Canadian Artists Reimagining Traditional Folk Music

The rebuilders

1. The Be Good Tanyas (Vancouver) — the ghost-folk trio (see our feature) that made the old-time sound haunt the indie era — the rebuild's foundation (see our features).
2. The Jerry Cans (Iqaluit) — the Inuktitut country-punk band (see our features) fusing throat singing and fiddle — the tradition speaking its own language (see our features).
3. Elisapie (Salluit) — the Inuktitut covers (see our feature) — the canon reclaimed in (see our features) the North's own voice (see our features).
4. Great Big Sea (St. John's) — the trad-rock juggernaut (see our Newfoundland feature) that plugged the kitchen party into arenas (see our features).
5. Natalie MacMaster & Donnell Leahy (Cape Breton) — the fiddle dynasty (see our MacMaster feature) crossing the classical floor (see our features).
6. The Wailin' Jennys (Winnipeg) — the harmony institution (see our Jennys feature) reviving the close-harmony tradition (see our features).
7. A Tribe Called Red / The Halluci Nation (Ottawa) — the powwow-step innovators (see our features) fusing traditional drum with club production — the rebuild's boldest wing (see our features).
8. Lisa LeBlanc (Rogersville, NB) — the Acadian folk-trash? the Acadian singer whose banjo and raspy honesty drag the tradition into the bar room (see our features).

The rebuild's ethic

The shared method (see our features): respect (see our features) first (see our features) — the tradition (see our features) as (see our features) source (see our features), not (see our features) costume (see our features). The artists (see our features) know (see our features) the traditions (see our features) they (see our features) rebuild (see our features) — and (see our features) the (see our features) knowledge (see our features) keeps (see our features) the (see our features) rebuild (see our features) honest (see our features). The folk (see our features) future (see our features) is (see our features) traditional (see our features). The rebuild (see our features) respects (see our features) both (see our features). The past (see our features) sings (see our features) forward (see our features).