Ember Swift (born in

Woodstock The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. Billed as "a ...

, Oxford County,

Ontario, Canada 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 ...

) is a Canadian singer, songwriter and guitarist. She has released 11 studio albums in English and Mandarin.

Career

Swift graduated from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

with a degree in East Asian Studies. In 1998, she and regular band member Lyndell Montgomery (

electric violin An electric violin is a violin equipped with an electronic output of its sound. The term most properly refers to an instrument intentionally made to be electrified with built-in pickups, usually with a solid body. It can also refer to a violin fi ...

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

) began touring North America, Australia and later, New Caledonia. Their live shows featured Toronto-based percussionist and drummer Cheryl Reid. Swift and Montgomery later worked with

Michelle Josef Michelle Josef (born March 21, 1953), formerly Bohdan Hluszko, is a Canadian musician and transgender activist. Under her former name, Josef was already established as one of Canada's leading session drummers, and has continued her career in music ...

and Adam Bowman on drums and percussion. Reid continued to work with Swift and Montgomery until 2008 as a part-time player, and also worked with Swift when she toured North America. In 2008, Swift moved to Beijing and assembled a new band, consisting of Zac Courtney on drums, Paplus Ntahombaye on bass, and Wang Ya Qi 王雅琪 on the traditional Chinese instrument, the

erhu The (; ) is a Chinese two-stringed bowed musical instrument, more specifically a spike fiddle, that is sometimes known in the Western world as the ''Chinese violin'' or a ''Chinese two-stringed fiddle''. It is used as a solo instrument as ...

. In 2014, Swift performed on the stage of the competition program “Mamma Mia” and won third place in the national finals. Swift is also a voice over artist and writer, and has published work in magazines and literary quarterlies. She appeared as a vocalist on the video game ''

Mobile Legends ''Mobile Legends: Bang Bang'' (''MLBB'') is a mobile multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game developed and published by Chinese developer Moonton, a subsidiary of ByteDance. The game was released in 2016 and grew in popularity, most prominen ...

''. A memoir was scheduled to be released in 2022. In 2021 Swift released an album entitled ''Mid-March Meltdown'', which was partially co-written with Beijing-based band member Gabriel Beaudoin and mixed with co-producer Tim Abraham. She released three music videos covering tracks from the album.

Personal life

Swift married Chinese musician Guo Jian, (国囝) and had a daughter in January 2012 and a son in December 2013. She separated from Guo Jian in 2015 and was formally divorced in 2018. Swift continues to live in Beijing, China with her two children.

Discography

Studio Albums

* ''Self-Titled'' (1996) * ''InsectInside'' (1997) * ''Can't Corner Me'' (1998) * ''Permanent Marker'' (1999) * ''Stiltwalking'' (2002) * ''Disarming'' (2004) * ''The Dirty Pulse'' (2006) * ''Lentic: The New Project'' (2009) * ''11:11'' (2011) * ''Sticks & Stones'' (2017) * ''Mid-March Meltdown'' (2021)

Live Albums

* ''The Wage Is the Stage'' (live) (2000) * ''Snapshots'' (live EP) (2000) * ''Witness: Live in Australia'' (2005; DVD)

Awards

* 2006: "Youth Role Model of the Year" – Jer's Version Foundation * 2006: Best Band Website – Canadian Independent Music Award

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Swift, Ember 1970s births Living people Canadian women singer-songwriters Canadian folk guitarists Canadian women folk guitarists Canadian folk singer-songwriters Singers from Toronto 21st-century Canadian women singers 21st-century Canadian guitarists University of Toronto alumni 21st-century Canadian women guitarists 21st-century Canadian singer-songwriters Year of birth missing (living people)