Explore Canadian music

For a country of 34 million people, Canada undoubtably has a remarkable output of musical creativity and talent. While the closing ceremonies of the Olympics attempted to feature back-to-back performances of talented Canadian musicians, they ultimately failed, simply for the reason that they ignored the immense untapped talent that goes unnoticed.

For every Avril Lavigne, we have an Emily Haines; for every Hedley, we have a Great Lake Swimmers; and for every Nickelback, we have a Fucked Up.

Yet to anyone who watched that dark moment in Canadian television, the essence of Canadian talent was reduced to untalented chart-toppers.

This week, The Cord had the opportunity to attend Canadian Music Week in Toronto, witnessing an impressive showing of acts from our nation’s indie music scene. Not only were the acts talented, they were also diverse, serving as a reminder that Canadians should take pride in the great musicians we have.

Some may ask how to tap the elusive Canadian indie scene, arguing that discovering this music requires being part of a specific community.

With resources like Twitter and MySpace at our fingertips, it is clear that this is not a difficult task. Given the range of talented musicians like the Constantines and Arkells that make their way through Waterloo and even our campus, as well as independent record stores like Orange Monkey, it’s hard to argue that good Canadian music is out of reach.

While the rest of the world may have seen a sample of Canadian music talent at the closing ceremonies, that lineup was by no means representative or exhaustive.

There are plenty of creative musicians in this country just waiting to be heard, and it is well worth the effort to find them.