With a natural talent for telling stories through music, rising Canadian country artist Jade Turner continues to share and support the Indigenous culture that inspires her. Recognized for her original songwriting and stunning music videos, the member of Misipawistik Cree Nation has already established a diverse audience attracted to her energetic stage presence and singles like “Somehow Someone,” “Hangover Blues,” and “Worth.”
“I can only have my own stories, so if I want the music to be true to me, it all has to be coming from my point of view. The stories I tell will be different but I feel we’re all the same in different ways,” she says. “In the communities where I grew up, we’re storytellers and we’ve always been storytellers. Country has been a huge part of my life because it’s a storytelling genre.”
Turner and her family are from Misipawistik Cree Nation, known in English as “Grand Rapids.” She was raised in the northern communities of Manitoba, where local radio stations played Indigenous music as well as songs by country artists. She often competed in singing contests as a kid, even though she lived in a lot of different communities as her mother moved frequently with her nursing job.
Turner lives in Selkirk, Manitoba, and works as a millwright, also called an industrial mechanic. For some jobs she drives four hours to the site, then stays for a week before driving four hours home. The time on the road has proven beneficial for her songwriting output. Although she knows that her songwriting approach is unusual, it’s already helped her earn nominations from the Western Canadian Music Awards and the Manitoba Country Music Awards – with the latter naming her the Emerging Artist of the Year in 2018.
One of Turner’s most powerful original releases is “Worth.” It’s an emotional centerpiece of her 2017 debut album, North Country, which was named Best Country Album at the Indigenous Music Awards in 2017. The cinematic music video for “Worth” also received a nomination.
After her last album North Country, a pregnancy led to an extended bed rest, and then the pandemic hit which has put her touring and recording plans on hold. Now with a young son and more new songs on the way, she’s as determined as ever to share her music with the world.
“I love to hit heartstrings with this music,” she says. “I don’t know why it always ends up that way but it does — that’s usually what I end up writing. But I also love writing fun songs because I love to make people laugh. I like to get people’s feelings out there, no matter what it is.
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