North Bay musician receives nomination at Summer Solstice Indigenous Music Awards
After several loved ones close to Esther Pennell passed away in a short period of time, she decided to pick up the banjo to help deal with some of the emotions she was feeling.
"I needed some kind of grieving tool, something to help me feel what I was processing. The banjo just kind of found me," said Pennell.
"I had no intention of being a superstar -- not that I am one or anything -- but I never had any inclination toward that."
Pennell told CTV News her music honours her son Theo, who died in 2015 to an accidental overdose.
She wrote the song ‘Since You’ve Been Gone’ for him.
'I've learned how to stand up tall'
"I’ve cried, I’ve faced fears, I’ve learned how to stand up tall and I found my voice. It’s all happened since he’s been gone," Pennell said.
"I used to stand in front of his picture on the wall and sing it to him when I was missing him, which still happens quite often."
Pennell has a new album out called 'Big Dream,' and she said it focuses on "peace and harmony." The album was recently nominated for Country Album of the Year at the Summer Solstice Indigenous Music Awards.
"I got an email one day saying ‘Congratulations, you’ve been nominated for country album of the year,'" said Pennell.
"I was like, oh wow. There was over 250 submissions across Canada, so just to be counted amongst them was a real honour for me."
Pennell has now released three albums and said her plans in the near future are to re-record and re-release a few of her favourites.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
Fewer medical students going into family medicine contributing to doctor shortage
As some family doctors are retiring and others are moving away from family medicine, there are fewer medical students to take their place.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Competition bureau finds 'substantial' anti-competitive effects with proposed Bunge-Viterra merger
The proposed merger of agricultural giants Viterra and Bunge is raising competition concerns from the federal government.
Douglas DC-4 plane with 2 people on board crashes into river outside Fairbanks, Alaska
A Douglas C-54 Skymaster airplane crashed into the Tanana River near Fairbanks on Tuesday, Alaska State Troopers said.
BREAKING Mounties will not be charged in shooting death of B.C. Indigenous man
Three Mounties in British Columbia will not face charges in the killing of a 38-year-old Indigenous man on Vancouver Island in 2021.
College students, inmates and a nun: A unique book club meets at one of America's largest jails
An unconventional book club inside one of America's largest jails brings college students and inmates together to tackle books that resonate with the mostly Black and Latino group members.