Originally from Regina, Saskatchewan, Dione Taylor is a trailblazer in the Canadian blues community. As a pastor’s daughter, Taylor’s childhood was infused with gospel music. Consequently, she was given the resources to become a musical prodigy. When she was only four years old, she began to play organ alongside her family members who sang and played instruments at their church. By ten years old, she was promoted to the music director and organist at The Shiloh Assembly Church in Regina.

Further enhancing her musical gifts as an adult, she studied Jazz at Humber College in Toronto. Before graduating in 2003, she received a Thomas Kehoe Memorial Award for Outstanding Vocal Performance.

Just one year later, Taylor released her debut album Open Your Eyes. The album was a smash hit, it received a JUNO nomination for Vocal Jazz Album of the year in 2005, generating buzz within the Canadian music scene. Following her remarkable debut, Taylor continued to make a name for herself in the music industry. She has performed across Canada and worldwide, most notably, she has sung for the President George W. Bush and Queen Elizabeth II. Additionally, Taylor’s most popular Spotify track is her rendition of Oscar Peterson’s “Hymn to Freedom,” which received a Gemini award nomination.

Three albums and two singles later, Taylor released her recent project, Spirits in the Water, in September 2020. Inspired by a road trip she took to Nashville where she learned about the significance of the Tanasi (or Singing) River legend. The album explores a self-healing journey through music, describing stories, histories and emotions as something that “travel through us.” According to the Yuichi Indian Tribe there is a woman who lives within the waterways and sings to protect those who can hear her. Similar to themes in this narrative, Spirits in the Water explores various themes such as mystical truths in the song “Water”,  racial inequality in the song “Working”, and homesickness in the song “Where I Belong”.

Currently, Taylor is a well-known attendee of music conferences. Through her performances and festival appearances, she continues to share her musical talents with the world.

Awards:

• Governor General’s Performing Arts Award Mentorship Program (2009)