BreNDa BEreZAN & tHe frEE raDICals

"I’m in a really good space now in my life," Berezan explains, from her current home in the thriving musical community of Whitehorse.

Growing up in Edmonton and Calgary, Berezan first recognized the power of songs while listening to the works of Elton John & Bernie Taupin, spinning Goodbye Yellow Brick Road "to death". These British tunesmiths, along with top forty radio and the masters (Dylan, Cockburn, Joni, Neil) influenced a budding songwriter. “I was inspired by their poetry, how every word counted, and by their beautiful melodies." Brenda studied classical piano as a child, and when she was an English major at the University of Calgary, she taught herself the guitar. Studying writers and loving music proved to be the right combination. Soon she was hammering out her own songs "by trial and error and sheer determination," performing in a church folk group and local coffee houses.

At one of these early coffee houses, Berezan met a music producer who wanted to get one of her songs to radio. Heather Brooks recorded “Rocky Mountain Night”, produced by Andrew Horrocks, Ken Cappos, and Richard Hutt. The song spent three weeks on the Canadian country music charts, and the experience taught her much about the business end of music.

“Radio people were very receptive to an unknown singer and to me, a rookie songwriter. Through a lot of concerted promotion, my song was heard by a lot of people all across Canada and I learned a ton about promotion, public relations, and how radio works."

Then came a series of detours: marrying a nature photographer, running a photography business, health problems, and giving birth to her son in 1997 meant music took a backseat. Berezan began to re-evaluate her life which prompted her and her family to move and live in the southern Yukon.

"We bought an off-the-grid property in the Yukon because we wanted a lifestyle change. We lived in a solar home, cut our own wood for heat, had our own well for water, and lived in relative solitude in the shadow of some of Canada’s tallest mountains. For the first few years it was incredible, and I was expanding my life in ways I never thought possible."

But she felt like an imposter, missed the music, and missed having people around to play it with. "I wasn’t honouring myself. It was taking a toll on me and on my marriage.” Still, during this isolated time, she continued to write songs, formed a trio with a couple of near-by musicians, performed around the Yukon, and produced a six song EP.

After her marriage ended, Brenda Berezan began living in Whitehorse where she started to chronicle her life in ways she'd only hinted at before. Her new songs touched on betrayal, struggle, and survival, but also on joy. She draws upon on her adopted community for musical support

Recently, Berezan has been working with drummer Marc Paradis, bassist Paul Scott Stephens, and guitarist Brian Foulds, who back her as The Free Radicals. She's also excited some recent studio work she’s done with Juno award-winning producer Bob Hamilton.

"Whitehorse is overrun with musical talent," she explains. "It’s far away from a lot of things, but I’m close by to a lot of serious players, writers, and listeners of music; it’s a nurturing place."

"My music is close to the bone, and edgy, but you can still dance to it! I write about personal betrayal, and I sing about things that piss me off like deforestation and misplaced resource development, but I’m also a sucker for fun songs and ballads so I write those too. I want to give people something engaging with my music, and I want them to feel something."

Paul Myers
Berkeley, CA