Amanda Rheaume

Amanda Rheaume (born May 25, 1982) is a Métis folk singer-songwriter from Canada.^[1]

Amanda Rheaume
Amanda Rheaume at Kranhaus Elmshorn, April 2016
Background information
Birth name	Amanda Rheaume
Born	(1982-05-25) May 25, 1982 (age 43) Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Origin	Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Americana, folk
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter, artist manager, label owner
Instrument(s)	Vocals, guitar, piano
Years active	2003–present
Labels	Universal Music Canada Ishkode Records
Website	www.amandarheaume.com

Born and raised in Ottawa, Ontario,^[2] Rheaume is a member of the Métis Nation of Ontario non-profit organization and has Objiwe/Anishinaabe ancestors from Lac Seul, Ontario.^[3] She is the granddaughter of Eugène Rhéaume, one of Canada's first Métis members of parliament.

Career

Rheaume released a number of EPs, and contributed a song to the 2003 Ottawa compilation Ottawa Indie Vibe,^[4] before releasing her full-length debut album Light of Another Day in 2011.^[5] She supported the album with her first major national concert tour.^[6] She also travelled to Afghanistan on several occasions to perform for servicemen in the Canadian military during the War in Afghanistan,^[7]

After delving into her family history in more depth, she began writing songs inspired by her Métis heritage on her 2013 album Keep a Fire.^[8] The album won the Canadian Folk Music Award for Aboriginal Songwriter of the Year at the 10th Canadian Folk Music Awards in 2014,^[9] and was a Juno Award nominee for Aboriginal Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2014.^[10]

In 2016 she followed up with Holding Patterns,^[11] which was a CFMA nominee for Aboriginal Songwriter of the Year at the 12th Canadian Folk Music Awards in 2016.^[12]

In 2018, she performed the songs "Now for Plan A" and "The Stranger" at a Gord Downie tribute concert.^[3]

In 2019 she released her fourth album, The Skin I'm In.^[13]

In 2021, Rheaume and ShoShonna Kish of the band Digging Roots cofounded Ishkōdé Records,^[14] which releases music by Rheaume, Digging Roots, and singer-songwriters Aysanabee and Morgan Toney.^[15]

Her 2022 album The Spaces in Between was produced by Hill Kourkoutis.^[16] She received her third CFMA nomination for Indigenous Songwriter of the Year at the 18th Canadian Folk Music Awards in 2023.^[17]

Rheaume is director of operations for the International Indigenous Music Summit,^[16] and project coordinator for the creation of a National Indigenous Music Office.^[18]

Discography

EPs

• Unravelling (2003)^[2]
• Even When (2005)^[19]
• If You Never Live (2007)^[20]
• Kiss Me Back (2009)^[21]

Albums

• Light of Another Day (2011)
• Keep a Fire (2013)
• Holding Patterns (2016)
• The Skin I'm In (2019)
• The Spaces in Between (2022)
• The Truth We Hold (2025)