Heather Bishop

Heather Bishop commands a resonant and endlessly expressive voice that draws listeners into shared singing while stirring tears through its pure beauty. A grounded spiritual force runs through every aspect of her output, whether captured in the studio or delivered on stage. Over three decades she has carried her messages—sometimes joyous, sometimes painful, always passionate—across urban centers in the United States and Canada, into fly-in Yukon villages, and onto festival and conference stages; she grew up in Manitoba.

Bishop first picked up the acoustic guitar during her teenage years, and by the late 1970s she was crisscrossing North America, forging connections between communities and age groups. Although comfortable across many styles, she identifies primarily as a folk musician who belts the blues, croons ballads, and presents stirring political material.

Her first children’s recording, Bellybutton, appeared in 1981 and earned widespread critical praise. From that point forward she regularly added children’s concerts to her schedule; these events invite audiences to move from simple sing-alongs to on-stage participation. Reviewers have described the gatherings as “a powerful energy field of fantasy and fun.”

Purple People Eater, released in 1985, assembled both original pieces and well-known favorites that Bishop had already road-tested. Her third children’s album, A Duck in New York City, follows a duck whose migratory path unexpectedly takes it through the Big Apple; the project received the Parent’s Choice Gold Award in 1990. Old*New*Borrowed*Blue, issued on Mother of Pearl Records in 1992 as her ninth album, presented remixed and digitally remastered “old” selections drawn from five earlier adult recordings, five “new” songs by Canadian women, several “borrowed” tracks from artists she admires, and a handful of blues numbers.

Following a multi-year break, Bishop returned with Chickee’s on the Run in 1997, once again combining eccentric animal characters with worldbeat grooves; the album’s highlights include “Jungle Groove” and “Dirt Bike Boogie.” A live recording simply titled Live appeared in 2001, followed three years later by A Tribute to Peggy Lee. Another extended period away from music allowed Bishop to focus on painting; she re-emerged in 2009 with her fourteenth album, My Face Is a Map of My Time Here, packaged with a booklet of her artwork.