The Stars is iskwē’s newest release (March 5, 2021). It is the inverse of her third album acākosīk starting with the title which is the English translation of the Cree word acākosīk. Where acākosīk is a blaze of sonic exploration, The Stars is an elegant and intimate sharing of the collection allowing iskwē’s songwriting, voice and spirit to shine. The Stars features entirely new arrangements of the six songs with iskwē accompanied by a trio of piano (Michael Shand), cello (Mariel Gonzalez), and violin (Laura C Bates) recorded live-off-the-floor at Revolution Recording in Toronto and a dramatic orchestral reimagining of “Night Danger (Lovers Mix)” recorded with the FILMharmonic Orchestra (Prague). Where acākosīk demanded our attention, The Stars invites us into an emotional and soulful experience with iskwē.

acākosīk, (November 9, 2019), is a sonic exploration that not only blurs lines between sources and styles, but also between the actual and the ideal, the real and imagined. But by extension, it’s also the star around which immersive worlds of live performance, video, and visual art revolve. acākosīk has received critical praise: the video for “Little Star” garnered a JUNO Award for Music Video of the Year in 2020, the album was nominated for a JUNO Award for Adult Alternative Album of the Year, and “Breaking Down” was nominated for a Prism Prize and the SOCAN Songwriting Prize.

The songs on acākosīk and The Stars are meant to raise awareness of systemic abuses and societal opinions and the way we’ve been perceived and treated, but also to celebrate our culture and help bridge that gap – to help us find empathy and common ground and connect the way we’re supposed to as people, regardless of race or religion or background,” she shares. “A lot of these issues, while they stem from my experiences and those of my people, are really universally human issues.”

iskwē’s album The Fight Within (2017) was JUNO-nominated for Indigenous Music Album of the Year (2018) and garnered her a spot on the Polaris Long List.

iskwē’s message is arguably most impactful when delivered from the stage, where it’s not uncommon for people to leave in entranced contemplation or even in tears. Music merges with dance, multimedia, and more in a completely engulfing and cathartic experience – one meant to bring people together and celebrate that which unites over that which divides.

She has performed hundreds of shows in Canada and internationally, including Canadian highlights at Ottawa’s Parliament Hill and a triumphant performance with Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, in New York City at the Met and SummerStage in Central Park, and beyond for the King and Queen of Sweden, Reeperbahn in Germany, and Border Crossing’s Origins Festival in England. iskwē is an ambassador and program participant for the PRS Keychange initiative.

iskwē is Cree Métis from Treaty One Territory. She was born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. She is an urban Indigenous two-spirited woman from the Red River Valley, the birthplace of the Métis Nation.

iskwē is pronounced iss-kway
acākosīk is pronounced acha-ko-suk

In 1989 Wilson became the founder of the popular rock band Junkhouse.The band quickly grew in popularity and in 1993 signed a recording contract with Sony Music Canada. Lead by Wilson, Junkhouse skyrocketed in the 90’s, producing three albums, Strays, Birthday Boy and Fuzz, before disbanding. The style and success of Junkhouse has been an inspiration to many young Hamilton artists. Wilson recorded his first solo album Planet Love (2001) for Sony Music.

It was also during this time that Wilson starting dedicating more of his time and energy to his second passion, painting, “I needed an outlet besides writing music and there is a great meditative bond I found between me and the canvas”. His art show “Beautiful Scars: Mohawk Warriors, Hunters and Chiefs” premiered at the Art Gallery of Burlington and his work “The Mystic Highway” was commissioned by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences for a 30’ x 30’ reproduction legacy piece adorning John Street in Hamilton.The painting pays homage to the rich history of Hamilton musicians and performers from past.

In 1999, as a result of their shared love and admiration for one of Canada’s great musical treasures, the late Willie P. Bennett , Wilson along with Stephen Fearing and Colin Linden formed what would soon become the highly acclaimed roots music supergroup Blackie and the Rodeo Kings.

The Rodeo Kings have produced ten albums and have toured throughout North America and Europe. While Wilson created solo albums, Planet Love and Dog Years (2006) , it was with his collaboration with producer and Cowboys Junkies founder Michael Timmins that he found and settled into a new voice . The result is Wilson’s genre defining, alter personae Lee Harvey Osmond. “Acid folk” was born in an old garage off Clinton Avenue in Toronto. With Timmins production and Wilson’s baritone, LHO has become the soundtrack and the voice for the art of Tom Wilson.

In 2017 Wilson released his highly anticipated memoir through Penguin/ Random House/Doubleday Publishing. In the memoir, Wilson offers a profoundly moving and humorous look at family, his hometown and identity after a chance encounter with a stranger caused him to question everything he had always known about his past.

Joel has made several solo recordings, which have won both the prestigious JUNO and Opus Prizes. From the International Society of Bassists, Joel has received a Special Recognition Award for Outstanding Solo Performance and for Outstanding Orchestral Performance. He performs on an Italian bass made in 1666 by the Italian master, Santo Paolo Maggini.

Marta Potulska is also an active participant in many international music festivals such as Salzburger Festspiele, Golling Festspiele, Styriarte, Eggenberger Schlosskonzerte, St Gallen Festival, Austria, the Park City Music Festival, in Las Vegas, USA, the International Suzuki Institute in Salt Lake City, USA, Strings Only in Zadar, Osor Music Evenings Festival in Osor, Croatia, the International Music Interpretation Festival (ZAS) in Zakopane, Poland and theBled Festival as well as Arsana Art Festival Ptuj in Slovenia.

Marta Potulska completed her studies in the class of Matthias Maurer (former solo violist at Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam) at the Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Graz, Austria and was an assistant in her class at the same University in years 2012-2014.

She is currently a member of the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Wien International Soloists Ensemble and Varietas Ensemble as well as a member of Ensemble of Burgtheater in Vienna.

Tomson Highway, award-winning playwright and the author of The Rez Sisters, Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing, Rose, and Kiss of the Fur Queen, was born in a tent near Maria Lake, Manitoba in 1951. A full-blood Cree, he is a registered member of the Barren Lands First Nation, the village for which is called Brochet. He grew up in the spectacularly beautiful natural landscape that is Canada’s sub-Arctic, an un-peopled region of hundreds of lakes, endless forests of spruce and pine, and great herds of caribou. His parents, with no access to books, TV or radio, would tell their children stories, and Tomson fell in love with the oral tradition of storytelling. When he was six, he was taken from his family and placed in residential school in The Pas. Although he resented being taken away from his parent and family, he did learn music, and had plans to become a concert pianist. He traveled to London to study, and earned his music degree in 1975 and a Bachelor’s of Arts in 1976 from the University of Western Ontario. But instead of becoming a professional concert musician, Highway instead decided to dedicate his life to the service of his people.

Subsequently, for seven years, he immersed himself in the field of Native social work, working on reserves and in urban centres across Ontario and, later on, Canada. He then decided it was time to put all this extraordinary artistic training and this extraordinary Native social work experience together – he started writing music, plays, and, later, novels. After years of working in the Toronto theatre industry, he achieved national and international recognition in 1986 with his sixth play, the multi-award-winning The Rez Sisters.

He was made a member of the Order of Canada in 1994. For many years, he ran Canada’s premiere Native Theatre Company, Native Earth Performing Arts, in Toronto, out of which has emerged a generation of professional Native Theatre artists. He now splits his time between homes near Sudbury, Ontario and Gatineau, Québec.