Sixteen-year-old singer-songwriter Deedee Austin, of Abegweit First Nation, has swept up the Music Nova Scotia Awards.
Austin won awards in two categories: Indigenous Artist of the Year and New Recording Artist of the Year. She was also nominated in two others.
“(It’s) so surreal,” she said.
Austin started making music when she was just 11 years old, and released her first single at 14. She released her first EP a year later, and now has three singles out.
“I’ve always just loved music, it just made me so happy,” Austin said on the Global News morning show.
“You don’t think anything of it, until now, like, I’ve just brought home two awards.”
DeeDee Austin / Facebook
Her latest single Buried Truth, for which the music video was released last month, reflects on the Indigenous lives taken by residential schools.
“What inspired me to write Buried Truth was, my great-grandmother was in the residential school. I found out about all of the unmarked graves,” Austin said.
“I was just like, it can’t sit in my books any longer. So I took it to the studio, laid it down and … I’m really happy with the outcome.”
Austin said music is a way for her to escape from what’s going on in the world. All of her writing is based on real-life experiences.
“For me to put my story and my people’s story into a song, it’s really special.”
The music video, featuring Austin playing a burning piano in front of the Truro library, was done with help from several people in the N.S. music industry, volunteers and her dad.
Austin said she thinks it’s been received well, “for how heavy of a topic it is.”
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Nova Scotia Music Week 2022 was held over the weekend in Sydney, featuring performances from numerous local artists.
Austin played twice, with her showcase held on Saturday. She also had time to attend others’ performances.
“I love reconnecting, and it’s events like Nova Scotia Music Week that brings us together.”
Austin said she hopes to release a new album in the near future, and plans to reconnect with fellow musicians at the East Coast Music Awards in the spring.
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