The Dears are a Canadian indie rock band from Montreal, Quebec. The band is led by the husband-and-wife duo of singer-guitarist Murray Lightburn and keyboardist Natalia Yanchak.
Tanya Tagaq, also credited as Tagaq, is a Canadian Inuk throat singer from Cambridge Bay (Iqaluktuuttiaq), Nunavut, Canada, on the south coast of Victoria Island.
Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band, consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, alongside Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury and Jeremy Gara. The band's current touring line-up also includes former core member Sarah Neufeld and multi-instrumentalists Paul Beaubrun, Dan Boeckner and Eric Heigle. Each of the band's studio albums features contributions from composer and violinist Owen Pallett. The band formerly featured Win's younger brother Will Butler, who departed in 2021 after eighteen years.
Greg MacPherson is a Canadian singer-songwriter based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. MacPherson performs both solo and with a backing band.
Elliott Brood is a Canadian three-piece, alternative country band formed in 2002 in Toronto, consisting of Mark Sasso on lead vocals, guitar, banjo, ukulele, harmonica, and kazoo, Casey Laforet on guitar, lead vocals, backing vocals, bass pedals, keys, and ukulele, and Stephen Pitkin on percussion, sampler, and backing vocals. The band's style has been categorized as "death country", "frontier rock", or "revival music".
Frog Eyes are an indie rock band from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada fronted by Carey Mercer. Their 2010 album Paul's Tomb: A Triumph was a longlisted nominee for the 2010 Polaris Music Prize. They have released eight albums and two EPs and are noted for their collaboration with Dan Bejar of Destroyer.
The Polaris Music Prize is a music award annually given to the best full-length Canadian album based on artistic merit, regardless of genre, sales, or record label. The award was established in 2006 with a $20,000 cash prize; the prize was increased to $30,000 for the 2011 award. In May 2015, the Polaris Music Prize was increased to $50,000, an additional $20,000, sponsored by Slaight Music. Additionally, second place prizes for the nine other acts on the Short List increased from $2,000 to $3,000. Polaris officials also announced The Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize, an award that "will annually honour five albums from the five decades before Polaris launched in 2006." Details about the selection process for this prize are still to be revealed.
The Besnard Lakes are a Canadian indie rock band from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Formed in 2003 by the husband and wife team of Jace Lasek and Olga Goreas, the band also includes Kevin Laing (drums), Richard White (guitar), Sheenah Ko (keyboards) and Robbie MacArthur (guitar).
Karkwa is an indie rock band from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, formed in 1998.
The Rural Alberta Advantage is a Canadian indie rock band that formed in 2005 in Toronto, Ontario. The band consists of Nils Edenloff on lead vocals and guitar, Amy Cole on keyboards, bass, and backing vocals, and Paul Banwatt on drums. They have released four albums and are signed to Paper Bag Records in Canada and Saddle Creek Records internationally. In 2011, they were nominated for a Polaris Music Prize.
The 2009 edition of the Canadian Polaris Music Prize was presented on September 21, 2009 in Toronto at the Masonic Temple and broadcast live online for the first time in its short history. The award's eligibility period for 2009 covered albums released between June 1, 2008 and May 31, 2009.
Lindi Ortega is a Canadian country singer-songwriter from Toronto, Ontario, who had lived in Nashville, Tennessee then married and moved to Western Canada in 2017. She spent nearly a decade as an independent artist in the Toronto music scene, releasing two albums and an EP in that time. She has been described as "Toronto's best kept secret" and nicknamed "Indie Lindi". Ortega left Last Gang management and records in November 2017. She has since released Til The Goin' Gets Gone EP and her full-length Liberty on her own label Shadowbox Music. Her voice has been described as a blend of Dolly Parton's, Johnny Cash's, and Emmylou Harris'.
Lee Harvey Osmond, stylized as LeE HARVeY OsMOND, is a Canadian psychedelic folk project fronted by musician Tom Wilson.
La Patère Rose was a Canadian francophone electro-pop group formed in 2003 in Sherbrooke, Quebec. The band was composed of keyboardist Roboto, drummer Kilojules and singer-pianist Fanny Bloom.
Marie-Pierre Arthur is the stage name of Marie-Pierre Fournier, a Canadian pop singer-songwriter from Quebec. Originally from Grande-Vallée, she is currently based in Montreal.
Yamantaka // Sonic Titan is a Canadian experimental music and performance art collective. Formed in Montreal, Quebec and currently operating in Toronto, Ontario, the group was founded by Ruby Kato Attwood and Alaska B – former members of the defunct Montreal noise rock band Lesbian Fight Club – and now features Ange Loft on vocals and percussion, Joanna Delos Reyes on vocals and guitar, Brendan Swanson on keyboards, Hiroki Tanaka on lead guitar, Brandon Lim on bass guitar, and Aylwin Lo on projections and lights. Ruby Kato Attwood left the band at the end of 2014. Past members have included John Ancheta on bass and acoustic guitar, Walter Scott, Shub Roy, Alana Ruth, and Adrienne Mak.
Dilly Dally is a Canadian grunge and alternative rock band from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The band consists of Katie Monks, Liz Ball, Annie Jane Marie (bassist) and Benjamin Reinhartz (drummer).
Queer Songbook Orchestra are a Canadian chamber pop ensemble, who record and perform orchestral versions of pop songs with meaning to the LGBTQ community. Songs performed by the orchestra do not necessarily have to be explicitly LGBTQ-themed; the group's stated selection criteria permits any song that can be paired with a compelling story about how that song has "touched a queer life in a way".
Ariel Engle is a Canadian indie pop singer and songwriter, who records and performs both with Broken Social Scene and as a solo artist.
The 2021 edition of the Canadian Polaris Music Prize was presented on September 27, 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, the award was presented in a livestreamed virtual event hosted by Angeline Tetteh-Wayoe of CBC Music.
