Nunavut’s rock goddess rolls down new path

GREG YOUNGER-LEWIS

Sitting in her mother’s kitchen, Lucie Idlout scarfs down a mouthful of caribou eyeball with a broad, satisfied smile.

She’s not one to back down from something new.

In fact, as Iqaluit’s uncontested rock goddess, Idlout makes a good case for grabbing opportunity with abandon. She’s got a new album coming out, and if it turns out like the early mix she previewed to Nunatsiaq News, Idlout could find the big break she’s looking for.

But that doesn’t mean she’s forgotten Nunavut. Idlout flew home last month to relax with family and friends between recording sessions in Toronto, and do what she can’t do in the big city – like snowmobile bare-headed across Frobisher Bay.

“I’m just trying to keep it all in perspective,” Idlout said after two days of roaring across the ice and tundra. “I’m not a traditional person who spends a lot of time out on the land. [But] there is a stillness out there that doesn’t exist anywhere else. It reminds you of how small you really are.”

Idlout can’t be blamed for forcing herself to slow down.

She’s been riding a mounting wave of success for years, from winning accolades at the Aboriginal Achievement Awards as best female artist, to hosting her own national television talk show on the Aboriginal People’s Television Network.

She’s also taken her music business into her own hands. Idlout recently fired her road managers and booking agents, formed a new band, and planned a tour of Europe that will put her on stage in front of tens of thousands of people.

And that’s not all.

Idlout’s sassy heavy rock sound has caught the attention of four major music labels. Despite rejecting a record deal early in her career, Idlout is now juggling interest from U.S., Canadian and European companies looking to possibly promote and distribute her next CD.

The album, tentatively named High Heels on a Gravel Road, is to be released in the fall.

Idlout admits the new album will strike long-time fans as a mainstream departure from her debut CD, E5-770 – My Mother’s Name, known for its unique mix of quirky chords and snarly, spitting vocals.

On High Heels…, Idlout belts out melodies that stick in the listener’s head. Beneath her singing, she chugs on catchy, loud power chords on her guitar, backed by musicians who have helped other artists, such as Alannah Myles and the Headstones, on their way to regular radio play.

Rejecting any suggestion of altering her music to please the music industry, Idlout said the change in musical direction reflects her newfound ability to let other musicians give input. And, she doesn’t expect any complaints.

“At my shows before, you could probably count the number of people dancing on one hand,” said Idlout, known to bust some moves of her own on stage. “Now, I think you can expect a lot of people will be dancing.

“I hate to say it, but I think there’s more of a pop element to [the new songs].”

Idlout says Nunavut can take pride in helping her reach her goals. Over the years, she’s received financial support from the government of Nunavut’s department of culture, elders, language and youth.

Nunavut helps in other ways, too. Idlout finds when she feels like quitting, an e-mail message arrives from the North, and encourages her, “Nunavut’s own,” to keep going, which is what she plans to do.

“I think the most important thing to me is staying power,” she said. “I want to be able to write and be putting out albums until the day I die.

“If I’m 70 years old and want to write kids’ albums, that’s what I want to be able to do.”