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This is a list of singers, bands, composers, conductors, and other musicians originating from or based in Nova Scotia.
Nova Scotia is a province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and most populous province in Atlantic Canada, with an estimated population of over 1 million as of 2024; it is also the second-most densely populated province in Canada, and second-smallest province by area. The province comprises the Nova Scotia peninsula and Cape Breton Island, as well as 3,800 other coastal islands. The province is connected to the rest of Canada by the Isthmus of Chignecto, on which the province's land border with New Brunswick is located.
The music of Canada's Maritime provinces has included many artists from both the traditional and pop genres, and is mostly European in origin. The traditional genre is dominated by the music brought to the region by the European settlers, the most well known of which are the Scots & Irish celtic and Acadian traditions. Successful pop acts from all genres have had degrees of national and international success since the beginning of recorded music period. Performers as diverse as Hank Snow, Stan Rogers, Anne Murray, the Rankin Family, Barachois, The Men of the Deeps and April Wine have all experienced tremendous success as popular music acts with considerable national and international tours and record sales.
Christopher Michael Murphy is a Canadian musician and a member of the rock band Sloan.
In the province of Nova Scotia in Canada, Celtic music has played a significant role, both in its traditional forms and fused with other musical styles. Nova Scotia's folk music features traditional tunes brought over from the Scottish Highlands in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, as well as localized forms such as Cape Breton fiddle music. In recent years, a wide variety of other musical genres have emerged in Nova Scotia, which has produced several country music stars such as Hank Snow, Wilf Carter, Anne Murray, and Rita MacNeil.
William Joel MacDonald Plaskett is a Canadian rock musician and songwriter based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He was a member of Halifax alternative rock band Thrush Hermit in the 1990s. Plaskett performs in a number of genres, from blues and folk to hard rock, country, and pop.
Matt Mays is a Canadian indie rock singer-songwriter and was the lead singer of Matt Mays & El Torpedo, a rock music group based in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, and New York City. Previously, Mays was a member of a Canadian indie band The Guthries. Mays was born in Hamilton, Ontario, and grew up in Nova Scotia.
Symphony Nova Scotia is a Canadian orchestra based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Its primary recital venue is at the Dalhousie Arts Centre's Rebecca Cohn Auditorium.
Truthfully Truthfully is the second album by artist Joel Plaskett under the band name Joel Plaskett Emergency and his third since splitting from Thrush Hermit.
The Guthries were a Canadian country rock band based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. They released two albums in the early 2000s.
Ashtray Rock is an album by Canadian indie rock band Joel Plaskett Emergency, released on April 17, 2007.
Mitch MacDonald is a Canadian singer who was runner-up in season 6 of the reality series Canadian Idol.
The East Coast Music Association (ECMA) is a non-profit association purposed towards supporting the music industry in the Canadian east coast, i.e., Atlantic Canada. The ECMA hosts the annual East Coast Music Awards festival.
Ryan Cook is a singer-songwriter from Nova Scotia, Canada. He has released four studio albums, three of which have been nominated for the Music Nova Scotia Awards "Album of the Year".
Mo Kenney is a Canadian singer/songwriter based in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Catching the ear of noted Canadian rocker Joel Plaskett while still in school, Kenney released their first album in 2012, which Plaskett produced. Kenney is known for their lyrical prowess and engaging stage presence. Called "Nova Scotia's rising star" by The Scene magazine, they have toured with Plaskett as well as with Ron Sexsmith. In 2013, their song "Sucker" won the prestigious SOCAN Songwriting Prize.
Port Cities is a Canadian band based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Formed in 2015, Port Cities is composed of Dylan Guthro, Breagh MacKinnon, and Carleton Stone —each already a singer/songwriter with an established solo career. The band signed with turtlemusik/Warner Music in 2016 and released its debut album in 2017.
Sheri Jones is a Canadian artist manager based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She has managed a roster of Maritime musical artists for nearly three decades.
Matthew George Grimson was a Canadian musician from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Although he released albums locally in small quantities and never became widely known outside of Halifax in his lifetime, he came to wider attention in 2020 with the release of the posthumous album Prize for Writing.
Beòlach is a Canadian traditional Celtic music group specialising in the fiddle and pipe music of their native Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, as well as Scotland and Ireland. They have recorded and play both traditional and more modern tunes. Beòlach, formed in 1998 by fiddlers Wendy MacIsaac and Màiri Rankin, pianist and keyboardist Mac Morin, guitarist Patrick Gillis and piper Ryan MacNeil, played their first live set at the Celtic Colours Festival, in Nova Scotia, that year. The group is perhaps most noted for their 2020 album All Hands, which was nominated for Traditional Folk Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2021, and won two Canadian Folk Music Awards—for Traditional Album of the Year and Instrumental Group of the Year—at the 16th Canadian Folk Music Awards.
