Breakout West 2024 – Showcasing Yukon Artists!

Jasmine Netsena

Music is Jasmine Netsena’s first language. From the age of five, the award-winning singer-songwriter, who is of the Dene and Tahltan Nations, learned to sing from her grandmothers in their Indigenous languages. Classical voice training only strengthened that bedrock, and now, Jasmine has been honing her songwriting and guitar skills for close to 15 years.​Jasmine released her debut album, Take You With Me, in 2014. For her second record, she uses her voice to uncover long-buried issues. The daughter of a residential school survivor, Jasmine wants to use music to add to the dialogue of intergenerational healing. Jasmine has charmed audiences in New York City, Nashville and across Canada. In 2018, Jasmine won the Socan Indigenous Songwriter of the Year Award. In 2014, the Whitehorse, Yukon resident won Best Folk/Acoustic Album in the Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards and was nominated for at Indigenous Songwriter of the Year at the Canadian Folk Music Awards. She’s been featured on the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network show Rising Stars, and in 2012, she performed at the Grand Ole Northern Opry with Grammy Award winner Laurie Lewis.

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The Lucky Ones are a band from the Yukon Territory, their unique brand of country-roots music imparts traditional arrangements with a contemporary disposition, reminiscent of old-time dances in hotel taverns and barrooms, barns, kitchens, and saloons. Since releasing their self-titled debut album in 2021, The Lucky Ones have quickly come to be regarded as one of Canada’s finest roots music ensembles. The group’s sound is built on a foundation of traditional bluegrass and honky-tonk and expressed through the distinctive song writing of its core members. Following in the footsteps of Northern country troubadours such as Hank Karr, Buddy Tabor, and Al Oster, The Lucky Ones’ music brings its audience into the hard-lived lives and rugged landscape of Canada’s last frontier. The band is currently touring their most recent release, A Nickel for the Fiddler (2024). Recorded live-off-the-floor at Ganaraska Recording Company with JUNO Award-winning musician and producer, Steve Merriner (Monkey Junk/Colin James), and Jim Bowskill (Blue Rodeo/The Sheepdogs), the album is honest, no-frills, hillbilly injected bluegrass with some country swing sprinkled in for flavour.

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The Naysayers are an indie rock band from the Yukon. They musically blend elements of punk, pop, and alt-rock. The Naysayers music feels like a punch in the gut and a warm embrace at the same time. The Naysayers are known for visceral lyrics, shape shifting vocals, uncompromising and sincere energy. In a sea of similarity, The Naysayers cut through. Drea Naysayer is a prolific non binary singer songwriter signed to Coax Records. Drea has released 10 independent albums, won CBC Searchlight Yukon in 2014, and toured extensively throughout Canada and the EU. Drea cut their teeth as a folk artist in Peterborough, Ontario and the EU developing their sound with friends like The Burning Hell, Timber Timbre and Evening Hymns. Drea transformed from solo artist to front person forming The Naysayers rock band in Dawson City, Yukon, in 2013. Drea has shared the stage with artists including Carole Pope, Rae Spoon, and Wanda Jackson. Best known for their honest lyrics and relentlessly catchy melodies, Drea’s voice commands attention and they are recognized as an experienced live performer with meteoric energy, engaging, and unforgettable live shows.

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