Photo of Wally Desjarlais (left) and Harry Davies (right) at the third annual Windspeaker listener party in Slave Lake / Photo by Keith Driver
The CFWE and CJWE third annual listener party went up north to Slave Lake this year, where we partnered with the local Friendship Centre to host a $25,000 bingo bonanza and concert.
With local artists like Justin Hogg, Beryln Broadhead, and Kyle Desjarlais taking the stage with original and crowd favorites, a grassroots legend was in the crowd.
In 1980, Métis Artist Harry Davies released a cassette tape which was sent to an Indigenous Radio Station that included Country covers and a track called The Bannock Song, which is a parody of Dolly Parton’s 1971 hit Coat of Many Colours.
The Parody was an instant hit with Indigenous communities across the north, including CFWE Listeners. To this day, our listeners often request the song during Tuesday and Thursday’s request show with Sean Burke.
During the listener concert on June 13, 2025, host Wally Desjarlais, who first interviewed Davies when it first played on CFWE, had a moment to revisit the song and talk about its impact and how it came to be.
The 2026 Windspeaker Listener Concert will be held in Lethbridge
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