Lindi Ortega

Lindi Ortega stands out as a Canadian vocalist and tunesmith whose singing blends the crystalline isolation associated with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris together with a hint of smoldering refinement, establishing her as a recognized presence within the North American alternative-country circuit. Born and raised in Ontario’s suburban communities, she inherited Irish ancestry from her mother and Mexican lineage through her father’s side. Her father performed on bass within a Latino ensemble, and Ortega has pointed to the constant presence of music at home plus her exposure to accomplished Latina singers alongside him as a decisive early influence. At age sixteen she borrowed a guitar from her parents, instructed herself, and after grasping three chords commenced composing original material. Her listening spanned Leonard Cohen and Van Morrison, Loretta Lynn and Johnny Cash, as well as Jeff Buckley and Cat Power; by the conclusion of high school she was appearing at neighborhood venues.

In 2001 she issued her debut recording, the independently released The Taste of Forbidden Fruit, most copies of which she sold directly from the stage, followed in 2007 by the album Fall from Grace. The 2008 self-titled EP found her collaborating with producer Ron Lopata, who had first encountered her songs through her MySpace page and was struck by her vocal delivery. Cherrytree Records subsequently signed her and issued the 2008 EP The Drifter, again produced by Lopata, which expanded her audience. She began an intensive touring schedule both headlining and supporting Ray Davies, Noah and the Whale, Keane, and Kevin Costner & Modern West. During 2010 she joined Brandon Flowers of the Killers as a backing vocalist on his solo dates.

That same year she left Cherrytree Records and moved to Last Gang Records, which brought out Little Red Boots in summer 2011. The album secured two Juno Awards and a Polaris Prize nomination for Outstanding Canadian Album. Buoyed by the favorable response, Ortega relocated to Nashville, Tennessee and recorded Cigarettes & Truckstops, released in October 2012; the set again earned a Polaris nomination and marked her first appearance on the American country charts at number 71 on the Country Albums tally. One year and six days after that project she delivered Tin Star in 2013, which reached number 56 on the same U.S. chart. A digital live EP, The iTunes Session, appeared in 2014, and she received the Canadian Country Music Association award for Best Roots Artist of the Year; she repeated the CCMA victory in 2015 while also releasing Faded Gloryville, which peaked at number 39 on the country chart and number 38 on the indie chart. Ortega followed with the 2017 EP Til the Goin’ Gets Gone.

After additional road work she entered a Nashville studio alongside producer-songwriter Skylar Wilson. They pared back the contemporary honky-tonk energy and retro-country approach for which she is known, focusing instead on original pieces she wrote or co-wrote with Aaron Raitiere, Bruce Wallace, Wilson, and John Paul White, plus a rendition of “Gracias a la Vida” by Chilean composer Violetta Parra, all framed by arrangements that foreground her Mexican roots. Ortega has named Linda Ronstadt’s Canciones de Mi Padre and her mother’s collection of 1970s country songwriters such as Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson as principal inspirations. Enlisting Steelism, Country Music Hall of Fame harmonica veteran Charlie McCoy, and an extensive roster of supporting musicians and vocalists, she shaped the twelve-track concept album Liberty, which addresses loss, séances, resurrection, and freedom; she again wrote or co-wrote every song with Raitiere, Wallace, and White. The animated video single “Comeback Kid” preceded the March 2018 release of the album.