The Indigenous Music Office Brings Inaugural Cultural Cadence Mentorship Participants to 2025 Juno Awards

The Indigenous Music Office (IMO) is introducing the 10 participants in its inaugural Cultural Cadence Mentorship.

The cohort of First Nation, Inuit and Métis musicians and entrepreneurs includes singer-songwriter Cassidy Mann, funk artist Curtis Clearsky and poet and sound artist January Rogers. Find a full list below.

The group is set to head to Vancouver this weekend, as the mentorship culminates at the 2025 Juno Awards on March 30, marking the conclusion of a four-month professional development program launched in 2024.

The Indigenous Music Office is a new organization in the national music landscape, with the Cultural Cadence Mentorship serving as its flagship initiative. The program was designed with the goal of bolstering Indigenous expertise in the music industry, where Indigenous professionals are especially under-represented behind the scenes.

"The majority of Indigenous artists in Canada don’t have managers or teams,” says Alan Greyeyes, IMO chairperson. “I’m excited about this project because it supports the development of managers and administrative talent who know just how daunting the road travelled by Indigenous artists is because they’ve had to walk it too.”

Mentors and presenters from the program will be joining the cohort in Vancouver, including Margaret McGuffin of Music Publishers Canada, multi-disciplinary artist Tessa Balaz, folk musician Jason Burnstick and founder of the International Indigenous Music Summit and Ishkōdé Records, ShoShona Kish, among others.

Find the full list of participants below.

Cultural Cadence Participants:
- Cassidy Mann (Sagkeeng First Nation, MB)
- Curtis Clearsky (Anishinaabe and Nitsitapii, BC)
- Dawn Ferguson (Metis-Cree, AB)
- Gerard Wolfe/Mahihkan (Muskowekwan First Nation, SK)
- Gladwyn Badger (Neyhiyaw, AB/ON)
- January Rogers (Six Nations of the Grand River, ON)
- Leanne Goose (Inuvik, NT)
- Malaya Bishop (Iqaluit, NU)
- Tess Ray Houston (Red River Métis, MB)
- Evan Syliboy (Millbrook First Nation, NS)

Find more information at the Indigenous Music Office website.