TORONTO 鈥� Jeremy Dutcher has won the Polaris Music Prize for his second album, 鈥淢otewolonuwok.鈥�
For the first time in the award鈥檚 19-year history, the $50,000 prize for best Canadian album of the year went to a previous winner.
鈥淪ix years ago, I put out my first record; this award changed my life,鈥� he told a cheering crowd at Massey Hall in Toronto.
Dutcher鈥檚 鈥淢otewolonuwok鈥� beat out nine other albums vying for the award, including some unusually high-profile names.
Records by Charlotte Cardin, the Beaches, Allison Russell and Elisapie were shortlisted for the prize, which selects its winner based on artistic merit.
Dutcher first won a Polaris prize in 2018 for his debut album, 鈥淲olastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa,鈥� which featured the operatic tenor duetting in the Wolastoq language with archival recordings of his ancestors.
His latest Polaris winner expands on those ideas with songs written at least partly in English.
He鈥檚 described the record as confronting the nuances of the modern Indigenous experience, from its sorrow to its joy, while also building a bridge to the English-speaking listeners who discovered him after his first Polaris win.
Backstage after he accepted the award, Dutcher said he would donate his prize money to Kehkimin, a Wolastoqey language immersion school his mother established in New Brunswick.
鈥淭hey started with one class of four-year-olds; it鈥檚 now in its third year,鈥� he said.
鈥淲e鈥檙e seeing so much amazing progress for our language. We have less than 500 fluent speakers left, so we鈥檙e now in the fight of our lives.鈥�
He urged other Canadians to consider following his lead with their own donations.
鈥淚 think allies, non-Indigenous people, all want to help. But I think people don鈥檛 know how (or) where to put their energy,鈥� he said.
鈥淭his is a grassroots survivor-led initiative to help an Indigenous revitalization. There鈥檚 no more tangible way to help out Indigenous people in this country.鈥�
Dutcher added that the primary goal of continuing his music career is to draw more attention to language revitalization, which he believes involves sometimes performing in English to expand his audience.
鈥淪ometimes you need to use different tools,鈥� he said.
鈥淢usic is amazing because it cuts past the brain right to the heart.鈥�
The Polaris is considered one of the country鈥檚 most prestigious music awards, with previous winners including Haviah Mighty, Kaytranada, Pierre Kwenders and Debby Friday, who hosted this year鈥檚 proceedings at a packed Massey Hall.
Organizers have been trying to grow the Polaris into a more formidable public event in recent years. This year鈥檚 turnout was their largest yet, with the main floor occupied by musicians and industry players and the upper floors filled with music fans.
A day before the show, they faced one unexpected hurdle when opener Charlotte Cardin was forced to back out of her performance due to a recent COVID-19 diagnosis.
That led organizers to shuffle around some of the acts, putting Elisapie at the top of the night. She kicked it off with her cover of Metallica鈥檚 鈥淭he Unforgiven鈥� sung in Inuktitut.
Cardin still made a special appearance through some creative compromise.
She was initially slated to perform live with Strings From Paris, a six-member strings act founded by Toronto musician Aaron Paris. Without Cardin in attendance, the group moved ahead with their appearance by playing live on stage as footage of Cardin singing 鈥淣ext to You鈥� accompanied them on a screen projection.
Other highlights included teenage rock act Thunder Queens who joined the Beaches lead singer Jordan Miller to perform 鈥淓dge of the Earth鈥� from the Toronto band鈥檚 鈥淏lame My Ex.鈥�
Montreal all-female punk act Nobro brought their boisterous energy to a medley of songs from their album, including the fist-pumping 鈥淟et鈥檚 Do Drugs.鈥�
And while Allison Russell had a previous engagement, the Montreal folk singer鈥檚 album 鈥淭he Returner鈥� was represented with a performance of 鈥淓ve Was Black鈥� by Memphis-based Collage Dance Ballet.
Other Polaris shortlisted artists who took the stage to play songs from their nominated albums included DJ and producer Bambii and rappers DijahSB and Tobi, while Cindy Lee premiered a new music video in their absence.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
David Friend, The Canadian Press
