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Fortunate Ones: Northern Star

A winner in the inaugural Allan Slaight Juno Master Class, this Newfoundland folk duo further confirms its real potential with this surging track that features crisp and pure harmonies and polished production. A second album is coming May 25.

Fortunate Ones: Northern Star

By Kerry Doole

Fortunate Ones - “Northern Star” (Old Farm Pony Records):  The Newfoundland folk duo of Catherine Allan and Andrew James O'Brien served notice that they're real contenders with their 2015 debut album The Bliss. Nominated for a Juno, it spawned two CBC Radio 2 hits, and helped them win ECMA, Canadian Folk Music and Music Newfoundland and Labrador Awards. Another career boost came from their selection as one of the three winners of the inaugural Allan Slaight Juno Master Class.


"Northern Star" is the first single from the second album, Hold Fast, skedded for a May 25 release. It is a surging track featuring the clean harmonies of Allan and O'Brien buttressed by a chorus of backing vocals. The production and mixing work of Daniel Ledwell (Jenn Grant) gives it a smooth and contemporary sheen, lifting it out of the traditional purist folk vein. This is more Strumbellas or Wilderness of Manitoba than Figgy Duff. Northern star is a term for the star Polaris, and just maybe this appealing cut will navigate Fortunate Ones towards that Prize.

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A galaxy of East Coast stars contribute to Hold Fast, with Alan Doyle (Great Big Sea), Tim Baker (Hey Rosetta!), and Meg Warren(Repartee) co-writing some of the material. Musical guests include Jim Bryson, Good Lovelies, Alexa Dirks (Begonia),  and Kinley Dowling (Hey Rosetta!).

Look for the new material to be previewed when Fortunate Ones join Alan Doyle as the support act for his extensive North American tour, starting in Peterborough on Feb. 20 and concluding in Halifax on May 5. A full itinerary here

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Panos A. Panay
Raphaële Sohier

Panos A. Panay

Features

Recording Academy President Panos A. Panay on Canada, Diljit Dosanjh and the Grammys’ Global Future

The influential music executive returned to a place he has called home at NXNE for the Billboard Global Summit. Here's why it was particularly meaningful for him.

The music landscape is changing quickly, and Panos A. Panay, the President of the Recording Academy and the Grammys, is right in the middle of it.
This week (June 11), Panay interviewed Punjabi superstar Diljit Dosanjh as part of the Billboard Summit at NXNE. For him, it represented a global shift in music where sounds carrying different cultures and languages are pushing against the "Anglo-American" mainstream. Celebrating the universality of music in the diverse city of Toronto holds special meaning for him.
Panay spent some formative years in Canada, and says in some ways he considers it as much like home as Cyprus, where he was born. It shaped how he sees the world and his career, and it's been important in his work at the Grammys, which is also going through changes. Since he started his job in 2021, along with CEO Harvey Mason Jr., Panay has been helping the Academy adapt to a new generation of artists, represent diversity and navigate the changing music scene.

Before he was at the Recording Academy, Panay founded the online platform Sonicbids, which brought him to NXNE many times. Again, it feels like coming home.

In this exclusive interview with Billboard Canada, Panos discusses Dosanjh, how the Grammys are changing and the future of Canadian music.

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