Dreaming I am Ann

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The first in a series on interviews:

Ann Mortifee is probably the most famous musician on Cortes Island, which is more of a compliment than it sounds like because there are a lot of talented musicians on Cortes. However from the start of our interview, it was apparent this story was about a lot more than singing. I had this bizarre feeling to lead with the question, ‘When did you start becoming Ann Mortifee?’ 

Her answer came out of the memories of a 4-years-old girl.

AM:  “It happened maybe a hundred times in my childhood. I had the same dream. I'd be standing somewhere looking into a bedroom and there'd be someone lying in the bed. I'd go, ‘Oh no, I'm starting to dream of her again.’ Then I would get this anxious feeling, ‘I'm going to get stuck there in the dream and I'm going to believe it's real.’ This dream gets more and more upsetting to me. I can feel myself starting to fall asleep and that I'm in a dream.” 

“Then I fall asleep and I wake up in the body of a young girl who lives in Zululand. I looked down at my hands and I said, ‘these are not my hands, these are her hands.’ Then I couldn't remember who I was. I keep thinking, who am I when I'm not dreaming I'm Ann?”  

"That was the template for my life, who am I when I'm not dreaming I'm Ann?” 

The podcast above deals with her childhood, and early career until leaving music on a 3 year pilgrimage