IKALUKTUTIAK/CAMBRIDGE BAY - Twenty-five year old Ashlee Otokiak is a multitalented musician. He can play the guitar, the fiddle, the banjo, the harmonica and the piano. The fact that he can’t see only makes playing music a little more challenging, Otokiak says.

Ashlee Otokiak plays the fiddle and harmonica at the Cultural Centre in Cambridge Bay on Sept. 18. - photo courtesy of Renee Krucas

Twenty-five year old Ashlee Otokiak is a multitalented musician. He can play the guitar, the fiddle, the banjo, the harmonica and the piano. The fact that he can’t see only makes playing music a little more challenging, Otokiak says.

“Yes, it can be hard. It takes me awhile to learn to play a song. I learn to play a song by ear, I listen to it a lot and then I copy it,” Otokiak said. “Sometimes when I’m going to sleep I sing it and that helps me to learn it and remember how it goes.” 

Otokiak was born blind, but that didn’t stop him from learning how to play numerous instruments at a very young age.

“I learned to play when I was a kid. My dad taught me and we played a lot together,” he said. “I started piano when I was little, too. I was 19 when I first learned to play the fiddle.”

Former Cambridge Bay resident Nedd Kenney taught Otokiak the fiddle, Otokiak said.

“Nedd taught me how to tune my fiddle. He always started with the D key. He was really nice.”

Otokiak and his father Joe often play together during community events in Cambridge Bay. Otokiak is one of five children of Joe and Eva Otokiak. He has two sisters, Jolene and Tiffany, and two brothers, Andre and Anthony.

“We play at community feasts, (Umingmak) Frolics and for cruise ships,” he said.

Otokiak and his father usually play Inuinnaqtun songs, gospel music and jigging songs, but Otokiak said his musical influences are almost limitless.

“I like to play lots of different music. I like to play the Red River Jig. It’s my favourite song to play,” he said. “I like Lee Ann Womack, Sheryl Crow, Michelle Branch, Serena Ryder, and Sinead O’Connor. I also like listening to the Beatles and Johnny Cash.” 

Cambridge Bay’s First Air manager Rudi Philips is a professional bass player and has known Otokiak since he was a small child.

“I remember when he was little he listened to music all the time,” Philips said. 

Otokiak hasn’t let being blind stop him in other aspects of his life. He is also a graduate of Kiilinik High School in Cambridge Bay.

Renee Krucas, programs manager at the Kitikmeot Heritage Society, said members of the community are big fans of Otokiak’s musical abilities -- herself included.

“I love to listen to Ashlee play all of his instruments. He once played Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Bad Moon Rising by plucking the strings of his fiddle and it was breathtaking,” she said. “He is such a talented person and you can just tell how much he loves music every time he plays.”