Delhi 2 Dublin

August 30, 2010 · Filed Under News, Ottawa Festivals News

Vancouver-based Celtic-Bhangra fusion group Delhi 2 Dublin have been named winners of the Ottawa Folk Festival’s inaugural Galaxie Supernova Award. Presented to an individual artist or group set to ‘explode’ onto the Canadian music scene, the Supernova Award comes with a $4,000 bursary courtesy of Galaxie, as well as the opportunity for airplay on Galaxie music channels.

The Supernova Award is presented by the Galaxie Rising Star Program, which provides bursaries to rising Canadian music talent at festivals and events across Canada. Chosen by a jury appointed by the Ottawa Folk Festival, eligible artists had to meet three simple criteria: 1) be part of the 2010 Ottawa Folk Festival line-up; 2) be Canadian; and 3) have released at least one but no more than three albums. Jurors were required to watch performances by all eligible acts over the course of the festival weekend (August 13-15, 2010) and then meet to deliberate and choose a winner after the conclusion of the festival.

Winners Delhi 2 Dublin were chosen for their “dynamic and incredibly high-energy live performance, their innovative fusion of traditional and modern musical styles and instrumentation, and their ability to connect with and inspire their audience,” says Festival Director Dylan Griffith. Formed in 2006 to take part in a one-off club night, Delhi 2 Dublin combine traditional Indian instruments such as tabla, dhol and sitar with fiddle and programmed electronic beats and lyrics sung in both Punjabi and English to create a unique fusion of Bhangra, Celtic, dub reggae, hip hop and electronica sounds. Blending east and west, electronic and acoustic, mainstream and underground, Delhi 2 Dublin “have a broad cross-cultural and cross-generational appeal” says Griffith, “partly due to the various musical elements they bring together but more so because of their incredibly infectious energy and obvious love for creating and playing music.”

For more information on The Galaxie Rising Star Awards, visit http://www.galaxie.ca