Amanda Rheaume. Photo credit: Sean Sisk Photography.
Métis Nation of Ontario (MNO) citizen Amanda Rheaume has been nominated for a 2014 Juno Award in the category of Aboriginal Album of the Year. This is Rheaume’s first-ever Juno nomination.
Rheaume is a Métis singer-songwriter known for her powerful voice. Her latest album “Keep a Fire”, which has been nominated for Aboriginal Album of the Year, is a collection of family stories celebrating her Métis heritage. Rheaume’s describes the album on her website as “varied and evocative collection of mostly story-songs about her ancestors that more than lives up to the tradition of epic family-of-origin albums”.
“It’s such an honour to be nominated in this category,” said Rheaume in an interview with the Ottawa Sun, “because the album is comprised of songs about my heritage, my ancestors and tells the stories of the things they had to go through to give me the life I have now.”
The Ottawa-born-and-raised singer-songwriter was the winner of the 2008 LiVE 885 Big Money Shot challenge. She was also shortlisted last year for the Council for the Arts in Ottawa’s RBC Emerging Artist Award and has sung the national anthems at an Ottawa Senators hockey game.
Fellow Juno nominees include George Leach, Inez Jasper, Desiree Dorion and Nathan Cunningham.
The 43th annual Juno Awards will be held in Winnipeg on March 30. For more information on Rheaume visit her website at www.amandarheaume.com