Canada’s irrepressible Saidah Baba Talibah toured Australia earlier this year, playing the Blues and Roots Festival in Byron Bay, then spending a fortnight exploring the East Coast and playing headline shows of her own. She joined Jack Shit on air the day after ANZAC day – frankly stunned at the mix of gambling and excessive alcohol consumption that Australians employ to commemorate their veterans. In that regard, she was not alone.
During this refreshingly honest conversation she mocks Mr Shit for failing to nail the pronunciation of her name, gets mocked in turn for the piss-poor rope-work in her video for Revolution – and performs an incendiary version of said song live. The extraordinary tale of her family history (her mother is known as Canada’s Queen of the Blues and has been with her father for over 50 years) emerges – and the exchange winds up with a candid acknowledgement of the relative lack of assertively sexual female role-models in modern music.
This is one lady who will not be backwards in coming forwards to redress (or undress) that balance. She’s a force of nature – certain to explode into wider global consciousness imminently via her unique voice and character. She thanked us after the show for what she said was her favourite interview ever. It was our pleasure then – and we’re stoked to share it with you now.