LORRAINE SEGATO

For the past 28 years Lorraine Segato has been firing up an impressive artistic career that has produced some excellent and edgy cultural work. Segato's extensive experience as a respected Musician, Songwriter, Filmmaker, Event Producer, Artistic Director, Speechwriter, Lecturer and Social Justice activist makes her alternately one of Canada's best kept secrets and best known recording artists.

As the co-founder and lead singer of The Parachute Club, one of the most critically lauded and commercially successful groups of the eighties, Segato enjoyed a run in the music industry few can match.

Even before her chart topping hits with Parachute Club, Segato had already staked a claim as one of the few female artists of the time able to succeed on her own terms. Her start with Mama Quilla 11, one of Canada's early 'alternative bands, and her later involvement with V, a funk-reggae style mixed race group, served as a notable and telling harbinger of what was to come.

Ultimately, as Canada's most internationally renowned 'worldbeat' band, The Parachute Club garnered five Juno's, five BMAC, five Casby's, two Platinum and one Gold record and a SOCAN Classic award for "Rise Up." To this day, the groups' hits Rise Up, At the Feet of the Moon, and Love and Compassion remain staples on Canadian radio.

Segato has released two critically praised solo recordings Luminous City and Phoenix. When asked why it took so long between projects Segato responded. "By the time I had reached 33, I had done everything I wanted to do--I had fulfilled those dreams with Parachute Club, so I had to think how do I express the next part of my creative life? What are my dreams now? I was in the middle of quite a huge soul journey," she explains, "I was doing a lot of studying and exploring in areas not yet known to me, not only in my songwriting but in another aspect I had not yet fully taken up which was the film ideas, and writing projects. Taking myself to another level of skill took time."

The 'time' has most recently culminated in a 2-year film and music project where Segato devoted her full attention to directing, writing, narrating, music editing a TV and festival documentary called Queen Street West, The Rebel Zone with the Award-winning Rhombus Media International. It is a point of view documentary that explores the cultural history of the artist community that exploded in the mid- seventies to the mid eighties. With that piece she executive produced an accompanying soundtrack CD that includes music from the film and an additional composition of new music for the film.

Segato's work, no matter what the medium, remains consistently topical and relevant. Her passion, charisma and empathy allow her to poignantly explore many issues and many emotions and make them sing. Whether in front of stage performing or behind the scenes organizing Segato, equally comfortable in both, engages and empowers the people and communities she works with.

CRITICAL ACCLAIM

"Rebels with a Cause on Queen St. West". "Lorraine Segato, no bystander here, take a proud look at some pop-culture historyŠ The result is an unabashadly proud document of an important piece of pop-culture history, told by someone who lived it" Globe & Mail

"QSW: The Rebel Zone: (4 stars) Formally assembled and fascinating, this film is a comprehesive documentary tour of the area's tumultous history. Director Lorraine Segato, former front for the Parachute Club, shows her familiarity with milieu and it's denizens through her candid, relaxed interviews which yeild genuinely amusing anecdotes." Eye Magazine, Toronto "Queen Scene: New film tracks T.O. art attack".- Now Magazine "Film put Canadian Indies in Spotlight : New Domestic products reappraise Canada's Grass-Roots Scene" - Billboard Magazine International

"Segato parachutes back into the limelight with Luminous City" -Toronto Sun

"Steamy songstress with a dark, mystical voice that defies description - sort of like spaghetti when you pull it steaming from the colander and toss it with butter: it slithers off your fork, only to be retrieved by your spoon, caught by your fork and flipped even higher once again" - Vancouver Sun

"Segato's soft, deep, sexy voice, can shift from a velvety throaty purr to a cocky snarl in a single line." - Hamilton Spectator

"Parachute Club is one of the most exciting bands around smart, tough and passionate" - L.A. Times

"Huge vocals from Segato, a mixed bag of songs, good production and seamless, spirited ensemble playing make this group one of the most exciting groups around, regardless of the country of origin." - Montreal Gazette

"Parachute Club-- Positive, Slick, Serious" - Graffitti Magazine

"Parachute Club soars with talent. Lorraine Segato delivers with a convincing soulfulness" - Calgary Herald

"Parachute Power: this music has magic." - Vancouver Sun

"Parachute Club is an impressive band. It has established a solid international reputation for sincere, unpretentious music with a latin/funk/reggae beat that just demands to be danced to." - Toronto Star

"Parachute Club performs intelligent modern music with conviction." - Halifax Chronicle Herald

"Parachute Club has successfully merged innovative, feets-don't-fail-me-now rhythms with topical, intelligent lyrics. Segato's strong, clear vocals and funky chicken impressions had the crowd dizzy as it attempted to track her movements across the stage." - Star-Phoenix