Kathryn Calder Launches Calming Toll-Free Phone Service

"I sincerely hope it brings some joy to your day!"

BY Alex HudsonPublished Jan 7, 2021

New Pornographers member and solo songwriter Kathryn Calder is the city of Victoria, BC's Artist-in-Residence, and this has led her to launch a new project: 1-877-2BE-CALM, a toll-free phone service devoted to meditation and calm.

The toll-free number offers nine different "channels," which are selected by pushing a button on your phone. These channels include "Contemporary Music" (which leads to a piano version of Calder's 2014 track on "Song in Cm"), "Ambient Music" (which has a track by nêhiyawak's Matthew Cardinal) and "Instrumental Music" (featuring a cello duet by Hale & Hearty).

There are also a variety of spoken pieces, nature sounds and children's laughter. Each channel has an introduction by Calder. She wrote on Instagram, "I sincerely hope it brings some joy to your day!"

You can hear all this by calling 1-877-2BE-CALM (1-877-223-2256). It's also all streaming at the City of Victoria's website. The audio content will change from time to time, with new recordings from local artists. The project ends in July 2021.

Calder made the project with assistance from Emily Hamel and services provided by TELUS. Check it out here.
 

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