William Prince

William Prince emerged as a Canadian country-folk performer whose profile rose sharply following the release of his Juno Award-winning album Earthly Days in 2018 and the follow-up Reliever in 2020. Both projects drew strong critical notice. As a member of the Peguis First Nation near Winnipeg, Manitoba, he weaves Indigenous heritage and ordinary lived experience into his material through measured, introspective writing delivered in an unhurried manner. After turning toward country-gospel textures on his third record, Gospel First Nation, he partnered with Nashville producer Dave Cobb for the 2023 album Stand in the Joy.

Prince was born in Selkirk, Manitoba, and grew up on the Peguis First Nation, where he traces direct lineage to Chief Peguis. His father worked as both a preacher and a musician, so many of Prince’s earliest performances occurred in church alongside his parent. Though his listening habits ranged widely, he spent his teenage years in a succession of rock outfits—including a period devoted to screamo—before committing to acoustic songwriting. Drawing from country forebears such as Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson, he abandoned pre-med studies in Winnipeg to focus on composition and live work. During the decade before his first album, several recording attempts failed to materialize, yet he joined the collaborative First Nations rock ensemble Indian City led by Vince Fontaine while continuing to develop his own songs.

In 2015, producer Scott Nolan helped Prince capture his debut, Earthly Days, during a concentrated ten-day session. The independently issued set placed his unforced baritone within a naturally recorded, roots-oriented country-folk setting and soon generated two Juno Award nominations, two Canadian Folk Music Award nominations, and the Aboriginal Artist of the Year honor at the Western Canadian Music Awards. Prince further gained the respect of Neil Young and Bruce Cockburn after interpreting the latter’s “Stolen Land” at the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2017. A subsequent arrangement with Glassnote Records supported a 2018 re-release of Earthly Days that featured a new Nashville version of “Breathless” produced by Dave Cobb; another track, “All I Know,” was placed on the television series Yellowstone.

Prince’s second album, Reliever, arrived in January 2020 and approached the style as a vehicle for healing, which he characterized as a “testament to resilience.” It received broad praise and a further Juno nomination, while its single “The Spark” earned him the SOCAN Songwriting Prize. That October he issued Gospel First Nation, a distinctive project exploring the intertwined legacies of faith and Indigenous communities in Canada. The standalone collaboration “Sing Me a Song” with Serena Ryder appeared in 2021. The next year he joined a tribute to Buffy Sainte-Marie alongside Quebecois singer Marie-Mai and members of the Tragically Hip. Reuniting with Dave Cobb, Prince completed the reflective fourth album Stand in the Joy, issued in April 2023.