie grabbed
a ukulele and wrote the song in that one trip. At the next gig to Paul's
surprise, she debuted the song and he and Bill Gossage had to keep up without
any rehearsal!
"Sweet as Okanagan Peaches", which was titled by a friend of hers from New Jersey (and they know from peaches as well...) has become a fun new staple at Connie's shows, and it's a rare, if not the only instance where Connie plays the ukulele on a song, both live and on the record.
Click HERE or on the peaches to visit the eMusic "Peach" page. You can start a trial membership and download a bunch more of Connie's music as well as your choice from hundreds of thousands of other songs in all types of music. While there, also look for the hilarious "Sarah Pipkin's Pimple" performed by Connie and written by Davy Gallant and Michelle Campagne from their album, The Fabulous Song.
WOULD YOU APPEAR HALF-NAKED ON THE WEB SINGING ABOUT A POODLE?
Well, I
hope THAT got your attention. And while I know what
the answer would be
for most of you, there's one devoted fan out there who has done just that (and
it's NOT me, I swear.) With the growing popularity of YouTube, fans of
Connie have started to add their tributes to the enormous library of videos the
site has to offer, 
including our showering friend lip-synching his love for Fifi,
the "Poodle In Paris." I wonder why he cut out the can-can parts
of the song -- though I suppose it is slightly dangerous to try a high-kick in
the bathtub...
Click HERE or, if you dare, on our Fifi-wannabe to visit YouTube with videos celebrating and featuring Connie.
Also
currently playing: a classroom presentation by Connie
and Paul of "A
Duck In New York City." This webcast was aired live across schools in
Broward County, Florida on November 17, 2006. Watch over an hour of songs,
readings from the book and questions from the audience. Click HERE
or on the photo to visit the Becon Videoconferencing site. After registering for free, you
can watch any of their available webcasts.
Now, here's my challenge to you. We need to expose more of Connie's music as well as the creativity of her fans. Go out there with your video camera and create a music video to be shown on YouTube. Write me or Connie about it, we'll take it look, and if I'm personally impressed, I might send you a small prize. Now go charge those battery packs and do us proud!
WHAT DOES THE 'K' STAND FOR IN 'KOL?'
No, not
"Kaldor", but it might as well. It actually stands for
"Kids Online", AOL's child-friendly web center with all sorts of fun
media and activities. As far as music is concerned, there are only a few
choice albums to select from. Among familar figures like The Wiggles and
Barbie, there's this diminutive 
yellow waterfowl creature about to break into
his little ducky dance. It's Connie's "Duck In New York City",
and AOL has saw fit to include it in it's very exclusive collection of albums
for kids to listen to! It's not that surprising considering The Secret
Mountain has released both of Connie's children's books with Juno-award winning
CD's in the United States. They can now be found in many bookstores,
record shops and even libraries across America.
Kudos to Time-Warner for their inclusion of "Duck" on KOL, which you can view and hear by clicking HERE or on the logo.
WOOD RIVER HALL AND LIVE TRACKS
Oh yeah, remember those? Well, we've still got them -- and now finally updated featuring Bruce Cockburn as Connie's special guest on @ Wood River Hall, presenting "Postcrads from Cambodia", and Connie's live rendition of "Whistle Gone". Find them at Featured WRH Performance and Featured Live Performance. Enjoy.
And that's the news. You can be notified of news and updates by subscribing to our mailing list. Write me at:
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