Singer/songwriter Tian Wigmore is considering recording another album following his recent win at the East Coast Music Awards held in Saint John, N.B. April 27.
“Over the last couple of months, I really find myself kind of getting into a writing mode again,” Wigmore, 30, said in a recent phone interview from his home in Hamilton, Ont.
“So, I can see a new record on the horizon,” he said.
Wigmore’s first EP album, War Horses, won the 2017 ECMA for Indigenous Recording of the Year. He beat out veteran ECMA winners City Natives.
Other artists nominated in the category included Mi’kmaw rapper Tristan Grant from Pabineau First Nation, N.B., Maliseet rap duo Old Self and Kam Speech from Tobique First Nation, N.B. and Eskasoni Schools in Cape Breton.
“I honestly didn’t think I would win. It was just an honour to be nominated,” Wigmore explained.
“I know everyone says that but I was really just so thrilled to be nominated. To win, I wasn’t expecting it,” he added.
Wigmore, who recently moved from Charlottetown, PEI to Hamilton, Ont., wasn’t able to attend the ECMA awards show in Saint John. He said he was out doing errands when noticed multiple texts on his cell phone as he was getting into his car.
“I looked and I saw a picture of an ECMA and I was like, ‘Oh my God! I can’t believe it,’” he said.
“It’s the highlight of my musical career, that’s for sure,” Wigmore said.
Wigmore considers himself a singer first
Born and raised in Manitoba, Wigmore is a member of the Norway House Cree Nation.
Wigmore and his family moved from Douglas, Man. to his father’s hometown of Kensington, PEI when he was 14. He later moved to Charlottetown to attend university.
For the past 13 years, Wigmore says he has been touring professionally with other bands as a guitarist. He has played guitar for In-Flight Safety and The Trews.
“It’s funny because I’ve always been a singer first and I rather stumbled into playing guitar for bands,” Wigmore explained.
Wigmore said he decided to take a break from playing with other bands to focus on singing and writing songs.
“That’s what kind of prompted me to write my own album,” he said.
Wigmore says he named his album War Horses because he wanted the name to be a powerful statement that reflects the music on the album.
“This, to me, symbolizes power, relentlessness and that’s kind of what I want my music to present,” he said.
