Elisapie explores pop classics in Inuktitut

Juno Award-winning artist Elisapie speaks with Ian White ahead of her March 14 concert at Calgary’s Bella Concert Happy.

It was a moment singer/songwriter Elisapie will never forget – her older cousins dancing joyously to the Blondie hit “Heart of Glass” in their hometown of Salluit, a small Inuit community in remote northern Quebec.

“It’s just a feeling. I remember that moment. It must have struck me so hard,” Elisapie told CTV News.

It’s a memory so powerful that she gave the hit song her own spin in her language of Inuktitut.

Elisapie will perform the cover songs from her latest album, Inuktitut, along with her original material March 14^th at the Bella Concert Hall.

The singer reached out to all the songwriters of these legacy hits to get permission to record their songs in Inuktitut, among them the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and Cindy Lauper.

She said only ABBA wouldn’t grant permission.

Elisapie now lives with her family in Montreal and acknowledges that climate change is affecting her hometown.

“Climate change is real. Even in the winter in January my hometown sometimes the ice is not formed strong enough for it to be safe. Imagine that.”