"He has been called one of the most important, vital new voices of the First Nations roots music scene in Canada. In truth, Sumner could be categorized as one of the most important, vital new voices in the entire Canadian roots music scene." - Island Music Fest
Anishinaabe MC/Singer/Songwriter Leonard Sumner's storytelling flows directly from the shores of Little Saskatchewan First Nation, located in the heart of the Interlake of Manitoba.
Sumner's self-determined sound is evidence of his ability to simultaneously occupy landscapes of multiple musical genres including; Hip-Hop, Spoken Word, Country, and Rhythm and Blues.
With every vibration of the strings on his guitar, Leonard rattles the dust off truths that have been buried for far too long. On stage he poetically sings awake the consciousness of audiences may have been unaware of their slumber.
In this era of unsettling history and healing wounds of the past, Sumner's music is an expression of medicine that walks the line between fortitude and fragility.
Opener - Nick Sherman
When he was young, Thunder Bay based singer-songwriter and guitarist Nick Sherman’s grandfather would pick him up in the wee hours from his parents’ place in Sioux Lookout, and drive up the winter highway to North Caribou Lake First Nation. It was there that Sherman accompanied his grandfather while he tended to his trapline, and also where he heard his grandfather sing and play guitar. “He would have been the first person I ever saw sit down, pick up a guitar, play it and sing at the same time,” Sherman says.
Fast forward nearly three decades and countless kilometres later, Sherman has a partner and two boys of his own but a similar spirit still drives his music.
Sherman's music has taken him across the country where he has performed at various events and festivals such as Ottawa Bluesfest, Vancouver Folk Festival, Luminato Festival, and more.
Sherman worked in radio for nine years, and now spends part of the year in remote Indigenous communities bringing music programming into schools. “Over the years I’ve come to realize that it’s not about what equipment or instruments are available,” Sherman says. “My main focus is figuring out how to teach young people to make meaningful connections through self-expression, and show them how this can counteract the deep sense of isolation so many of them feel.”