Basia Bulat

Basia Bulat builds her folk songs around the autoharp, a distinctive instrument. Raised in Etobicoke, Ontario, by a mother who taught piano and guitar, she grew up with a home radio permanently tuned to an oldies station, a habit of listening she has described in interviews. Her Polish heritage connects her to the Canadian Polonia, but her formative years belong to London, Ontario, where she studied English at the University of Western Ontario.

Her early momentum came from Western's campus scene, where she co-hosted a radio show, Happy Tuesday, on CHRW-FM and was first coaxed onstage to open for Julie Doiron. A 2005 EP led to a deal with Rough Trade, which released her debut, Oh, My Darling, in April 2007, produced by Howard Bilerman; it reached the Polaris Music Prize shortlist the following year. Heart of My Own (2010) peaked at number 13 on the Billboard charts, Tall Tall Shadow (2013) was nominated for a Juno Award, and Good Advice (2016), produced by Jim James of My Morning Jacket, marked another Polaris shortlisting. Her fifth album, Basia's Palace, arrived in February 2025 and was longlisted for the Polaris Music Prize.