I had the great pleasure of attending the June instalment of Unplugged North at one of my favourite venues in the city, The Cameron House. For those of you that are unfamiliar with Unplugged North, they are a monthly concert series showcasing Canadian songwriters in an “unplugged” acoustic format. This is my second time attending an Unplugged North show and they always feature tremendous talent in an intimate setting with plenty of storytelling in between.

This month’s show featured four incredible songwriters Thea May, Evan Redsky, Amanda Rheaume, and a special mystery guest that proved to be well worth the price of admission.

Thea May

Thea May, an Anishnawbe artist from Atikameksheng Anishnawbek, kicked off the night with a set loaded with songs about love, loss and tragedy performed with immense power, grace, and unapologetic honesty. Thea’s sense of humour, vulnerability, and defiant determined spirit was on full display both in her songwriting and her banter between songs. She and her guitarist Cinde put on an incredible performance, and I look forward to listening to more of Thea’s work.

Thea May live:

Evan Redsky

Second on the lineup was Evan Redsky, a songwriter from the Mississauga First Nation now residing in Toronto. He played an entire set of new and unreleased songs that were delicate, nuanced, gripping and expertly crafted. Evan will be performing at the Baby G in July with his full band so be sure to check him out. 

Evan Redsky live:

Amanda Rheaume

Up next was Amanda Rheaume a Métis songwriter and storyteller accompanied with the incredible fiddle play of Alyssa Delbaere-Sawchuk performing songs about resistance and resilience. This multi award winning artist put on a powerful performance filled with songs that put her immense talent on display and witty and engaging dialogue in between. Amanda was truly incredible. 

Amanda Rheaume live:

Aysanabee

To close off the night was the highly anticipated Special Guest. Given that the show, to this point, featured an unbelievable lineup of Indigenous artists it was only fitting that the Special Guest was none other than the JUNO Award winning artist Aysanabee. He performed his intimate and stripped-down acoustic set less than 2hrs prior to the release of his new nine track LP Edge of the Earth, which is available now on all streaming platforms. I have been wanting to see Aysanabee live for some time now, and I felt truly spoiled to get to see him perform for the first time in an up close and personal setting. He did not disappoint, and played an amazing set from start to finish, contrasting his soft-spoken demeanour between songs to a powerful and undeniable force when performing a mix of new and older favourites from his stellar catalog. Be sure to check himout with his full band when he performs with Blue Rodeo this summer.

Aysanabee live:

I also need to give a shout out to the host of the evening Patrick Bateman of Sirius XM Canada. He did a great job of conducting a compelling Q&A while introducing each performer throughout the evening. Thanks again to Unplugged North for putting on such a great show.