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The Toronto Women's Bookstore is now carrying Anna's music!
toronto women's bookstore


More details in August news!.





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Anna wins PITA Award!

"I Am Who I Am" wins Pride In The Arts' "2009 Pride Song" Award! You can go and listen to the show until April 4th. at Rainbow World Radio. For a full list of award recipients, go to Pride in the Arts.





Lyrics

I am who I am
  • I'm out, I'm proud
    I've done the things I vowed
    Nobody gonna take away my freedom
    If you believe
    My friends and I should leave
    You're gonna have to fight us everyone
  • Chorus
    I am who I am, no matter what you say to me
    I am who I am, no matter what you do
    I am who I am, no matter what you take from me
    To myself I will be true
  • You call me ill
    My kind you want to kill
    And then you sing of heaven’s love on Sunday
    But I can see through your hypocrisy
    It’s hatred of yourself that you betray
  • Chorus
  • You took from me
    A sense of history
    I grew up learnin' how to hide my secret
    But now I've found
    My people all around
    And you will find you ain't seen nothin' yet
  • Chorus
  • A sense of history
    I grew up learnin' how to hide my secret
    But now I've found
    My people all around
    And you will find you ain't seen nothin' yet
  • Chorus
  • ©2003 Anna Gutmanis/Ban-Anna Music (SOCAN) (3:26)
Let it Slide
  • I've been taken for a ride
    I've been stripped of all my pride
    I've been down so long I can't remember up
    I've been taken for a fool
    I've been stripped of all my cool
    Why can't someone take away this bitter cup
  • Chorus
    Let it slide, let it slide
    Let it slide, OO-OO
    Let it slide, let it slide, let it slide
  • From the corner of my eye
    I can see the world go by
    But it never stops to let me climb aboard
    I'm givin'every little thing I got
    In this land that time forgot
    And I never seem to get my just reward
  • Chorus
  • Aching body, aching soul
    Still you keep your self-control
    'til the day you start to fear
    that you might drown inside your tears
  • Chorus
  • ©1988 Anna Gutmanis/Ban-Anna Music (SOCAN) (3:03)

Anna Gutmanis

Anna

Anna Gutmanis was born in London, Canada. At 7, she was inspired by her older sisters' Laura Nyro albums and began taking piano lessons through the Royal Conservatory of Music. Anna began to write her own songs as a young teenager, moving to Toronto at the age of 19 to pursue her passion for music and social justice. She began performing as a solo artist at cafes and clubs, and joining activist groups such as Lesbians Against the Right. Read more.

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Single - "I am who I am"
I am who I am - single

Deeply moved by the plight of LGBT people around the world, Anna has sought out legendary music producer Karen Kane
to record “I Am Who I Am”. This song is a powerful statement against homophobia and continues Anna’s tradition of social activism through her music. Together with “Let It Slide”, her new CD single showcases a maturing artist who still
has something to say after more than a quarter-century of making music.



I was in the mood to write a powerful queer liberation song. As a child, I had been inspired by Helen Reddy's "I Am Woman", which became an anthem for the Second Wave feminist movement and kick-started my own feminist consciousness. I wanted to write something that memorable and strong for the queer lib movement, and one day, it all came to me rather quickly. My being in the Sexual Diversity Studies program at U of T probably also helped matters.
I was in a very vulnerable and contemplative space. My personal life and music career seemed to be in a holding pattern, and my grandmother had passed away. When I took out my home demo version almost 20 years later, I discovered something I hadn't previously realized was there: this song was also essentially the flip-side to feeling pride in being queer. And I remembered that when I wrote it, I had also recently ended a relationship with a woman who was deeply in the closet, and I had absorbed a lot of negativity about my sexuality. It made me realize that all queers are STILL vulnerable to homophobia, including the internalized sort, especially at trying times in our lives.
  • Produced and Engineered: Karen Kane
  • Songs recorded and mixed August 2-5, 2007
  • Recorded: Audio Genesis, Wilmington, NC
  • Additional Recording and Mixing: The North Bend Room
  • Mastered: João Carvalho Mastering, Toronto, CA
  • CD Design: Shona Fizzell Design, Toronto, CA
  • Anna Gutmanis: Keyboards, Vocals
  • Tony Mallard: Drums
  • Danny Pera: Bass
  • Steve Horrell: Guitar
  • Donnie White: Additional Keyboards