Nancy Dutra was born and raised in Toronto as the youngest of four children to Portuguese immigrant parents who exposed her to fado, a type of stripped-down bluesy folk music that originated in their homeland and that she still loves. She sang in church choirs, but it wasn’t until she was 14 that she found her true musical calling.

“I listened to different kinds of music when I was younger, but I got bored with what I was hearing on the radio and tuned into a country station,” she explains. “I got hooked instantly, especially with the traditional stuff.”

Dutra eventually bought a guitar, taught herself to play, and started writing her own distinctive material. “Most of my songs come from personal experiences, things like my family, heartbreak or how my friends’ lives affect me,” says the songwriter.

Influenced by the sounds of her youth — and more recent roots music songwriters such as Tom Russell, John Prine, Lyle Lovett, Michael Laderoute, Mary Gauthier, Mindy Smith, Iris Dement, Lynn Miles and Lucinda Williams — many of Dutra’s songs feature dark lyrics and melodies.

“I see the joy in life, but that doesn’t always come through in my music.”

Dutra has been playing for five years and performing for four. During that time, she’s become an integral member of the Toronto roots and traditional country music community by playing on stages with a variety of talented musicians all over the city. Her most cherished gig, thus far, was opening for Canadian Music Hall of Fame member Ian Tyson at Hugh’s Room. She’s also been invited to play a number of music festivals and has toured across eastern Canada.

Dutra has played with Wendell Ferguson, the six-time winner of the Canadian Country Music Association’s guitarist of the year award, for the past two years. She’s now ready to take the next step in her career by collaborating with Ferguson on her debut CD.

“I never expected to be at this point where I was performing gigs and making records,” Dutra concedes. “I started out doing a couple of open mic nights at small local clubs and then things just went on from there as I grew more confident and more opportunities opened up.”

Dutra’s beautiful voice perfectly complements her soulful songs and gives them a timeless quality. Some of her material sounds like it could have been written 50 years ago, but spend some time with this young lady and you’ll find that she’s still very much a woman of today who’s determined to blaze a path that will allow her to perform for new audiences across the country and around the world.

“I don’t crave fame, but I want respect for what I do,” Dutra stresses.

And with the honesty that permeates both her conversations and her lyrics, you believe her.

Her songs express — at varying times — spirituality, vulnerability, optimism, romanticism, confusion, confidence and, perhaps most obviously, the importance of family. Nowhere is this more evident than in Mama Taught Me How To Pray, in which Dutra writes:

“My mama taught me how to pray
Right down on bended knee
Sometimes I’d see her wipe away
Tears she’d try to hide from me
So I beg of you my Saviour
Please have mercy on her soul
Cause my mama taught me how to pray
She brought me to your love”


Nancy Dutra has lived an interesting life thus far, and she’ll continue to write about her experiences as she sees more of the world and witnesses both the joys and pains that modern society brings with it. But as she does, you can bet that she’ll follow her own advice that she gives in another of the EP’s songs, Ride That Train:

“You gotta Ride That Train
You gotta Ride That Train
And find your way back home again”