Edmonton fiddler Brianna Lizotte nominated for her first JUNO award

When Brianna Lizotte was ten-years-old, she had a dream wherein she played the fiddle for her family. The next morning, she woke up and declared to her mother that she needed to get a fiddle. Her mom was skeptical, as Lizotte had tried nearly every extracurricular in the book and none of them had stuck. Luckily for Lizotte, this one did.

Lizotte has been playing ever since the fateful day. She started performing from a young age. “It started off … just like, this is a fun extra way to get cash,” she explained, “then it just kind of kept going … and I kept falling in love with it more and more.”

Now, Lizotte’s most recent album, Winston & I, is nominated for Traditional Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year at the 2025 JUNO awards. “It was insane, to say the least. It was definitely unexpected,” Lizotte said on her nomination.

“What is the common thread in this album? It’s me and my fiddle,” Lizotte says

Winston & I is named after Lizotte’s fiddle, Winston.

“Everyone thinks that, oh, Winston has to be your fiancé … but it’s actually about the adventures my fiddle and I have gone on in the last seven, eight years,” Lizotte explained. She emphasized the album has no clear, thematic thread that ties it together. Winston & I is packed with variety, and explores different themes of joy, loneliness, and mental health struggles. Thus, when trying to come up with a name for the album, Lizotte figured, “what is the common thread in this album? It’s me and my fiddle.”

Winston & I stems from an array of inspirations. For example, one of Lizotte’s favourite tracks entitled “For Leon and Phoebe,” is dedicated to two of her good friends who are groundskeepers at Métis Crossing. Lizotte has been going to Métis Crossing for years, and felt moved to dedicate a song to Leon and Phoebe.

“I was like, man, I don’t know what to call this. I’m gonna dedicate it to those two. They’re the reason why I love [that] place so much.”

Another track Lizotte noted was “The Mental Breakdown.” “I wrote that song in like 10 minutes. I was in my second year of university, and it was in the middle of [the COVID-19 pandemic]. It was awful,” she explained.

“[I] put all my emotions into just how I was feeling and that melody pretty much came out in like, 10–20 minutes.”

“I come from a very long line of fiddle players, musicians, guitarists, [and] singers,” Lizotte says

By receiving this nomination, Lizotte is honouring those who came before her. “I come from a very long line of fiddle players, musicians, guitarists, [and] singers.”

When Lizotte was young, she was worried the musical history of her family was fading. Her family used to have kitchen parties where everyone would gather to share their songs. But people started to get older, and the kitchen parties grew less frequent. Lizotte took up the mantle and kept the tradition alive through her fiddle playing.

She also continues her family’s legacy by touring schools with her fiancé and teaching kids about music and Métis culture.

“We both love to teach … and teaching the next generation music is just so special,” Lizotte said.

She explained that while her fiancé isn’t Métis, he focuses on the musical theory side of educating, where she teaches more about Métis culture.

“It’s a really cool connection that we have, that he’s able to explain the music, and I’m able to explain why that music is important to the history and the culture of Métis people.”

Lizotte will be attending the JUNOs in Vancouver on March 30. The ceremony is available to stream on CBC Gem.