Press release –
Ishkōdé Records has just wrapped up one of the most exciting JUNO weekends in the label’s five-year history. Heading into the weekend with five nominations, it felt like a moment full of possibilities. On Saturday night at the Gala, those possibilities became a reality.
Aysanabee swept his categories, earning Contemporary Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year and Alternative Album of the Year, marking his second win in the category, for Edge of the Earth. Morgan Toney also celebrated a milestone moment, taking home his first JUNO Award for Traditional Roots Album of the Year for Heal The Divide.
While Saturday night marked a high point (and earned Ishkōdé Records the unofficial award for the loudest table at the gala), the entire weekend was filled with standout moments. Aysanabee captivated audiences at the Songwriters’ Circle on Friday evening, while Siibii delivered a powerful performance at the Honouring Ceremony on Saturday morning. Later that night, Siibii and Sebastian Gaskin took the stage at The Music Hall as part of JUNOfest and wowed audiences with songs from their JUNO-nominated releases, Siibii’s self-titled EP and Gaskin’s LOVECHILD.
Ishkōdé Records co-founder Amanda Rheaume reflects on the weekend and shares, “This year’s JUNO Awards felt like a defining moment for Ishkōdé Records. I am so proud of our artists. They are all working so hard. Seeing Aysanabee take home two more JUNO Awards, Morgan Toney winning his first in Traditional Roots, Siibii receiving their first nomination, and Sebastian being recognized for a second year in a row is incredibly powerful. I feel this year cemented the importance of our label, our Ishkōdé family, these voices, and the stories being shared, into the Canadian music ecosystem. In five short years since launching in 2021, our artists have earned 12 nominations and taken home 7 wins. Beyond the accolades, this is about the truth, the magic, and the importance of the music itself. What we witnessed this weekend was not just success, it was a clear signal that Indigenous artists are creating some of the most vital music on Northern Turtle Island today.”
Morgan Toney was unable to attend the festivities, as he is currently on tour in BC. He shared a heartfel message with friends and fans on social media following his first JUNO Award win:
“It has been an emotional few days. I am still in shock. My mom, who we lost to brain cancer in 2022, was my number one supporter. She was my rock. Every award we’ve won, every ECMA Award, every Music Nova Scotia Award, the Vital awards, every single one, and now this JUNO Award, I always look up to the sky, to the heavens, and say, ‘This is for you, Mom’.”
Aysanabee, now a four-time JUNO award winner, shared, “I made this record with my friends and for my friends. It’s bittersweet to win these awards. I’m close with so many of the artists I was in the running with and would have loved to see any one of them win. But when I received the JUNOs, they celebrated with me, and that is a reflection of the music community we are building in this country.”
What’s The Story about Aysanabee?
(pronouncer: Ace-in-abbey)
Aysanabee is an award–winning indie artist, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and singer-songwriter. He is Oji-Cree from the Sucker Clan of Sandy Lake First Nation, a remote fly-in community in Northwestern Ontario, now based in Toronto. Creating music under his family name, Aysanabee blends rock, soul, and electronic textures with pulse-quickening fingerpicking to deliver songs that are anthemic and cathartic. His work has drawn comparisons to Bon Iver, Hozier, and Kings of Leon.
In March 2024, Aysanabee made history as the first Indigenous artist to win the JUNO Awards for Alternative Album of the Year and Songwriter of the Year for his EP Here and Now. His debut album, Watin (2022), named after his grandfather, was shortlisted for the Polaris Music Prize and established him as a singular voice in Canadian music.
Released in June 2025, Aysanabee’s sophomore album Edge Of The Earth has charted across rock and alternative radio and earned multiple year-end honours, and award nominations. Aysanabee has inspired audiences with his songs and stories worldwide, touring extensively across Canada, Europe, Australia, and beyond.
What’s The Story about Morgan Toney?
(pronouncer: More-gun Toe-knee)
Morgan Toney is a Mi’kmaw fiddler and singer from Waqmitku’k, Unama’ki, commonly known as Cape Breton. Blending Mi’kmaq songs and stories with Celtic traditions, he’s created a new genre he calls Mi’kmaltic—a bridge between cultures and generations. His nominated album, Heal the Divide (March 2025), reflects on the challenges and resilience of the L’nuk (Mi’kmaq people), while celebrating language, culture, and community.
Toney pays tribute to legendary Mi’kmaw musician Lee Cremo and collaborates with the Stoney Bear Singers, blending traditional drum with Celtic fiddle. Recorded live with longtime collaborator Keith Mullins, the album captures the energy of his performances. Toney’s music is both a celebration and a call to action: to bring people together, protect language and culture, and inspire pride among the next generation of Mi’kmaw people.
What’s The Story about Sebastian Gaskin?
(pronouncer: Seh-bass-chin Gaa-skin)
How does an emotional aftermath evolve into a creative epiphany? For award-winning Toronto-based, Tataskweyak Cree Nation multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter and producer Sebastian Gaskin, first, he gets comfortable with the outcome, then gets to work sculpting their experience into a song. Gaskin’s music, intentionally genre-fluid, embraces brokenness while advocating love and vulnerability as resistance. Grounded in intuition, their sound evokes Bill Withers’ timelessness, John Mayer’s virtuosity, and Post Malone’s wordplay.
As a dynamic producer and arranger, Gaskin collaborates with Evan Miles (dvsn, renforshort) and Milano (Icona Pop) to push genre boundaries. They’ve graced stages worldwide, supporting artists like Common and T-Pain. They have performed at venues and festival stages around the world, supporting artists such as Common, T-Pain, and others. Gaskin’s debut album LOVECHILD came out on February 21, 2025.
(pronouns: they, them, theirs / pronouncer: See Bee)
An act of reclamation, a fulfillment of identity and a statement of purpose: Siibii is so much more than a name. The Montreal-based songwriter, a mythic pop power in the making, manifests their name’s Cree meaning, river, as a source of creative and personal empowerment. Ever-rushing, ever-flowing, the river is a force of intention, imagination and emotional cleansing that guides Siibii’s musical journey. Siibii released their debut self-titled EP on November 14, 2025.
Originally from Mistissini, QC, Siibii writes music to quiet the inner voices that can drown out the good. A self-trained artist of both natural and nurtured gifts, Siibii draws from deep sources of familial and instinctive talent. “Mama put a paintbrush in my hand, and Gookum put a song in my heart,” they say. With electronic grooves and their distinctive aura-light vocals, Siibii’s music evokes influences and outliers from Billie Eilish to Kimmortal, Lady Gaga to Remi Wolf, pop music masters of shapeshifting nonconformity.
With over three million streams to date, Siibii has captivated audiences on major stages, including Festival d’été, Ottawa’s TD Arena, and an opening slot for Elisapie.
What’s The Story about Ishkōdé Records?
Ishkōdé Records is an Indigenous women-owned music company founded to ignite and amplify Indigenous voices, songs, and stories. Founded by artists, organizers, and activists Anishinaabekwe ShoShona Kish (Digging Roots) and solo artist Amanda Rheaume (Citizen of the Métis Nation of Ontario), Ishkōdé approaches the music industry through a lens of artist- and women-led entrepreneurship, rooted in cultural strength and long-standing industry experience.
Launched in 2021 and based in Tkaronto (Toronto), Ishkōdé Records—meaning “fire” in Anishinaabemowin—has quickly become home to a powerful roster of emerging and established Indigenous artists. Founders of the International Indigenous Music Summit, Kish and Rheaume, lead the label in its animating principle to raise resistance to colonial industry structures while building a new, values-driven space for Indigenous creativity to thrive.
In 2025, Kish and Rheaume were featured on The Hollywood Reporter’s second annual Power List, highlighting trailblazers who are fighting back, breaking through and building the future of film, TV and music north of the border. In 2023, Ishkōdé was named Organization of the Year by Women in Music Canada and received CIMA’s “Make It Stronger” Award, affirming its impact across the industry. Ishkōdé Records’ distribution partner is Universal Music Canada.
