The Recording of Willie Thrasher

A documentary following the career of Willie Thrasher, an Inuk singer-songwriter from Aklavik, Inuvik. At five, Thrasher was taken from his family and sent to a residential school where he was forbidden to practice his Inuvialuit culture. In the mid-1960s, he drummed for the Cordells, one of the first Inuit rock bands. One evening, a stranger recommended that the group tap into their Aboriginal roots instead of the charts for inspiration. This prompted Thrasher to write songs about his life, people, and the environment (as heard on 1981’s Spirit Child LP, CBC). Thrasher currently performs with his partner Linda Saddleback and is featured on Light in the Attic Records’ internationally acclaimed Native North America (Vol. 1): Aboriginal Folk, Rock, and Country 1966-1985. Willie and Linda are trailblazing troubadours with an Indigenous heartbeat sound.