The Early Years

Rita's first album, released in 1975, offers us a window from a different time: these songs are part of Rita's initial journey into songwriting, that was began when her friend persuaded her to attend a meeting of a Toronto women's liberation group in 1971. She soon became the unofficial minstrel of the women's movement, singing at rallies, meetings, and conferences.

Many of the songs are expressions of a powerful political conscious, but they are always sensitive and finely crafted.  Rita's unique gift, is that she was able to write about the struggle for peace or the equality of women without ever sounding heavy handed. She does so by making songs so personal; offering us the best of the memories in a series of songs that are lyrical and hauntingly melodic.