Fontine Trio with opening act by Daniel Monkman (Zoon)
A hush sweeps across Turtle Island. Birds flock to perch on towering maples and the waving prairie grasses still. There is a name upon the tongue of every creature from the elk to the shrew. FONTINE. A gust of wind blows open the shutters of every home and young and old kneel in reverence to the dawn of a new era. FONTINE. Queen of the road, King of the song, FONTINE is here with a brand new EP.
Co-produced with Kris Ulrich and mixed by Boy Golden, the Yarrow Lover EP is set to be released in 2023. Taking inspiration from her Nehiyaw Iskwew roots, the natural surroundings of her prairie home, and her musical surroundings in Winnipeg, the EP presents as a beautiful introduction to a powerhouse songwriter and vocalist.
Indie-folk/pop artist FONTINE from Winnipeg, MB, is making waves. A queer and Indigenous musician of Nehiyaw Iskwew heritage, her debut EP, co-produced with friends Kris Ulrich and mixed by Boy Golden, dropped in February this year. Inspired by the prairies and the Winnipeg music scene, her music is a fusion of culture and creativity. FONTINE’s single “Homemaker” reached number one on the Indigenous Music Countdown, and she recently graced CBC’s “The Intro” stage. With roots in her heritage and her home, FONTINE’s music is a captivating journey.
Fontine’s songs are deeply personal places where she processes her feelings, but they are easily universal, too. “I never was somebody’s girl/ so forgive me if I’m a little scared to give this thing a whirl/ but honey you know that you’re makin’ it easy,” she sings on lead single “Homemaker,” a vivid song for anyone who feels the constraints of expectation. Whether singing about the city or country, her music is rooted in the natural world, and the EP’s name comes from a plant that has healing properties.
“I feel most myself when I’m out on the land, surrounded by green stuff and, you know, I can touch the dirt and it’s just really grounding for me,” Fontine explained. “And I also feel that way when I play music, and so I think that just together is something that makes me feel like me.”
As a queer Cree singer-songwriter, Fontine also feels the importance of being herself in her music. “All of the songs are about me being a queer person, for the most part,” she said. “And I think it’s just really important for me personally to be very vocal about it because we need to see that representation…. I’ve had a couple parents come up to me on the street or something and tell me that their six-year-old was at one of my shows and they were singing the songs over and over again. And it’s just very crazy and cool.”
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