Biography
Defining one’s genre, lane, or style can be a daunting exercise, and one that isn’t always necessary. What about if it is a feeling? A thought?
While touring Australia in 2025, Mimi O’Bonsawin encountered a fan who put words to something she had long struggled to define:
“Your music sounds like Bob Marley and Bjork sat in a cabin together and talked about nature.”
To O’Bonsawin’s delight, they got it. They understood her reverence for the natural world, her playful sonic palette of folk with a groove and a touch of whimsy, and her distinctive sense of style, reflected in the intentionally upcycled clothing and materials that she transforms into enchanting stage attire and one-of-a-kind merch.
For Mimi O’Bonsawin, defining her sound goes far beyond genre. She invites listeners into her woodland world, leading them through gardens, celebrating the joy of growing food and living in relationship with the land, and revealing how those passions bloom into song. Those inspirations are at the heart of Evoke, her new studio album, due August 28, 2026.
An award-winning alt-folk singer-songwriter born in Northeastern Ontario, Mimi O’Bonsawin (Pronounced: MEE-MEE O-BON-SA-WIN) is French Canadian and W8banaki (Abénaki), and a member of the Odanak First Nation. Her music blends folk traditions, playful experimentation, and heartfelt storytelling into a sound that feels entirely her own.
Evoke features ten richly textured songs, from vibrant instrumentals like "Blueberry Jam" featuring OKAN, to collaborations such as "Better Than Before” with The Pairs, alongside deeply personal works including "Pass the Time" and "Steady." The latter reached #1 on the Indigenous Music Countdown and was praised by AmericanaUK as "so heartfelt and disarmingly emotive that the feeling remains with you long after listening."
“This album challenged me in so many ways musically and personally,” says O’Bonsawin. “Songs like ‘P8GWAS’ where I sing in my ancestral language for the first time, ‘Steady’ where I share my thoughts about being a woman who doesn’t have children, and ‘Better Than Before,’ where I invited my best pals The Pairs to sing with me, were all things I never thought I’d have the courage to do three years ago.”
Creating Evoke became an act of empowerment, allowing O’Bonsawin to leave behind people-pleasing and embrace the music that she really loves to make alongside her favourite collaborator and person: her husband, drummer, and co-producer Ryan Schurman.
“In a time when AI and social media seem to be taking over the creative process, making a record like this feels like an act of resistance, and I love that. We’ve spent the last three years touring and honing our craft on stage, my favourite place to be. I wanted to bring all the good medicine people give us at shows into this album and let it fuel the fire that makes it a living piece of art.”
As both artist and gardener, O’Bonsawin sees the two practices as inseparable.
“Making music and growing food are very much the same. They both start with a seed and, with proper care, can grow into a beautiful garden that we all can share. I put intention and love into every seed and every note.”
Performing as a duo with Schurman on drums and percussion, O’Bonsawin creates an intimate yet expansive live experience that feels like a full band, inviting audiences to dance, sing, laugh, and connect.
Her recent years have been marked by remarkable momentum. This year, that trajectory has continued to build, as O’Bonsawin received four Northern Ontario Music & Film Awards (NOMFA) nominations for Outstanding Indigenous Artist or Group, Outstanding Music Video, Outstanding Songwriter, and Outstanding Vocal Performance, and will make her debut at both Hillside Folk Festival and Mariposa Folk Festival. In 2025, she was named Solo Artist of the Year at the Trille Or Awards, and toured Australia with performances at Woodford and Cygnet Folk Festivals before returning to Canada for appearances at Vancouver Folk Festival, Mission Folk Festival, Francos de Montréal, and a special invitation from Elisapie to perform on the nationally broadcast television series Le Grand-Solstice on Ici-Télé and APTN.
O’Bonsawin’s recent releases have celebrated significant milestones in her artistic evolution, with Willow (2023), a 14-song collection, serving as a turning point in her creative journey. Later that year, she released Boréale, her first full-length French-language album.
Alongside her growing catalogue, O’Bonsawin has earned widespread recognition for both her recordings and performances. She has shared stages with award-winning artists including Aysanabee, Basia Bulat, Good Lovelies, Shub, The East Pointers, and Beverly Glenn-Copeland, while collecting nominations from the Canadian Folk Music Awards, Folk Music Ontario Awards, Capital Music Awards, Native American Music Awards. Her album Willow was also considered for the Grammy Awards, adding to a career that includes winning Best Pop Album at the 2019 Indigenous Music Awards.
As her audience continues to grow across Canada and around the world, O’Bonsawin remains guided by a simple philosophy:
“I want to invite audiences into my world because, for me, music is medicine. It’s not mine, it’s not yours alone. Music is something we all share. It is our garden.”
Bev Kreller - Roots Music Canada
“Mimi has such a clear, resonant voice, occasionally going to vibrato but always controlled – the effect is there when she wants it. Mimi O’Bonsawin – an earth mother of the highest order.”
Roslie Chretien ATUVU.CA
Pincez-moi quelqu'un. Munie d’une paire d’ailes, une harpe en bandoulière, O'Bonsawin nous a administré une bonne dose de ce qu’elle appelle « Music as medicine ». Sa voix à la fois cristalline et vigoureuse a traversé nos corps émus.
Mimi O’Bonsawin est une autrice-compositrice-interprète franco-ontarienne et W8banaki (Abénakise), membre de la Première Nation d’Odanak. Sa musique, à la fois influencée par ses origines autochtones et la pop acoustique, est portée par des textes sensibles, des rythmes organiques et une profonde connexion à la nature.
Accompagnée de son partenaire Ryan Schurman à la batterie et aux percussions, elle propose une performance à la fois intime et vibrante, mêlant poésie, groove et émotions sincères.
Lauréate et finaliste de nombreux prix, Mimi s’est produite en France, en Australie et à travers le Canada, séduisant les publics grâce à sa voix unique et sa présence lumineuse.
Pour Mimi, « la musique est un jardin que nous partageons ».