One of the most fantastic things about being Canadian, besides a free workout shovelling every time it snows, is the way we think about ourselves as being part of this world. When considered over beers, our oral heritages always extend back beyond the national border.

This keeps us not only humble, but realistic and keen in our ideas about what humanity should mean.

"We're so much better than everyone else that way," Emm Gryner jokes with irony, from her home in Montreal.

The reason all this is coming up is Gryner - who plays at the Sidetrack Cafe as part of Bluebird North on Wednesday - has moved from exploring the Asian side of her DNA to the Irish. Largely known for her sweet Girl Versions CD which "feminized'' several metal icons (not to mention Nick Cave and Blur), her new Songs of Love and Death is another cover album, full of subtle numbers by Thin Lizzy, the Corrs, the Thrills and others. It was a quick idea that went on to absorb her.

"My mom being Filipino, I've explored that part of my heritage first. People always asked me about it since kindergarten, so it was always on my mind. My grandmother was Irish. It wasn't really supposed to take a year of my life away, but I really got into it. After repeated trips to Ireland I really fell in love with the country. I went over to see if I had any relatives over there and it turns out they ran a cattle ranch in a small town. There are church records to prove we're related, so suddenly all these strange people descended on them. Their kids played fiddles for us, it was really quite lovely."

Gryner, you might also already know, was part of David Bowie's touring band at the turn of the century, doing backup singing.

Like me, she's still a big fan and I tell her the story of how I got to meet him last year.

We'll switch to Q&A for this part, if you don't mind ...

EMM: "Lucky you! Did you get to talk to him?"

FISH: "I was lucky enough to be shooting the meet-and-greet for Sony, so I got to tell him to stick his chin out to look beautiful. It's all pretty overwhelming and insane, as I'm sure you know. As a fan, what songs did you most enjoy singing?"

EMM: "Different songs for different reasons, you know? Let's Dance was great because that's what I grew up listening to, so I was instantly eight years old again. Songs like Station to Station and Word on a Wing are less conventional songs, but I really enjoyed them. A friend of mine in England taped us when we were on one of the late-night shows doing Starman. (Bowie)'s got such a classic English accent on that song, my friend said he could see me contorting my mouth to make that sound! Did you get to meet any of the band?"

FISH: "No, which sucks, because I love Gail Ann Dorsey so much. Queen's reuniting and I thought if anyone, she should be the singer because she did such a great Freddy Mercury on Under Pressure live."

EMM: "I thought that, too!"

What's really neat about all this is that, even though she's actually been on tour with Bowie, Gryner still talks like a dedicated fan. We get to talking about her appearance last week on the tsunami benefit, Canada for Asia. If you've ever hung around a gaggle of Canuck musical celebrities at a place like the Junos, you quickly understand how casual and comfortable a lot they are, unconcerned with celebrity or security. "Totally," Gryner agrees, "and any time Canadians in general come together to help other people, it's even better. There's such a spirit of goodwill!"

Still, she sees some of her peers with awe.

"I had my brush with Rush and that was very fulfilling. They did Closer to the Heart with Ed (Robertson) from the Barenaked Ladies and Bubbles from Trailer Park Boys, that was a total highlight. I got to meet (guitarist) Alex Lifeson, which was fun. I played with the Canadian Idol (Kalan Porter), and there was a problem because he's tall and I'm small and there were so many screaming fans ... but here I am complaining about a benefit concert," she laughs.

Speaking of the incomprehensibly popular Idol, Billy Klippert is on the Bluebird North Bill, as well as fuzz-rocker Andy Stochansky and another Andy, last name Kim.

Tickets are a mere $13 in advance of the Wednesday show, available at Blackbyrd, Listen, Megatunes and the venue itself. Gryner will be playing covers and some new originals, so shall we see you there? Good.