Fort McMurray artist in the hunt for Canada’s Best New Artist FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE “Two-spirited” oil-sands entrepreneur and Aboriginal performer makes the CBC Searchlight cut Fort McMurray, Alberta, April 22, 2015 Entrepreneur, youth advocate, and two-spirited performer ICEIS Rain is turning heads in the search for Canada’s Best New Artist. ICEIS Rain’s single, The Warrior, has made it to the regional finals of CBC Searchlight: The Hunt for Canada’s Best New Artist. ICEIS is one of 10 performers to make the cut for the Edmonton region. It’s now up to Canadian music fans to decide the winners from each region across Canada. Voting for the 225 hopefuls — trimmed down from a field of 3,333 — continues until 3 p.m. ET on Monday, April 27. The names of the finalists moving on to the Searchlight national round will be revealed on April 28. ICEIS Rain is also Massey Whiteknife, 35, a member of the Mikisew Cree First Nation who identifies both as a man and as ICEIS Rain, a woman. Living his two-spirit identity means that by day, Massey is an openly gay male business owner in the Alberta oil sands. At night, she is ICEIS Rain: a talented female karaoke performer. “Being two-spirited means you have accepted both your masculinity and femininity and you embrace both your spirits,” ICEIS explains to CBC. With musical inspirations ranging from Mary J Blige and Aretha Franklin to Trisha Yearwood and Patty Loveless, ICEIS is thrilled to have released her debut album The Queen, a collection of rock anthems and ballads with a
country flair. It is sure to inspire people in the LGBT and First Nations communities. “I grew up with George Jones and a lot of country singers,” ICEIS says. “So I put all of those together to try to make my own sound. And when I feel something that I sing, I can really sing it from the bottom of my heart.” Born and raised in the Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo region, ICEIS is also a proud community leader and anti-bullying advocate. She has been featured in Alberta Venture magazine and on Breakfast Television, City TV and CBC Radio. Most recently, she starred in the critically acclaimed documentary, Oil Sands Karaoke. Among ICEIS Rain’s achievements to date: 2015 Alberta Business Awards of Distinction (Finalist) 2014 Aboriginal Songwriter of the Year: Shame On Me Best Music Video: The Queen Single of the Year: Warrior 2014 Small Business of the Year 2011 Youth Entrepreneur for Alberta ### To arrange an interview with ICEIS RAIN, email <corrie@1111marketing.co> or call <587.276.3211>. Listen to ICEIS RAIN’s The Warrior on CBC on http://music.cbc.ca/#!/music/artist.aspx?name=ICEIS-RAIN.