Jann Arden is lending her sultry, soulful voice to the Raise-a-Reader Concert Series.

Partial proceeds from ticket sales of Arden's upcoming tour promoting her 10th album Free are being donated to Canwest Raise-a-Reader in support of local literacy programs across the country.

For me, reading was just so important. I wasn't one of those kids who begrudged having to read The Great Gatsby in high school. I couldn't wait," says Arden. "I think I read the Grapes of Wrath five times by the time I was 16. It just really influenced me as a thinker, and certainly my songwriting. I learned how economical words can be and how you can say so much with so little." Arden says she was "the kid under the covers with a flashlight reading until the batteries died" and would love to help instill that same love of reading in others.

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