Kelly Fraser
b. 1993 Sanikiluaq, NU / Ottawa, ON
At age 24, Kelly Fraser is the right age to be considered an emerging artist, yet she has been perfecting her music, actively recording and performing for over a decade. Born in Tikirarjuaq (Whale Cove), NU, she grew up in Sanikiluaq, where, inspired by a music video, she became determined to play the guitar at age 11 and has ever since. She formed her first band at age 15. Kelly’s music has reached far and wide, in the North and beyond, through her adept use of social media such as SoundCloud and YouTube. First capturing attention for her savvy interpretations of songs such as Rihanna’s “Diamonds” into Inuktut, Kelly’s first album, Isuma (Think), was released in 2014, followed by Sedna/Nuliajuk early in 2017. The artist records and performs in both English and Inuktut and will be leading workshops across Nunavut to encourage others to explore songwriting in regional Inuktut dialects. Immensely talented and hard working, Fraser performs regularly across the country with her band the Easy Four and will travel to participate in the Qooqqut Festival in Nuuk, Greenland, in late 2017. She is already a force to be reckoned with at this early stage of what promises to be a spectacular career.