Fortunate Ones

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Fortunate Ones is a Canadian indie folk duo from St. John's, Newfoundland, consisting of Andrew James O'Brien and Catherine Allan. Andrew and Catherine grew up on opposite sides of the island of Newfoundland – Mount Pearl and Corner Brook respectively. It was in St. John's where the pair met and began to sing together. O'Brien and Allan are a romantic couple as well as bandmates. O'Brien was previously a solo artist, having released the album "Songs for Searchers" in 2011, with Allan a part of his backing band. It was during this time that they realized the direction their music-making was naturally heading, and decided to officially form as Fortunate Ones. Both sing lead vocals, while O'Brien plays guitar, and Allan plays accordion and keyboards. Their debut album, "The Bliss," was released in 2015 on Old Farm Pony Records, the label founded by singer-songwriter Rose Cousins. Two songs from the album, "Lay Me Down" and the title track "The Bliss", reached #1 on CBC Radio 2's The Radio 2 Top 20 in 2015. Their album "The Bliss" was a shortlisted Juno Award nominee for Contemporary Roots Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2016, and won the Canadian Folk Music Award for Vocal Group of the Year at the 11th Canadian Folk Music Awards. The duo's most recent album "That Was You and Me" won the East Coast Music Award for Folk Recording of the Year and was nominated for Contemporary Roots Album at the 2023 Juno Awards. Fortunate Ones' warm harmonies, heartfelt songwriting, and authentic Newfoundland roots have made them favorites on the Canadian folk music circuit.