TORONTO – Buffy Sainte-Marie marked her Polaris Music Prize nomination not by celebrating, but by listening.
“I took the time to listen to all the other nominees,” said the Saskatchewan-reared songwriter in a recent interview.
“I really enjoyed it. I’m real stoked to be in company with all the artists … I had not heard Tobias Jesso. I had not listened to Caribou. New Pornographers – I liked what they were doing.”
“Of course, everybody knows Drake.”
READ MORE: Drake, Buffy Sainte-Marie among Polaris Music Prize finalists
The 74-year-old singer is also nominated alongside Calgary’s Viet Cong, Montreal-based Braids and three Toronto acts: Jennifer Castle; Alvvays; and BadBadNotGood, up for their collaboration with New York rap legend Ghostface Killah.
Sainte-Marie is among the confirmed performers for Monday’s gala, where the $50,000 prize will be awarded to the best Canadian album of the year as determined by a jury of 11 music critics, bloggers and broadcasters.
Ahead of the Polaris, she talked to The Canadian Press about the latest plaudit in a career that has already merited an Academy Award, two Junos, a Gemini, a Golden Globe and a BAFTA.
CP: Was the Polaris on your radar at all?
Sainte-Marie: No, no. But I was thrilled, you know. Two of my friends have received Polaris Prizes: Owen Pallett and Tanya Tagaq.
And last year when Tanya won I was just really thrilled. I think we all were.
It’s so exciting for artists because it’s a big jury. You know, there are a lot of prizes in the world that are just kind of like, corporate tax loopholes or something.
This is such a broad jury. It gives you hope.
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CP: Music critics comprise much of the jury. Have critics been kind to you in your career?
Sainte-Marie: I would say yes. But you know, I’m not widely heard in North America. But I do have a nice collection of review clippings.
You read them once and then you go on with your day. You don’t sit around and dwell on it. I don’t have ’em framed on the wall. They’re in some scrapbook somewhere.
If I write an autobiography, I’ll have to dig ’em all out.
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CP: Why has Power in the Blood resonated?
Sainte-Marie: True North (Records) has been very smart about getting the album heard. That’s always been a problem for me, is to get me heard.
I think because I started out so early and was so controversial and got nailed so hard and just hushed and gagged and shushed, a lot of people – they know my name but they don’t know what (I do).
Power in the Blood is as fresh as any of the albums I’ve ever made. It’s just as diverse.
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CP: You mentioned Drake. Are you a fan?
Sainte-Marie: Of course! Who isn’t?
What I’m looking for is originality. And it’s hard for an artist of any genre to keep on being original and unique. I tend to like an album too that has some diversity in it.
My advice to young songwriters: don’t keep writing the same song year after year. Boring! Use different chords. If you’re a young musician, there are more than (the usual) chords. Get into all those wacky diminished-7, add-9, plus-13 chords.
Spend some time with it and you might get a different kind of melody or a different kind of thought. I’m always pushing for what some people would call mutation.
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Answers have been edited and condensed.
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