Leela Gilday

Leela Gilday is a Dene-Canadian singer and songwriter born and raised in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. From a very young age, Leela was immersed in music, and by the age of 8 had already begun her singing career. Today she is a celebrated artist from Canada's North.

Leela Gilday
Leela Gilday, April 2011
Background information
OriginYellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada
GenresFolk, pop
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter
InstrumentsGuitar, vocals
LabelsDiva Sound Records[1][2]
Websitewww.leelagilday.com

Career

Ms. Gilday has released five solo albums to date. Since her early start in music, she has been honoured with many awards, beginning in 2002 as Best Female Artist, Best Folk Album and Best Songwriter at the Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards for her first release Spirit World, Solid Wood. She was also named in Maclean’s Magazine[3] Top 50 Under 30 in that same year. In 2003 she was nominated at the Juno Awards for "Best Music of Aboriginal Canada", and in 2007 won for Aboriginal Recording Of The Year with the release of her second album Sedzé. Up Here Magazine named Leela as Northerner of the Year in 2007.[4] Her third release Calling All Warriors debuted in 2010. It won Aboriginal Recording of the Year at the Western Canadian Music Awards. In 2011, Ms. Gilday won Aboriginal Female Entertainer of the Year at the Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards.[4] Her fourth record "Heart of the People" was released in 2014 and garnered a Western Canadian Music Award for Indigenous Recording of the Year, as well as a nomination for Best Aboriginal Recording at the Juno Awards.

In 2019 she had an acting role in the drama film Red Snow.

Her fifth record "North Star Calling" was released Sept 2019. In February 2020 Leela was one of the inaugural recipients (alongside Haviah Mighty) of the SOCAN "Her" Music Award, a national award recognizing outstanding achievement in a female and female-presenting musicians.

Education

Leela Gilday received a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Alberta in 1997.[5] She received an Alumni Horizon Award in 2004. She received a Fleck Fellowship at the Banff Centre for the Arts in 2008.

Discography
  • Spirit World, Solid Wood (2002)
  • Sedzé (2008)
  • Calling All Warriors (2010)
  • Heart of the People (2014)
  • North Star Calling (2019)

References
  1. Canada Council for the Arts (March 22, 2004), Leela Gilday
  2. CD Baby (2008), Sedzé Leela Gilday
  3. 2007 Juno Awards Winners Bios, 2007
  4. Northern Arts and Cultural Centre (2010), Leela Gilday CD Release "Calling All Warriors", archived from the original on 2011-07-06, retrieved 2010-10-24.
  5. Rojas, Carmen (Fall 2007), "Northstar", Work of Arts: The Faculty of Arts in Review, pp. 4–7. Work of Arts is distributed twice yearly by the University of Alberta's Faculty of Arts to alumni, friends, faculty and staff.
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