Leela Gilday
A captivating Dene
singer/songwriter, Leela Gilday is a passionate, soulful performer who takes
listeners on a journey through a musical world where freedom and joy balance
sorrow and injustice. Her lyrics,
reflective of her northern roots, embrace the essence of Dene life from an
urban perspective.
She hails from
Yellowknife, NWT and is a member of the Dene Nation. “We have long recognized her as as talented member of our
nation,” says Dene
National Chief, Bill Erasmus.
Leela Gilday has won many
national awards to her credit including a Juno and Western Canadian Music Award
for her second album Sedzé. In 2009 she won Best Music Video at the
Dreamspeakers Festival in Edmonton AB and in 2008, she received a Fellowship at
the Banff Centre for the Arts.
According to Alex Vardy of the Georgia Straight, “Leela Gilday (is) a
rising star in the world of aboriginal music and a future pop icon as well.”
Touring has taken
Leela from Tokyo to Toronto to Haida Gwaii. She has toured extensively throughout Canada playing
festivals, theatres, ceremonies, and folk clubs. Performance highlights include the Winnipeg Folk Festival,
Vancouver East Cultural Centre, ImagineNATIVE Festival in Toronto, 6th Annual
Aboriginal Music Festival in Saskatoon, and Canada Day on Parliament Hill in
Ottawa. In 2008, Leela shared the stage at Vancouver’s Orpheum Theatre with
Feist, Ron Sexsmith, and Jorane.
Radio and television
appearances include CBC Radio (Stuart McLean’s Vinyl Cafe, Sounds Like Canada)
and the Aboriginal People’s Television Network (2008 National Aboriginal Day
Broadcast).
Leela Gilday has just her much anticipated third CD entitled "Calling All Warriors" (2010). She performs and tours solo or with a band.
“Leela is a huge
new talent whose star shines brightly.
Once you’ve heard her sing, you won’t forget her name. The world is waiting” Sandy Scofield
“Every once in a
while, one encounters a voice that
sends tingles up and down the spine...a voice that abandons itself to the song,
with the whole body thrown in for good measure, a serious talent that has been
finely honed, and that indefinable thing we call charisma.” Michele Letourneau, Northern News Services.