Leela Gilday

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

Leela Gilday
Leela Gilday, April 2011
Background information
OriginYellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada
Genres
Occupation(s)Musician
Instruments
  • Guitar
  • vocals
LabelsDiva Sound Records[1][2]
Websiteleelagilday.com

Education

Gilday earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Alberta in 1997.[3] She received an Alumni Horizon Award in 2004. and a Fleck Fellowship at the Banff Centre for the Arts in 2008.

Career

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[4] Top 50 Under 30 that same year. In 2003, she was nominated at the Juno Awards for "Best Music of Aboriginal Canada", and in 2007 won Aboriginal Recording of the Year with the release of her second album, Sedzé. Up Here Magazine named Gilday Northerner of the Year in 2007.[5] Her third release, Calling All Warriors, was released in 2010. It won Aboriginal Recording of the Year at the Western Canadian Music Awards. In 2011, Gilday won Aboriginal Female Entertainer of the Year at the Aboriginal People's Choice Music Awards.[5] 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, Gilday had an acting role in the drama film Red Snow.

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

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. 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.
  4. 2007 Juno Awards Winners Bios, 2007
  5. Northern Arts and Cultural Centre (2010), Leela Gilday CD Release "Calling All Warriors", archived from the original on July 6, 2011, retrieved October 24, 2010.
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