Heather Dale

Heather Dale is a full-time Canadian recording artist and touring musician, inspired by ancient legends and fantasy themes like the King Arthur stories. Based in Toronto, Heather has been a sci-fi/fantasy fan her whole life: spending countless summer days watching reruns of Dr. Who with her brother, making her brother GM for their two-person D&D games, stealing her brother's copies of Asimov & Heinlein when he wasn't looking... you may sense a theme here. She didn't realize that other people besides her brother liked SF/F until being introduced to the Fan & Filk communities within the last decade via Toronto's Ad Astra and FilkOntario cons. She's never looked back! Since then she's been a performing guest at FKO, OVFF, Arisia, Ad Astra, Concept, Contata, FilkContinental, World Fantasy Con and several house concerts with fans in the USA and England. She was also a 2005 Pegasus Award double-nominee and a 2007 Aurora finalist for her live album “The Hidden Path”.

While still in university, Heather joined the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA: Mistress Marian of Heatherdale) and still goes to as many events as she can across North America every year. Her first solo concert was in 1997; she now tours full-time across North America and Europe with her partner Ben Deschamps. Ben grew up working on a dairy farm in the Ottawa Valley, before turning his steps toward a music career in England -- playing with acts ranging from bluegrass to psychedelic space rock. Ben has several academic degrees in literature and Classics, and has also been a life-long fan of science fiction, especially the books of Harlan Ellison, Bob Forward and Robert Sawyer, with a special interest in dystopias & Russian scifi.

For sound clips and lots more info, check out www.HeatherDale.com, including Heather's own short story re-tellings of the King Arthur legends (www.HeatherDale.com/LOA).

Representative work for the 2008 Pegasus Awards (Note: this song is NOT a Pegasus nominated song- it is a representative work for Best Performer and/or Best Writer/Composer categories):

One of Us

by Heather Dale
Copyright Amphisbaena Music, 1999 - All Rights Reserved
Used by Permission

Before I got to fighting (or when fighting got to me)
I looked to find examples on the field of chivalry:
I saw mighty arms, much stronger than my arms would ever be
And I thought perhaps the field was not for me.

But I stayed and watched the fighting 'til one figure stood apart
In armour newly fashioned and a helm more pot than art,
But each blow was thrown with honour and a lightness of the heart
So I took the step that soon became a start.

(CHORUS:)
She was not the biggest fighter, nor one to make a fuss,
But I remember being proud that she was one of us
We might never stand together in the shieldwall side by side,
Because of her I lift my sword with pride.

She was ladylike and lively, not the type you would expect
With a braver heart than many and a slot-shot to respect.
I guess she'd once decided this was where she'd like to be
And I thought, if she could do it, why not me?

(CHORUS)

So now as I gather armour, bits and pieces here and there,
I think about examples: how you act, and what you dare
'Cause you never know who's watching or how far the story goes
And where'er that Lady is, I hope she knows

'Cause she was not the biggest fighter, nor one to make a fuss,
But I remember being proud that she was one of us.
And we might never stand together in the shieldwall side by side,
But because of her I lift my sword with pride,
We might never stand together in the shieldwall side by side,
Because of her I lift my sword with pride!