| Aselin Debison | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Aselin Debison |
| Born | June 27, 1990 |
| Origin | Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada |
| Genres | Pop |
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Labels | Sony Music Canada Epic Aselin Music Inc. |
| Website | AselinDebison.com |
Aselin Debison (born June 27, 1990) is a Canadian pop and Celtic music singer.
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Debison began her singing career in 1999, when she was asked to sing at a rally of protesting miners in her hometown. Soon after this performance she began working on a Christmas album The Littlest Angel which was released in 2001. In 2002, she was spotted by Sony Classical president Peter Gelb at the East Coast Music Awards. Her debut album Sweet Is the Melody appeared that same year.
In October 2002, Debison was chosen to sing for Queen Elizabeth II at the Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto, Ontario, during her visit to Canada for her Jubilee celebration.[1]
Debison sang with country music artist and Runrig vocalist Bruce Guthro on a CBC (and later a PBS) special entitled "Aselin Debison: Sweet Is the Melody". She performed selections from her debut album and also classic Cape Breton Island songs, such as the Island's anthem. During her tour to promote Sweet Is the Melody, she performed in New York, Tokyo, Japan, and Seoul, Korea.
One track from the Sweet Is the Melody, Debison's cover of the distinctive Israel Kamakawiwo'ole medley arrangement Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World, became popular in Korea and Japan. (This song has been frequently, and incorrectly, attributed to American singer Norah Jones.) Thanks to its inclusion in soft pop compilation albums such as Sony Music Korea/Splash Music's 2003 Crossover Romance, it became a firmly established element of ambient music in many parts of east Asia. Debison also did covers of "Driftwood" a song by the Scottish band Travis and Garth Brooks' Christmas song "Gift." Several other tracks from Sweet Is the Melody were also included in Korean and Japanese pop compilations. Debison's version of Mike Oldfield's "Moonlight Shadow" entered the pop music top 20 in many parts of Japan.[2] "Sweet is the Melody" peaked at album number 10 on the Billboard charts [3] and 55 on the authoritative Oricon pop charts in Japan.[4] In Jan 2010, Debison's Asian success extended to Hong Kong, with "Sweet as the Melody" reaching number 60 on the KKBox Hong Kong classical album chart [5] and the single "Moonlight Shadow" reaching number 46 [6]
In March 2005 Debison released her second album, Bigger than Me, and the singles "Life" and "Faze" have been popular on light rock and pop radio.[7] Whereas Debison's early recordings consisted of cover versions, for Bigger than Me she wrote the material herself with assistance from Dave Thomson (co-founder of teen pop band Wave) and producer Thomas "Tawgs" Salter (initially renowned as a member of the 1990s Canadian rock band Dunk).
Former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien has hailed Debison as the next Céline Dion.[8] Debison received official congratulations for her musical success in a resolution from the Nova Scotia provincial legislature in April 2002.[9]
Since her last album, Debison has been almost completely out of the public eye. However, a fourth album called "Homeward Bound" has recently been released on her own label and is available to buy on cdbaby.com and iTunes.[10] The new single "Close to You" has been released.[11]
She is currently enrolled at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, studying Human Kinetics and planning to continue on in Education [12][13]
She has many uncles, aunts, and cousins in Glace Bay and all over Cape Breton Island.
She is engaged to be married to fellow musician Jonathan Ettinger.[14]
| Date of Release | Title | Label |
| 2001 | The Littlest Angel | [Aselin Music Inc.] |
| October 2002 | Sweet Is the Melody | Epic |
| February 2005 | Bigger Than Me | Epic |
| 2010 | Homeward Bound | [Aselin Music Inc.] |