ON STAGE: Bif Naked
Where: Mary Winspear Centre, 2243 Beacon Ave., Sidney
When: Saturday, Feb. 19, 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: $55.65 from 250-656-0275 or
Bif Naked always accentuates the positive. Even when it comes to dealing with a life-altering disease.
Take her 2008 breast cancer diagnosis, for example. The Juno-nominated rocker looks at the lump (now gone) in terms of what it gave her (a passion for volunteering), rather than what it took. Being diagnosed with the disease exposed her to cancer wards, which in turn gave her insight into frontline workers in cancer-related areas of the medical profession. The trickle-down effect has resulted in Naked, who is now cancer free, training to become a death doula.
“If I never would have been a cancer patient, I never would have come into volunteering,” Naked, whose real name is Beth Torbert, said Thursday from a Kelowna tour stop. “They say everything happens for a reason, right?”
Not exactly. In some cases, things come to pass that irredeemably suck, plain and simple. Naked appears to know very little about such matters, having found the gumption to joke with her doctor mere seconds after receiving her diagnosis at age 37. A lumpectomy and subsequent chemotherapy did little to stifle her spirits. She only grew stronger and more committed to bettering herself and those around her.
Naked, 50, is now pursuing her death doula certification, which accredits support workers who provide care to the dying. Her perpetually upbeat attitude suggests she is perfectly suited to the job.
“Even when I was in the depths of despair in chemo, my hair was gone, my scalp hurt, and I was gonna hurl, if someone asked me how everything was, I only knew how to answer, ‘Awesome!’ And that is something I definitely attribute to being a performer. And it was to my benefit.”
Naked is at the Mary Winspear Centre in Sidney on Saturday, her first performance in the area since 2016. Much like her prior performance, her concert Saturday will feature both songs and stories. She’s a natural, exceptionally funny storyteller, so fans of the Spaceman and I Love Myself Today singer will be endlessly entertained by both her music and musings.
“Having been a performer since the fifth grade, I just don’t know any other way to do something,” she said with a laugh.
Naked moved to Toronto from Vancoucver in 2018 with her husband and bandmate, guitarist Steve Allen. It’s the third marriage for Torbert, whose prior unions she admits were not great fits, personality-wise. Allen is the perfect on-stage foil for Naked, whose open-book attitude can lead to some very personal revelations.
“The poor bastard. He’s very introverted and shy, and uncomfortable, while I will go out of my way to tell intimate stories that embarrass him.”
She has a new record, Champion, ready for release, but with delays brought about by the pandemic, she’s not sure exactly when it will see the light of day. She continues to write and record, and half expects Champion to be a triple-album by the time it winds up in the hands of her fans.
COVID-19 wasn’t entirely to blame for the delays, according to Naked. She didn’t want her music to arrive at a time when the world was crumbling, due to racial tensions and economical unrest. “I really didn’t feel the world need a Bif Naked record. There were more important things happening.”
Touring is her priority at the moment, which has produced unexpectedly rambunctous results for Naked and her fans, most of whom are Generation Xers with kids and mortgages. Her concerts are an opportunity to celebrate all that has come to pass, she said. “I still feel 24. Life has started to get fun now.”
