Last night at the Polaris Music Prize gala, Kathleen Edwards delivered a poignant speech on the importance of the Prize to emerging Canadian artists. It was one of the gala's most talked-about moments.
The rousing speech brought home the significance of the Polaris gala to those musicians who are nominated each year.
Here's a transcript:
OK, can I say this? The last time I was nominated, I f--king lost. The last time I was nominated they called out all of the nominees and the person who won was the person that I least expected to hear as the winner. And six months later I was sitting in a bar with a friend having a beer and this song came on in the bar that was beautiful and arresting, and I went over to the DJ and asked him what he was playing and he said to me "Caribou."
And I am grateful to the Polaris for creating a conversation about music. And I am grateful to Caribou for making me think about how I hear things. And I am so grateful to Jim Bryson and my band, who are my brothers. And to Patrick, who fights for my records every day. And you know music is like this big commitment that we make in our life because it comes from our heart. And we sacrifice things good and bad to do what we do. And I’m very humbled. And thank you Steve Jordan for creating a vehicle for those of us who don’t want to march in the shit parade. And I love my poster! So thanks a lot.
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