Afie Jurvanen (born April 28, 1981), known by his stage name Bahamas, is a Canadian musician.
Early life
Jurvanen was born in
Toronto and raised in
Barrie,
Ontario. His mother was winner of the
Miss Finland 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,
City and Colour,
Feist,
Howie Beck,
Jason Collett,
Jack Johnson,
The Weather Station, and
Zeus.
Downtown Music Publishing
Downtown Music Holdings is a global independent rights management and music services company. Based in New York City, it has been composed of five divisions: Downtown Music Services, Fuga, Songtrust, Adrev and CD Baby. All divisions live under the ...
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 p ...
, 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 ...
'' 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, 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 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, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the English rock band Led Zeppelin for all of its existence from 1968 until 1980, when the band broke up following the ...
,
Wilco,
The Lumineers and
City and Colour.
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
Zach 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's band. Gill has performed at festivals and on tel ...
to open the shows.
Jurvanen released his fifth studio album, ''
Sad Hunk'', 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
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{{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