A roots-rockin’ scientist with a PhD and an album named Bandit Queen is headed to Parksville and Lasqueti Island July 26 and 27 for a pair of performances.
Hamilton, Ont.-based musician Sarah Beatty is on a North America tour with guitarist Peter Horvat to spread some upbeat, rootsy tunes telling the tale of one bank-robbing, horse-theiving woman and other ladies of interest, and even a few songs based on science.
A musician since childhood, Beatty said she’s always been compelled to make noise, but also discovered an interest in maps early on in life. “My parents lived in different places, so I spent a lot of time in the car travelling,” said Beatty. “I ended up looking at the map a lot… learning about the places and where I was travelling to and from.”
She pursued her interest in maps after high school, and, many years later, finished with a PhD in environmental science from McMaster University and lots of knowledge about water-repellent soils in post-wildfire environments.
Though the studies meant slowing down her musical performances to only about 50 shows a year, Beatty said her focus on science grew her songwriting abilities.
“I guess when you start to become fascinated by something and want to learn more about it, you also start to develop insights into it, and that’s sort of the essence of creativity in a lot of ways,” Beatty said.
Comparing science and songwriting (or any creative pursuit), she said, “It’s a lot of question-asking, it’s a lot of exploration of the world that’s outside of you, it’s a lot of exploration of the world that’s inside of you, and figuring out how things work and what kind of insight you can gain in that environment and being able to share it with other people.”
When it comes to balancing her scientific activities with her musical ones, Beatty said the scales may have tipped in the musical direction since finishing school in 2016. Still, she finds ways of working science into her music in an effort to give people a stronger connection with the science happening around them.
As far as writing songs like Prehistoric Sludge (one of the songs on her 2017 album Bandit Queen), Beatty said it helps to write about what you know.
But the focus of the album is more on non-typical stories of women, starting with Bell Starr.
“She was a really fascinating lady because she was educated at a time where very few women were educated and she became a bank robber and ultimately a horse thief, and I was just super, super fascinated by her,” said Beatty.
“So I wrote this song very quickly, and that became the hub of the songs that came after it.”
Those included songs on female religious figures, a lady trucker and others.
“(The album) is about women calling their own shots in some way and being strong and being vulnerable and being flawed and being really skilled in different ways, and being clever and curious and being all those things that women are, but they don’t necessarily get the bandwidth in different narratives,” said Beatty.
“It’s fun tunes that people can laugh to and sing along with,” she added.
Beatty will be performing at Parksville Community Park on July 26 at 11 a.m. at the gazebo, and July 27 at the Lasquetti Island Pub at 8 p.m. Both shows are free, she said.
For more info, go to www.sarahbeatty.ca/shows.