TAMARA
PODEMSKI is a singer/songwriter born and raised in Toronto, Canada. She
sings in English, Ojibway and Hebrew, calling upon her roots to inspire
her music.
After starring in the Broadway company of RENT, Tamara launched her
music career as the lead singer and Ojibway-lyricist of the Los
Angeles-based band, SPIRIT NATION. They released their album “Winter
Moons” in 2001 and received a nomination for Best Group at the 2002
Aboriginal Music Awards in Canada.
In 2003, Tamara recorded under the pseudonym Ceshia Anaquod, this
time acting as both composer and Ojibway-lyricist for the album SPIRIT
VOICES.
Frustrated with the stereotyping of her image and music, Tamara
created Mukwa Music, a production, distribution and promotion company,
where she could have complete control over her cultural representation.
With the support of several government grants, Tamara was able to
tour her music across Canada, write and produce her music video
“Meegwetch,” and write, produce and release her latest album, “TAMARA”
in 2006.
“TAMARA” received 2 Aboriginal Music Awards for Best Female Artist
and Best Songwriter and her music video, MEEGWETCH, garnered Best Music
Video awards at the 2005 imagineNATIVE Film Festival in Toronto and at
the 2005 American Indian Film Festival in San Francisco.
Tamara has licensed her music to several television programs and
feature film soundtracks, most notably on the CBC series “The Rez,”
APTN’s “Moccasin Flats,” “Rabbit Fall,” and the youth role-model
series, “The Seventh Generation.”
With three albums under her belt, Tamara continues touring the world
and has been able to bring her music across Canada, the Arctic, the US,
Hawaii, Europe, Israel, and Australia. Whether she is alone with her
hand drum or with her full piece band, Tamara always infuses
spirituality, passion and pride into her music, empowering and
provoking her audiences song by song.
She is currently between Los Angeles and Toronto, where she is in the midst of writing her next album.