Unplugged Music Showcase

Saturday 10 September 12nn — The Backyard at FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre

12pm – Joe Shawana

12:30 – Mimi O’Bonsawin

1:15pm – Lacey Hill 

Mimi O’Bonsawin (Anishinaabe) 

If you can embrace the grace and power of Northern Ontario landscapes, you will feel the music of Mimi O’Bonsawin. She epitomizes the powerful scenery and the beauty of its waters through her music, all the while yielding to her rich and warm French Canadian and Abenakis heritages.  In a time where you may feel like it has all been done before, Mimi is a rare find.  Mimi’s music has gained some momentum and has received various awards and nominations. She was awarded Best Pop Record at the 2019 Indigenous Music Awards and nominated for Best EP at the Trille Or Awards (2021). She has performed in front of international audiences and has shared the stage with artists like Buffy Sainte-Marie, Crystal Shawanda and more. Mimi’s music is regularly aired on CBC and Sirius XM in Canada and the US. She has composed instrumental tracks for film and TV which you can hear in the trailer for CBC’s “Trickster”. Her song ‘Stone Gaze’ was placed in Showtime’s Ray Donavon TV Series and other tracks from her records are featured on APTN’s Mohawk Girls.

Lacey Hill

Have you heard Lacey? Watch as she takes the stage. Isn’t she gorgeous? She sits on her stool, or chair, or on the edge of the stage, and her long hair slides down her shoulder. The guitar settles comfortable in her hold as she plucks a few strings and tunes it to her liking. Then she strums. Her music is set on fire by her distinct voice. You keep watching her. The vocals are delicate, yet powerful. She makes her guitar sing too. One song is happy. Another is sad. Her third is jealous and spiteful. Now you’re watching and listening. Each one, you find, is stuffed with honesty. Each one, you find, rings with the energy Lacey used to create something wonderful from pain. Each one, you find, fills you with something you dismiss as deja vu. The melodies wash over you, her lyrics, carried by her voice, weave something unspeakable in and outside of her guitar playing. She’s something. You keep listening and you’re ecstatic and touched and haunted all at once. The last notes fade from the air. She stands up. She smiles. “Thank you”

Lacey is Oneida of Six Nations, Wolf Clan. She is a singer/songwriter and inspirational speaker. Lacey grew up singing and making music. She played in the Breeze Band when they were nominated for an Aboriginal Peoples Choice Award, before launching her solo career to great critical acclaim. A featured artist of Thru the Red Door, she has also been a guest on Derek Miller’s Aboriginal Peoples Television Network  show The Guilt Free Zone. As of 2018 things started getting huge: Lacey was a Top Ten finalist in Season Six of TV show The Shot, and she opened Sydney Australia’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras concert and Cher closed!