Description
2022 Juno Award winning songwriter Maria Dunn draws deeply on the folk tradition of storytelling through song. Melding North American roots music with her Scottish-Irish heritage, her new album Joyful Banner Blazing (2021) celebrates resilience, grace, gratitude, solidarity, joy and the love that fires our actions to make the world a better place. Her previous recording, Gathering (Nominee – 2017 Juno Award, Nominee – 2017 WCMA, Winner – Edmonton Music Prize), highlights positive stories of courage and activism, both local and global. 2012’s Piece By Piece (Nominee – 2013 Canadian Folk Music Award) pays tribute to immigrant women working at a Canadian clothing factory and 2004’s We Were Good People mines the vibrant people’s history of Western Canada in the early 1900s. Maria’s other independent albums include the more broadly themed The Peddler (Nominee – 2009 CFMA), For A Song (Nominee – 2002 Juno Award), all produced by Shannon Johnson (of Juno-winning band The McDades).
Edmonton-based, Maria has developed and toured four multimedia people’s history shows, On The River (with Indigenous women’s trio Asani), Packingtown, GWG: Piece by Piece and Troublemakers: Working Albertans, with videographer Don Bouzek. Maria also performs (solo, duo, ensemble) at festivals and theatres in Canada, Europe (UK, Ireland, Netherlands) and USA. Media features include: Bravo TV (The Carol Project), CBC National Radio (Sunday Edition), CKUA Alberta, BBC Radio Scotland. Her songs are published in the Rise Again songbook, Sing Out! and Penguin Eggs magazines and recorded by other artists including Niamh Parsons, The Outside Track, Bob Bossin.
