Location: Golden Civic Centre

Brother-sister musical duo Sechile Sedare belongs to the Dene First Nation. These siblings share a special bond, and their two voices and two guitars coalesce in a contemporary roots repertoire that resonates with their unique lived experience.

Storytelling is at the heart of many indigenous cultures, and that is certainly true of the brother-sister musical duo Sechile Sedare, otherwise known as Leela and Jay Gilday. Members of the Dene First Nation, these are both veteran folk musicians who only started performing together a couple of years ago. Leela, a professional musician for a quarter century, has released several CDs and notably won the 2021 Juno for Indigenous Artist of the Year. She was born and raised in the Northwest Territories, and the beauty of the land and the richness of her cultural traditions inform her songwriting. Jay, who is half Dene and half Irish-Canadian, spends a lot of time on the road as an itinerant musician, and earned a Western Canadian Music Award in 2017. The name Sechile Sedare is Dene for my younger brother, my older sister and was chosen to express their relationship to one another. “It’s a tribute to how interconnected we are as people,” explains Leela. “In the Dene language, you can’t refer to somebody just as ‘my brother’ or ‘my sister.’ You have to refer to them as ‘my older brother’ or ‘my older sister’ so you’re always placing yourself in relationship to them.” These siblings share a special bond, and with their two voices and two guitars have created a contemporary roots repertoire that resonates with their unique lived experience. According to Roots Music Canada, “their voices blend in perfect harmony, hitting notes of nostalgia, hope, humour, and reflection . . . while the songs are stories about their family history, connection to the land and water, and the twists and turns of fate.”

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