We Love Canadian Music

Amanda Martinez is a singer-songwriter whose music exultingly blends her Mexican father and South African mother’s roots with Latin soul and folklore. Her sultry, bright vocals and upbeat sound get entire audiences on their feet around the world.

Amanda chats with Heather about her work with SOS Children's Villages and the inspiration for her fourth album Libre.

With over 10 years and 4 albums to their name, Ottawa’s Amos the Transparent are a long-standing staple in the independent Canadian folk-rock world. They have performed at SXSW, WayHome, The Strombo Show, CBC’s Q, and the Big Sound Festival in Australia. Amos the Transparent are best known for their dense instrumental arrangements, layered sounds and lush harmonies. Heather speaks with the band about taking on side projects, how they approach music writing and things to do on a 15 hour drive to Halifax.

Born in a tent and raised in a cabin on the shores of a glacial lake in the Kluane region of Canada’s Yukon, country-roots artist Diyet is a seamless amalgam of cultures. Via folk music and Aboriginal forms, she channels her various linages (Southern Tutchone, Japanese, Tlingit and Scottish) into stories and melodies deeply rooted in her Indigenous world view, and northern reality.

Megan Bonnell has never been easily pigeon-holed into the predictable mold of the singer-songwriter and her new album Separate Rooms embraces this edict, turning traditional musical genres on their heads. With her hallmark honesty, Bonnell effortlessly tackles such intense subject matter as mental illness, early pregnancy loss, and the dissolution of love.

Hillsburn’s indie-rock sound draws on the songwriting focus of folk music, and combines it with a pop sensibility. The band’s performances are dynamic, energized, and emotive. You won’t want to miss this band that is already on its way to becoming a national treasure.

For close to thirty years now, Blue Rodeo has taken the road less travelled – and succeeded far beyond anyone’s expectations. The band emerged in the early 80’s as a countrified rock band in the era of hair metal and glossy pop.

Earnest, and with a touch of heart-felt twang, Suzie Vinnick is a prodigious singer-songwriter, and veteran of the Canadian roots scene. A Saskatoon native transplanted to the Niagara Region of Ontario, she’s the proud owner of a gorgeous voice, serious guitar chops, and an engagingly candid performance style.

If raw denim had a sound, it’d be a Christina Martin. In the grand tradition of highway Canadiana, Martin’s songwriting is honest-to-goodness jukebox rock for the craft beer generation. The winner of multiple East Coast Music Awards, Christina Martin cut her teeth in Austin Texas, and returns with her most personal and ambitious record to date “Impossible To Hold”.