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Why You Should Listen to This Episode: Ann Vriend turned lockdown into a front porch choir, and that choir is now AV & the Inner City, headed to Vancouver Island for Pacific Contact. She also tells the family story behind A Dollar & A Suitcase, the song she wrote for her mother. Ken Neden has answered search and rescue calls since 1974, and he explains how drones, thermal cameras and a roster of 56 volunteers bring people home safely.

This Episode Features:

(24:51) Ann Vriend is a multi-award-winning, Edmonton-based singer-songwriter who has spent more than two decades blending soul, gospel and roots music. When the pandemic cancelled her tours, she started playing on her front porch in Edmonton's inner city, and those Sunday afternoon concerts grew into AV & the Inner City, an all-female soul vocal group. Ann talks about picking out songs on a Fisher-Price xylophone at age three, growing up on Raffi, Paul Simon and Mahalia Jackson, and learning to lead a choir after years of touring solo. She shares the family story behind A Dollar & A Suitcase and previews her trip to Vancouver Island to showcase at Pacific Contact in Nanaimo, plus a solo show at Char's Landing in Port Alberni. Contains the song A Dollar & A Suitcase. www.annvriend.com

(05:03) Ken Neden has volunteered with Arrowsmith Search and Rescue since 1974, when he started tagging along with his father, one of the group's first coordinators and search managers. Ken tells Dave about a year of 82 operational periods and more than 4,700 volunteer hours, and why rescues now outnumber searches. He explains how drones with thermal cameras and 400-times zoom are finding people in the dark, why the team is taking over the radio repeater on Mount Cokely, and the plan to renovate its 20-year-old command vehicle. The support team is recruiting now, with the next ground search and rescue intake planned for early 2027. www.arrowsmithsar.ca

Episode Quotes:

"Just out of boredom, of missing performing live for people, I just started playing on my front porch." - Ann Vriend, Singer-Songwriter, AV & the Inner City

 "I always say I had two careers. I had the career with BC Tel and Telus, where they paid me to go do stuff, and then I also had this one where I went out and did stuff when I wasn't working and didn't get paid." - Ken Neden, Search Manager, Arrowsmith Search and Rescue

 The PULSE Community Podcast is a weekly Vancouver Island podcast hosted by Peter McCully and Dave Graham, featuring conversations with musicians, authors, actors, athletes, business leaders and community builders from Vancouver Island, British Columbia and beyond. The PULSE Community Podcast is part of The PULSE Podcast Community.

We've had the pleasure of sitting down with musicians from across Vancouver Island and beyond - explore more stories and interviews on our Vancouver Island Musicians page.

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