Indigenous artist releases third album

By Alexandra Noad - Lethbridge Herald Local Journalism Initiative Reporter on July 12, 2024.

Photo by Brayden Treble - Juno Award winning Indigenous artist Celeigh Cardinal will be playing the Wide Skies Music Festival in Lethbridge on July 30.

A Juno Award winning Indigenous artist from Edmonton has released her third studio album which explores her grief process of losing loved ones.

Celeigh Cardinal released her album Boundless Possibilities on June 21. The original version of the album was supposed to come out in 2020, however, the pandemic shut everything down. During that time Cardinal also lost two loved ones. She wanted to capture the grief so people who were experiencing similar things wouldn’t feel alone.

“There’s a certain type of grief that is just the one where you never go back to the person you were before…I wanted to try to capture that so that anybody who feels that feels less alone in that feeling, they feel seen and they feel safe to cry,” said Cardinal.

Cardinal commemorated the release of this vulnerable album by singing the entire album to a crowd in Edmonton. She says the experience helped relieve some of her grief.

“On Friday when I sang this album from front to back..it was National Indigenous Peoples Day, it was a summer solstice, it was a full moon. It was just such a beautiful, powerful and I feel like it just lifted a weight off of me and I do feel lighter and I feel ready to move forward,” said Cardinal.

Cardinal sings folk songs. She says people are often surprised when people hear her music because she doesn’t play tradition Indigenous music.

“When I was younger people would often book me and then I would show up ready to play my like Sad girl folk songs and they’d be expecting me to show up with like a hand drum and sing traditional music. I think people have been learning that Indigenous people aren’t just one type of person. The most authentic thing that I can do is show up exactly as I am to show that we’re not just this caricature and I’m just like a human being like everyone else,” said Cardinal.

While Cardinal plans to have a relaxing summer, she does have a few shows booked including Folk Fest in Calgary and Wide Skies Music Festival in Lethbridge on July 30.

More information on Cardinal can be found at http://www.caleighcardinal.com and her music is available on all streaming platforms.

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