Canadian rock icon Bif Naked is the essence of hybrid artist; she’s released ten albums, is working on her eleventh, she paints, writes poetry, acts, even draws comics. Now Bif rounds out that collection with her first book, a memoir entitled, I BIFICUS.
Bif Naked fought hard for what she achieved as an artist. But her 20-year battle as a female rocker in a male-dominated industry pales in comparison to what she had to overcome as a person, from breast cancer, chemotherapy and multiple divorces to heart surgery, kidney failure and an ovariectomy, writes Mike Devlin of the Times Colonist.
Still Bif is the personification of positivity. “You got to keep going,” she said.
“Ignore the inner voices that tell you you can’t, and ignore the outer ones, and never quit.”
What started out as a 200,000 word handwritten memoir, I BIFICUS is an unveiling look at an ordinary girl going through extraordinary things. “This is about a regular girl and her life, a girl proud of her civil rights activist parents, a girl trying to build a life while touring, a girl with breast cancer. It’s who I am now and where I hope to be,” she said.
But Bif Naked is anything but ordinary.
Bif Naked was born in secret to a teenager living in India, the product of a Canadian girl and a British boy. She was rejected by both families, hidden away in a mental hospital and adopted by missionaries and then moved to North America. She began what she recalls with ironic humour as a “charmed life.” Targeted by girl gangs and facing other abusive situations, she escaped this early life by joining a punk rock band and leaving on tour, where she married the drummer and hit a downward spiral that found her on the floor of a Vancouver drug den.
Perhaps what makes Bif most extraordinary is her outlook on life. “Shit will keep happening. There will always be triumphs and tragedies, but we can transform,” she said.
Her concert at Alix Goolden promises to be a unique and intimate experience. Bif will be reading from her memoir and accompanying that with songs based off the stories. Bif even promises to perform some songs for the first time. There will be a limited number of I BIFICUS available for purchase and autograph.
What: A one of a kind encounter with Bif Naked (and Jonathan Roy)
When: Wednesday, May 11th, 7:45p.m.
Where: Alix Goolden Performance Hall, 907 Pandora Ave
Tickets: $30 at ticketfly.com
Bif Naked will also be in Nanaimo on May 10th.
