Charlotte Diamond has lived in Richmond for 44 years, but in her 30 years as a renowned, children’s entertainer, she has never performed at “Canada’s biggest little birthday party.”
That’s about to change.
Classics such as Four Hugs a Day, Octopus (Slippery Fish), and I am a Pizza, along with newer music such as Ottie the Otter, will finally be heard at the Steveston Salmon Festival as Diamond will take the children’s festival stage on July 1, at 1 p.m.
Diamond has been asked to perform at the festival in the past, but she declined each time, until now.
“I was always booked somewhere else,” Diamond explained. “I have been very lucky in my career with getting repeat bookings, but unfortunately that meant I couldn’t perform at the Steveston Salmon Festival.
“It’s really nice this year to finally perform close to home.”
Last year, she co-released her latest album of new songs, Diamonds by the Sea, with her son, Matt.
“There’s lots of dancing on this album,” Diamond said. “I will be inviting kids to dance on the stage [at the festival], during the show. It will be very interactive.”
Diamond has an affinity to Steveston, as her husband was a commercial fisherman until he sold his boat in 1991, to become her full-time manager when her career took off.
“We were a salmon fishing family,” Diamond said. “It’s in our roots.
“I feel very connected to this community, always have been.”
Diamond always had an interest in music and sang in local folk groups and performed intro sets for Pete Seeger and Tom Paxton. Her career in children’s entertainment started when she developed a music program for the Gingerbread House Parent Participation Preschool, where her kids were enrolled. Four Hugs a Day, Each of us is a Flower and Slippery Fish, were penned while she was involved with that program. She performed her music at the preschool, which led to requests to perform at other preschools, elementary schools and then at bigger venues such as the Vancouver International Children’s Festival. In 1985, she released her first album, 10 Carrot Diamond, winning a 1986 Juno Award for her debut. As her popularity soared, she left her teaching career to focus on children’s entertainment. She had taught science, French and music at New Westminster Secondary school for 10 years.
“The writing just flowed out of me,” Diamond said. “I never got tired of it. There was always something to write about.”
She has since released 14 recordings, a couple of videos and a children’s board book, titled Slippery Fish in Hawai’i. She sings in French and Spanish, and has picked up a little bit of Chinese, Italian and Russian, which she incorporates into her music.
Diamond, 70, is slowly cutting back on her performances after three decades of performing. She has two grandkids now, age six and nine and she wants to spend more time with them, than on the road.
“When I talk about slowing down, it doesn’t mean my company is going to disappear,” Diamond said. “I have a very active website, where I release a few newsletters a year. I’ll just be performing at a gentle pace.”
For more information about Diamond and her music, visit CharlotteDiamond.com.
