Aysanabee

Aysanabee is an Oji-Cree singer-songwriter from Canada, whose debut album Watin was released in 2022.[1]

A member of the Sandy Lake First Nation, he was born Evan Pang, with a non-inherited surname his mother chose in an attempt to protect him from anti-indigenous racism, and raised in Kaministiquia, Ontario, outside of Thunder Bay.[2] He reclaimed his grandfather's surname, Aysanabee, as an adult.[1] He worked for a mining company as a teenager, later studying journalism and working as a digital content creator for CTV News.[2]

He played in various bands as a sideline, and began actively creating his own original music as an outlet during the COVID-19 pandemic.[3] He was the first outside artist signed to Ishkōdé Records, a new label launched in 2021 by singer-songwriter Amanda Rheaume and ShoShonna Kish of the band Digging Roots.[2]

Watin was released November 4, 2022.[4] Named for his grandfather's first name, the album features several recordings of his grandfather as spoken interludes.[4] The album was preceded by the single "Nomads", which reached #1 on the CBC Music Top 20[5] and charted on the Canadian rock radio airplay charts.

CBC Music named Watin as one of the 22 best Canadian albums of 2022,[6] and "Nomads" as one of the ten best Canadian songs of the year.[7] Aysanabee was a Juno Award nominee for Contemporary Indigenous Artist of the Year for Watin at the Juno Awards of 2023.[8]