Fred Penner concert to bring timeless message

By Laureen F. Guenther Times Contributor

Fred Penner, Canadian entertainer of children and families, will give a concert at Hope Covenant Community Church on March 15.
Though he’s been performing for decades, Penner said his message is still the same.
“It’s ‘take good care of each other,’” he said. “The messages throughout my performance are about awareness, about being mindful of who you are, about being concerned about the people around you, about sharing your thoughts and feelings, about expressing yourself to the people who love and care about you.”
When he was growing up, Penner said, singing and playing music were a “major and important” part of his life, but he didn’t know musical performance could be his career.
So he completed an economics degree and was pursuing a career in economics. Then, a year apart, his 12-year-old sister, then his father, passed away.
“That rocked my world,” Penner said, “and caused me to re-analyze what I was going to do with my life.”
Until that point, “music had been the only thing that gave me any sort of personal bliss and personal strength.”
In 1972, Penner started playing in lounges and bars, “anywhere I possibly could that gave me a sense of purpose; ultimately leading to the family entertainment world and my first record, The Cat Came Back.”
Having worked with children with physical and intellectual disabilities, Penner understood deeply how vital music is for the young and vulnerable spirit. “So that made a solid place in my heart, understanding what music could do.”
He’s now been performing for children for over 45 years. In the first two months of 2019, he performed on Vancouver Island and the B.C. mainland, and in Toronto, Calgary and Saskatoon. This month, after his Strathmore concert, he’ll perform in Regina, then again in Toronto.
Why, after decades of performing, does he still give it so much energy?
“People (keep) saying to me, ‘I really enjoy your music. I enjoy this song specifically because it resonates with me and my family. I like your stage energy.’”
If he received hints that it’s time to hang up his guitar, he said, he might do things differently. But he sees that he’s making a difference, and he still enjoys it.
“I love being onstage,” he said. “I love energizing an audience. I love sharing songs. I love dialoguing with an audience. The audience seems to respond with great positive reaction, so that’s what keeps me going.”
Penner just released a song called Somebody Believes, inspired by a man who’d been a World Vision-sponsored child in the Philippines and is now a World Vision Canada staff member. Penner heard the man tell his story at a World Vision event three years ago.
“His presentation was so inspiring,” Penner said. “And he was so inspiring as a speaker, that the way he said the phrase, ‘somebody believed in me,’ and that made all the difference in his life, that sort of stuck with me. And I wrote the song in about an hour.”
We especially need the song’s message in our time, he said.
“There is so much dysfunction on this planet. We are in a really difficult time in the world. If we do not learn to be supportive of culture, of race, or all the differences that seem to be dividing us but can absolutely be bringing us together. And if you do take that time to say to somebody, ‘I believe in you,’ that has the potential of really making a difference.
“I feel lots of optimism in where so much of this is going. So, it’s trying to energize people and let them know that there is hope in this world… to bring that to the people around them.”
Penner hopes to perform songs from his latest CD, and some older favourites. The Cat Came Back and Sandwiches “are givens,” he said.
But each concert is unique. He may vary the line-up according to local weather or events, or in response to an audience request. He’ll take a moment to connect with a child who is crying in the audience.
“My shows have a spontaneous quality to them,” he said. “If I stuck to exactly the same thing all the way through, then I might miss that opportunity to go a little bit deeper, to communicate with the audience in a little more personal level.
“This (concert) is for the whole family,” he added. “Parents, grandparents, kids, with or without kids, come on down. Just come and be prepared to share the music, and just enjoy the youthful exuberance that is part of my performance. It’s for the whole family.”