Performances...

Dalannah has opened for B.B.King, Buddy Guy, Sammy Price, Pee Wee Clayton, Taj Mahal, Rick Danko, The Temptations, Mary Wells, Martha Reeves and many others...

She has also worked with Willie Dixon, James Cotton, Big Joe Duskin, Lloyd Glen, Walter "Shakey" Horton, King Curtis, Lenny Breau, Carl Lockett, Rick Danko, Jerry Doucette, Jim Byrnes, Freddie Hubbard and Pat Coleman to name a few...

Behind the scenes...

Dalannah Gail Bowen has been a vocalist for forty years. Her life as a musician started in 1965 when she worked for the great Frank Wiener who operated the well-known Hungry Eye in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The all-girl band, The Feminine Touch, worked the circuit and had their first big gig after just three months opening for The Monkees. They were the opening act, on many occasions, for The Guess Who and toured Canada and the United States.

Dalannah spent time in San Franscisco and Oakland, playing with musicians as diverse as  Carl Lockett, the Sy Klopps Blues Band (Steve Miller's rhythm section) and Grammy-award winner Dr. Ed Kelly. A year later Dalannah, then know as Gail, went on the road with the Colored Rain and ended up in Edmonton where the band worked the club scene with such groups as Papa Bear's Medicine Show, Black Snake Blues Band, The Privilege, Taj Mahal and a newly-formed band out of England called Led Zeppelin. It was a great time to be a musician.

In 1976, Dalannah came to Vancouver where her special style of blues and jazz were well received. Performances included venues like The Cave, The Commodore, Oil Can Harry’s and Rohan's. In 1977, working with the late Gary Switlo, Paul Hovan and Betty Chabba, Dalannah was part of a project called “Ladies In Lights” which profiled women in music.

This was the first television/radio simulcast in Vancouver history, but this event also had another purpose. It was a benefit for The Children’s Christmas Stocking Fund. The impact on Dalannah was immediate and since then she has dedicated her life to addressing social issues through music. For 25 years, Dalannah has created & produced musical signature events that raise funds for charitable organizations. Socials issues such as anti-apartheid, poverty, health, childrens needs, the aboriginal elders and people in need have all benefited from funds raised by Dalannah through musical endeavors.

Dalannah Gail Bowen has received an honorary Juno for her work, an International Women’s Day Award and many other acknowledgements. In 2005, The Yale Hotel honored her with a reception honouring her community work as a musical activist.

Dalannah was a recent nominee for the prestigious Minerva Foundation’s “Women In Music” award.

In the Community

Many voices singing as one voice

Dalannah Gail Bowen is a singer, songwriter, actor, playwright, published poet and musical activist. Since her early years, Dalannah, then known as Gail Bowen, was active in the movement to influence change. Currently, Dalannah has taken the lead on an initiative to develop the Downtown Eastside Centre For The Arts. This initiative will afford the opportunity for everyone who wants to experience art in a supportive environment the opportunity to do so. For more information, please visit the website.

“I have a pet peeve,” Dalannah says. “It is people who complain and don’t participate”.

Dalannah has been working as a fundraiser and involved in trying to break the cycles of social injustice since the late 60’s.  “I do not believe in the idea that it is someone else’s responsibility. Whether it was the anti-apartheid movement, or the current struggles regarding hunger, racism, poverty, violence against women, there is a lot of work to do and you do what you can.”

“I have had a heart attack, a stroke, recovered from addiction, homelessness and childhood abuse and I feel blessed to be alive and to have the opportunity to share and to give of myself.” The truth is that when a human being has experienced this kind of life journey, you can’t help but care about the bigger picture; Mother Earth and all living things.

It is not a coincidence that my generation have come to the table with their hearts, their spirits, their generosity and action to take part in counteracting the corporate takeover of this planet and its resources.

At this time, we must, each and every one of us, take the time to invest in the future through action; from environment to poverty to governments, we must take part in influencing and affecting change.

The International Council of Thirteen Grandmothers are a group of women elders who believe in turning Prayer Into Action. The “Grandmothers” represent every part of this globe and are healers from various cultures who follow traditional indigenous spiritual practice.

More information on the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers and their work around the world.