Afie Jurvanen (born April 28, 1981), known by his stage name Bahamas, is a Canadian musician.

Early life

Jurvanen was born in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

and raised in

Barrie Barrie is a city in Central Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay. Although it is physically in the county, Barrie is politically independent. The city is part ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. His mother was winner of the

Miss Finland Miss Suomi (Finnish language, Finnish for ''Miss Finland'') is a national beauty pageant in Finland. The pageant was founded in 1931, where the winners were sent to Miss Universe. History The Miss Suomi was held for the first time in 1931. B ...

contest in 1973. He speaks Finnish fluently, and he also has a Finnish passport.

Career

Jurvanen taught himself guitar. He worked with a variety of musicians including

The Lumineers The Lumineers are an American alternative folk band based in Denver, Colorado. The founding members are Wesley Schultz (lead vocals, guitar) and Jeremiah Fraites (drums, percussion, piano). Schultz and Fraites began writing and performing to ...

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, Feist,

Howie Beck Howie Beck is a Canadians, Canadian musician, mixer and producer based in Toronto, Ontario. He has been nominated for three Juno Awards in Canada on three occasions for Adult Alternative Album, Engineer of the Year and Producer of the Year (2017). ...

Jason Collett Jason Robert Collett is a Canadian singer-songwriter from Toronto, Ontario. He has released six solo studio albums, and is a former member of Broken Social Scene. Early life Collett was born in Bramalea, Ontario, Bramalea, a Greater Toronto Area ...

, Jack Johnson, The Weather Station, and

Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...

Downtown Music Publishing Downtown Music Holdings is an independent rights management and music services company based in the US State of New York. It comprises 10 businesses. All divisions live under the Downtown Music Holdings umbrella and are split between two vertic ...

represents Bahamas' songs. Jurvanen recorded his debut album — '' Pink Strat'', in a cabin in rural Ontario in 2008. He released the album under the name Bahamas in 2009 and was subsequently nominated for a 2010 Juno Award for Roots & Traditional Album of the Year – Solo. Bahamas' second album – ''

Barchords ''Barchords'' is the second album from Canadian musician Bahamas. The album was nominated for Adult Alternative Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2013 The Juno Awards of 2013 honoured Canadian music industry achievements in the latter ...

, was released'' on February 7, 2012. The album received nomination at the

2013 Juno Awards The Juno Awards of 2013 honoured Canadian music industry achievements in the latter part of 2011 and in most of 2012. The awards were presented in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, during the weekend of 20–21 April 2013. The main ceremony was host ...

for the Adult Alternative Album of the Year. Jurvanen received a nomination for Songwriter of the Year for the tracks "Be My Witness", "Caught Me Thinking", and "Lost in the Light". Jurvanen released his third album, ''

Bahamas Is Afie ''Bahamas Is Afie'' is the third album from Canadian musician Bahamas, released August 19, 2014 on Brushfire Records. The album features guest contributions by Don Kerr, Jason Tait and Felicity Williams. The album won the Juno Award for Adult A ...

'' on August 19, 2014. The album received first place on '' Qs Top 20 Albums of 2014. ''Bahamas Is Afie'' received a nomination for Adult Alternative Album of the Year At the

Juno Awards of 2015 The Juno Awards of 2015 honoured Canadian music industry achievements in the latter part of 2013 and most of 2014. They were presented in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, during the weekend of March 14-15. The main ceremony was conducted at FirstOntari ...

, and Jurvanen received nomination for Songwriter of the Year for "All the Time", "Bitter Memories" and "Stronger Than That". He won the awards in both categories. Jurvanen tours with drummer

Jason Tait Jason Tait is a Canadian musician from Winnipeg, Manitoba. He is the drummer for the Canadian indie rock band The Weakerthans. Tait has also been a contributing member of Broken Social Scene and The FemBots. Career Tait played drums for the Pain ...

and backing vocalist Felicity Williams. Bahamas opened for Jack Johnson,

Robert Plant Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band Led Zeppelin from its founding in 1968 until their breakup in 1980. Since then, he has had a successful solo ca ...

Wilco Wilco is an American Rock music, rock band based in Chicago. The band was formed in 1994 by the remaining members of alternative country group Uncle Tupelo after singer Jay Farrar's departure. Wilco's lineup changed frequently during its fir ...

and

. Jurvanen released his fourth album, '' Earthtones'' on January 19, 2018. Bahamas began their Canadian tour for Earthtones on January 18, 2018, the Earthtones World Tour and recruited

Zach Gill Zachary Dylan Gill (born May 18, 1975) is a multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter. He performs regularly as a solo artist in addition to being a member of Animal Liberation Orchestra and Jack Johnson (musician), Jack Johnson's band. Gill has ...

to open the shows. Jurvanen released his fifth studio album, ''

Sad Hunk ''Sad Hunk'' is the fifth studio album by Canadian musician Bahamas, released October 9, 2020. The album's release was preceded by the preview single "Own Alone" in August, with "Trick to Happy" following in September. The album won the Juno Awar ...

'', on October 9, 2020. The album won the Juno Award for Adult Alternative Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2021. Jurvanen released his sixth studio album, ''Bootcut'', on September 15, 2023. Bahamas performed on the second episode of the 28th season of The Bachelor.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Personal life

Jurvanen lived in The Junction neighborhood of Toronto with his wife and two children until December 2018, when they relocated to Nova Scotia.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1981 births Living people Canadian male guitarists Canadian male singer-songwriters Canadian folk singer-songwriters Canadian indie rock musicians Musicians from Barrie Singers from Toronto Canadian people of Finnish descent Juno Award for Adult Alternative Album of the Year winners Juno Award for Songwriter of the Year winners 21st-century Canadian guitarists 21st-century Canadian male singers 21st-century Canadian singer-songwriters