After Dinner Speakers: KD Lang, Rabbi Julia Neuburger, Laurie Taylor

b. Kathryn Dawn Lang, 2 November 1961, Consort, Alberta, Canada. She prefers the lower case appearance of her name because "it's generic and unlike Cherry Bomb, it's a name, not a sexuality". This farmer's daughter had become a skilled pianist and guitarist by adolescence and, on leaving school, scratched a living in the performing arts, classical and avant garde music, before choosing to sing country - a genre that she had once despised as the corniest in pop. She forsook much of its rhinestoned tackiness for a leaner, more abandoned approach on her independent debut, A Truly Western Experience. She was known for her slightly skewered sensibility and a tough backing combo, originally comprising Gordon Matthews (guitar), Ben Mink (violin, mandolin), Mike Creber (piano), John Dymond (bass) and Michel Pouliot (drums). She named them the Reclines - a genuflexion towards Patsy Cline. Overseen by Dave Edmunds, her major label debut Angel With A Lariat was favoured by influential rock journals such as Rolling Stone (who voted lang Female Vocalist of the Year), but many country radio stations refused to play it, prejudiced as they were by lang's spiky haircut, vegetarian stance and ambiguous sexuality (she would only go public on the latter subject in a June 1992 interview with Advocate magazine). Nevertheless, she charted via "Crying', a duet with Roy Orbison for 1987"s Hiding Out comedy movie soundtrack. The following year, she gained a breakthrough with the lush Shadowland, which was rendered agreeable to country consumers through a sympathetic Nashville production by Owen Bradley and the presence of the Jordanaires, Brenda Lee, Loretta Lynn, Kitty Wells. Tracks such as the tear-jerking "I Wish I Didn't Love You So" and Chris Isaak's "Western Stars" exemplified what lang described as "torch and twang" - an expression incorporated into the title of her next collection. Mostly self-composed with Mink, it set the seal on the grudging acceptance of her by bigots and, more to the point, confirmed her as a behemoth of country's New Tradition. In 1992, lang became newsworthy and featured in dozens of magazines in Europe and the USA, who finally picked up on her considerable talent when the acclaimed Ingénue (credited to lang alone) was released. This excellent release was, however, far removed from country, C&W or new country; it was a sensual and deep collection that enjoyed great crossover success on both sides of the Atlantic, and even generated a Grammy award-winning hit single, "Constant Craving". The same year showed lang to possess a promising acting ability with the general release of her movie debut in the low budget Salmonberries. In 1993, she provided the soundtrack to Gus Van Sant's adaptation of Tom Robbins' Even Cowgirls Get The Blues. Since Ingénue, her commercial profile has waned, although she has continued to produce quality albums. The covers album Drag included a highly original interpretation of Steve Miller's "The Joker". Invincible Summer was a much better album and contained some of her most interesting compositions since Ingénue. Those who felt she had passed her peak received a sharp awakening.