Q

'I'm trying to put the songs to work': Buffy Sainte-Marie on the healing power of music

Buffy Sainte-Marie talks about her upcoming album Medicine Songs.
Listen to Canadian music legend Buffy Sainte-Marie in a live recording at a Washington, DC concert, (Matt Barnes)

Recently, q headed to Washington, D.C., for a public radio conference and brought along one of Canada's greatest songwriters/activists, Buffy Sainte-Marie. She talked to us for the very first time about her upcoming record Medicine Songs.

The new album, due out this fall, is full of new activist songs that she's written as well as re-workings of some of her classic political and protest tunes like "Now that the Buffalo's Gone."

"The whole goal of it is putting the songs to work," says Buffy Sainte-Marie in the interview. "To help the people who see the cynicism, they feel that cynicism and they just need that little bit of encouragement and enthusiasm to keep on going anyway. We can do this."

- Produced by Mitch Pollock