What an absolute thrill to meet Mr. Penner face-to-face. I ran up to him, both of us opening our arms to each other, and we met one another with a great big hug!
At one point, while I was watching the first half of his performance, I got a bit emotional under my massive sunglasses (and again as I wrote this blog). I was getting to see what felt like an old friend, I got to meet one of my first friends from childhood! It is kind of like revisiting your childhood, seeing yourself as a little one again through the excitement of the new generation of little ones. There is something sacred about these moments :-)
For those who don't know, Fred Penner is a Canadian Children's Entertainer, who continues to make a wonderful impact on children with his career, spanning over 30 years now. With his guitar, he sings happy songs like "The Cat Came Back".
Who spent their childhood wondering where this log was? I wanted to crawl through it and find this fun forest!
I have two sides to my performance life. As you can clearly see, I enjoy wearing fishnets, sequins, massive heels, and entertaining adults in a mature manner. This feeds me creatively and is a lot of fun... but there's that side where my heart explodes and I get to laugh and dance around while playing my accordion for children. Performing for kids is pure bliss for me.
The kids were so much fun. They loved my accordion, and I made sure they could play a note or two or three, and see what this instrument is all about. So many buttons! Along with some great little dance parties, we had some pretty good chats too.
I've met many rockers, actors, musicians, performers, entertainers, and Mickey Mouse of course, and it doesn't usually faze me, but Fred Penner had me starstruck. I was at a loss for words. Instead, I found myself staring deep into his kind eyes. I'd love for him to know that I love him, that I love performing for children, that entertaining children is a gift and an honour, that he is such an inspiration to me, and getting to perform on stage with a childhood hero is BEYOND AMAZING!!!
I was invited up to play a few songs, including "The Cat Came Back", and enjoy all the little smiling faces looking up at us.
THANK YOU to the first annual Island Children's Festival for having me, I had such a great time playing for and chatting with all the kids, and THANK YOU Fred Penner for having me on stage and for being so wonderful :-) What a thrill!!!
