Aysanabee and Snotty Nose Rez Kids lead SSIMAs nominations, awards handed out Jun 6

By Will McGuirk

Aysanabee and Snotty Nose Rez Kids are among the nominees for the 2023 Summer Solstice Indigenous Music Awards (SSIMAs). Aysanabee leads with six nominations and the Kids have five.

Presented by TD Bank the National Indigenous Music Awards Show will take place at The National Arts Centre in Ottawa Tuesday, June 6th, 2023.

The SSIMAs span 16 categories, celebrating solo artists, duos and groups from across Canada as well as showcasing the diverse music and culture within the Indigenous community. Nominees were selected from 250 Canada-wide submissions by an invited panel of jurors comprising Indigenous and music industry professionals.

“Presenting and promoting Indigenous music is a cornerstone of our Festival," says Trina Mather Simard, CEO and Producer of Ottawa’s Summer Solstice Festival which runs June 21 - 25.  “We’re celebrating Indigenous voices” adds Advisory Committee Chair Elaine Bomberry, adding “These Awards, in Canada’s capital city, provide an excellent platform for artists to be recognized for their hard work”.

The award ceremony will be hosted by Anishinaabe activist, broadcaster and content creator Sarain Fox. Performers have yet to be announced. Tickets are on sale Friday May 19th at 10AM, starting at $20.00 (including tax plus fees).

This SSIMAs presentation kicks off Indigenous History Month and is a prelude to the Annual Summer Solstice Indigenous Festival (SSIF), June 21st-25th at Madahoki Farm in Ottawa. The free festival coincides with National Indigenous Peoples Day (NIPD) on June 21.

Slowcity.ca Open Mic: William Prince, Arctic Monkeys, Bruce Cockburn, Orchestra GOLD, miles from nowhere, Mimi O'Bonsawin, and Ryan Wayne

By Will McGuirk

"’Easier and Harder' is about giving love a chance to mature. The lessons we learn when we get past the honeymoon stage. The benefits of not giving up and getting to love someone entirely; not only for their strengths but their shortcomings as well. There’s a comedy to it that I feel gives a peek into what long-term love is like. Live and learn. Give and take.” - William Prince

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Ryan Wayne · Forty Paces To The Bottom - Ryan Wayne

Slowcity.ca Open Mic: Wayfinding, Begonia, Storry, Jason Collett, White Lung, Emily Mac, American Lips, and Linebeck

By Will McGuirk

“I’d rather be someone’s shot of whiskey than everyone’s cup of tea,” - Emily Mac

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Slowcity.ca Open Mic: Snotty Nose Rez Kids, Birds of Bellwoods, Villages, Mimi Webb, Valentyna, Mariel Buckley, Kris Ulrich, and Neil Young

By Will McGuirk

“That moment when you see the mistakes you keep making, but can’t seem to change the pattern like the lyrics say, ‘with all the lights above me, I only see that shadow cast below.’ “ - Birds of Bellwoods

“We all have those moments where you just want to drop everything and leave it all behind. “Love Will Live On” is a daydream on just how good it could be if you actually did it.” - Villages

“It’s a broad stroke of what intolerance and shame can create in a bible-belt, prairie town. Lots of imagery from my childhood, church and the bottom of a glass.” - Mariel Buckley

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Slowcity.ca Open Mic: Adam Baldwin, Jill Barber, Pierre Kwenders, Ombiigizi, Cave States, Robinson Kirby, and Denzel Curry,

By Will McGuirk

“Sadly, the persistent undervaluing of music forces so many of us musicians to trade it all in—often in a defeated way, much like those willing to trade in their most valued possession out of pure desperation to have cash in hand.” - Jill Barber

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Ombiigizi - Nov 05 - Oshawa, ON - The Biltmore w/Tuns

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Slowcity.ca Open Mic: Crystal Shawanda, Mimi O'Bonsawin, The Beaches, PUP, Bells Larsen, Living Hour, Geneviève Racette, and the Secret Beach

By Will McGuirk

“It’s about watching someone grieve and being in awe of their ability to keep going, despite being in a lot of pain.” - Bells Larsen

“a track about “getting stuck with yourself, forever, like an assigned middle name, or DNA. Some of it’s already built in, but mostly you’ll be walking around as you, doing dishes, meeting people, untangling what it means, being busy being busy.” - Sam Sarty, Living Hour

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Slowcity.ca Open Mic: Dawes, Martha and the Muffins, Rachel Bobbitt, Night Moves, Sylvia Kay, Burn the Louvre, and Tove Stryke

By Will McGuirk

“The first half of this song could be about tyrants. But it could also be about anyone who thinks that a little more control is gonna make everything ok. The second half is a response to that developing reality of the first half. The world might be a scary place sometimes but, to some degree, I want to believe I can decide how I respond to it.” - Taylor Goldsmith, Dawes

“It’s all about this body that I have, suffering from the migraines I’ve inherited from my mom, but it’s also about how some people see women as being made for having children, something I don’t even necessarily want at this point.” - Rachel Bobbitt

“In August of 2021, the songwriting process really began and it hit me that this was my last year of high school, my last year in this hometown, and the last time I’d see a lot of these people ever again. The whole first half of the song is exactly that: reminiscing and the nostalgia behind it all. The second half is all about the process to maturity — that there was something so much greater beyond, a whole world I hadn’t discovered yet.” - Sylvia Kay

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Burn The Louvre · Driving In The Rain

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Slowcity Open Mic: Jerry Leger, Georgia Harmer, Abigail Lapell, Handsome Jack, the Bros Landreth, Marc Jordan and Amy Sky, and Amy Nelson

By Will McGuirk

“Every morning we’d sit on the roof of the neighbouring house as the sun rose and drink our coffee, eat our breakfast, and bask in the rising light. We were very connected at the time and had a telepathic quality to our communication. This song is essentially about the telepathy and mind-reading that goes on between close friends.” - Georgia Harmer

“It’s a pretty straightforward love song that tries to answer the question — what would I do without you in my life?" - Dave, Landreth, Bros Landreth

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Slowcity.ca Open Mic: Sasami, Anyway Gang, Jordan Klassen, Sam Weber, The Brothers Comatose + AJ Lee, Triptides, and Francine Honey,

By Will McGuirk

“With all the ridiculous cacophony of information we currently swim in, it is no wonder that we've seen a resurgence of conspiratorial thinking, Most of us see this every day: online, from the mouths of relatives, maybe even in our own brains. I wrote ‘Niko’ as a bit of a tongue in cheek ode to finding out that someone that you know and love is buying in. Pleading my case that the earth is in fact round.” - Jordan Klassen

“despite anyone’s attempt to control a narrative or manipulate our perception of how things are, the truth and what is real always comes out,” - Sam Weber.

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Slowcity.ca Open Mic with Best Coast, Yukon Blonde, Begonia, Cat Power, Jarvis Church, Blake Morgan, The Crowleys, Matt Pike, and Felly

By Will McGuirk

“You don’t really need to compete with yourself, you just need to challenge yourself.” - Jeffrey Innes, Yukon Blonde

“. . . I’m a work in progress and always will be” - Felly

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The Crowleys · Lampshade

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