Lindi Ortega

Lindi Marie Ortega (born May 28, 1979) is a Canadian country singer-songwriter from Toronto, Ontario, who had lived in Nashville, Tennessee then moved to Western Canada in 2017.

She spent nearly a decade as an independent artist in the Toronto music scene, releasing two albums and an EP in that time.

She has been described as "Toronto's best kept secret" and nicknamed "Indie Lindi".

Lindi Ortega was born on May 28, 1979 and is from Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

She is of Mexican-Irish descent.

She was 17 when – after picking up the guitar that hung on the wall of the family home – she wrote "Faded Dress", which she has said was "the first in a long line of heartbreak songs".

It was about her first boyfriend dumping her the day before the prom.

"I wrote about the dress hanging in the closet, that never got worn. It was sad, but I thought it would be better the next year. But nobody asked me."

Ortega spent years trawling around record labels as the Toronto scene dubbed her "Indie Lindi".

Ortega's debut album, The Taste of Forbidden Fruit, was released in 2001.

In her review of the album, Coreen Wolanski of Exclaim! described Ortega's voice as "the closest thing to vocal perfection" she had heard in a long time.

CBC Radio 3 described the album as follows:

"Lindi seasons her musical scores like a deranged chef whipping up a culinary creation. A dash of country, a pinch of folk, a sprinkle of rock, and a smidgeon of jazz! Last but not least, to add a little spice, how about some vaudeville cabaret? No, this is not a textbook recipe, but rather a mystical scribbling from an ancient scroll. Lindi is enigmatic and enchanting with a voice that can be cheeky and brassy or haunting and ghostly. Her music derives from the metaphysical in a sphere that warps time and defies orthodoxy. This madness is a pure passion that has never met the technicalities of music theory."

The song Nothing at All from this album was used in the online campaign for the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty.

In late 2005 Ortega began advertising her new album as coming in the autumn of 2006 having declared, "People kept pushing and prodding and finally I saw the light".

Fall From Grace was released on February 6, 2007.

In reviewing the album Oxyfication.com described Fall From Grace as "the quintessential album of the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of life as an indie singer."

In 2007 Ortega collaborated with Juno Award winning producer Ron Lopata on "I Need", a song for the compilation album Year of the Monkey – 68.

Lopata has since produced Ortega's two EPs and occasionally tours with her as her keyboardist.

In 2008, she signed to major label Interscope, releasing one EP before they directed their resources into something more conventionally radio-friendly.

Ortega remembers "singing my heart out for suits with BlackBerries. Your emotions are all over the place – and they're staring at the ceiling."

Ortega's eponymous EP was initially sold at concerts and on March 5, 2008 was made available online from independent music retailer killthe8.com.

When the initial run sold out the EP was discontinued.

At the end of 2010 and beginning of 2011, Ortega toured extensively as a backup singer for Brandon Flowers, the lead singer of the Killers, in support of his solo album, Flamingo.

The tour included dates in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Mexico, as well as televised live performances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Later ... with Jools Holland and at Abbey Road Studios.

There were also a number of festival dates in the United States and Europe, including Coachella, T in the Park and Oxegen.

A self-described bird lover, Ortega organised and was the featured performer at a benefit concert for the World Parrot Refuge in Coombs, British Columbia on March 3, 2010.

The concert was held at The Supermarket in Toronto and featured a collection of local musicians that included Sara Kamin, Mandippal Jandu, The Framework, Emma-Lee, The DoneFors, and Dylan Murray.

After a decade of making ends meet by working in pizza places and fleamarkets, in 2011, she signed to Last Gang.

On February 7, 2012, Ortega was nominated for two Juno Awards – New Artist of the Year and Roots & Traditional Album: Solo.

On June 14, 2012, Ortega's album Little Red Boots was named as a longlisted nominee for the 2012 Polaris Music Prize.

In June 2013, her album Cigarettes & Truckstops was longlisted for the 2013 Polaris Music Prize.

In July 2014, Ortega was nominated for two Canadian Country Music Association Awards – Female Artist of the Year and Roots Artist of the Year.

Her album, Tin Star was also nominated for Album Design of the Year.

Ortega left Last Gang management and records in November 2017.

She has since released Til The Goin' Gets Gone EP and her full-length Liberty on her own label Shadowbox Music.

Her voice has been described as a blend of Dolly Parton's, Johnny Cash's, and Emmylou Harris'.

In 2017, Ortega married Daniel Huscroft.

They divorced in July 2023.

In 2018, Ortega revealed that she has suffered from body dysmorphic disorder.