BUFFY Sainte-Marie sees herself a teacher as much as a musician. The Saskatchewan-born, Hawaii-based singer/songwriter is known to different generations as a veteran of the coffee house scenes in Toronto and Greenwich Village, a presenter on Sesame S
treet in the late 1970s and a lifelong campaigner for aboriginal rights who was blacklisted by the Nixon administration for her opposition to the Vietnam War.
True to her calling, she gently educated her audience at this rare Scottish appearance, without ever turning the gig into a lesson. With a few thoughtful words of introduction, she could place her songs in their specific and wider contexts and impart the social and environmental wisdom of her Cree Indian ancestors who showed that you could love your country "and have your country love you back".
Her set was as diverse as her views are far-sighted. New songs Cho Cho Fire and No No Keshagesh were rock-tinged powwows, while He's An Indian Cowboy In The Rodeo combined her native and pop sensibilities.
She made the Celtic connection with the Lonnie Donegan-inspired skiffle of Blue Sunday, demonstrated the use of the mouthbow to make music, not war on the traditional bluegrass number Cripple Creek, flexed her protest credentials with Soldier Blue and Universal Soldier and showcased her facility for love songs with guileless renditions of Until It's Time For You To Go and Up Where We Belong, her Oscar-winning theme for An Officer And A Gentleman.
Although the more heavy-handed arrangements did the songs and her pliable voice few favours, it was still a privilege to learn from such an inspiring guide.
