Anne Marie Mediwake sits down with Oji-Cree singer-songwriter Aysanabee to discuss his musical journey and Northern Ontario roots. Winner of three 2023 Summer Solstice Indigenous Music Awards, his music merges indie, soul, and electronic sounds that explore themes of memory and storytelling. He discusses how he was able to reconnect with his roots while telling his grandfather’s story in his debut album ‘Watin.’ Watin actually started out as a series of conversations between myself and my grandfather,” says Aysanabee. “We spent the first year of the pandemic talking about things we’ve never spoke about, his life on the trapline on Sandy Lake First Nation, falling in love, his life in residential school and then leaving everything behind..we never spoke of it until now. Even though we were over 1,000 kilometres apart, it was probably the closest we’ve ever been.”

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