When indigenous singer-songwriters Jaaji and Chelsey June, better known as Twin Flames, first met in 2014 they were on completely different paths.

Jaaji (pronounced Yah-yee) is an Inuit Mohawk who already had an established audience in the Far North where his music was loved and embraced by many. He was also married.

Jaaji and Chelsey June will perform as Twin Flames on Saturday, Dec. 5 at the Shenkman Arts Centre. Photo supplied

Chelsey, who is an Algonquin Cree M�tis from Ottawa, had intense stage fright and had never performed in front of an audience of more than one. She had also recently gone through a painful break up and getting into another relationship was the furthest thing from her mind.

Everything changed later that fall when Jaaji returned home from a Canadian tour and his wife filed for divorce. He ended up moving to Montreal and was couch surfing between friends when he decided to send Chelsey a random Facebook message.

One thing led to another and before long the two ended up jamming and writing songs together in Ottawa. The result was Jaaji and Chelsey June Twin Flames which was released on Dec. 1, 2015.

At first the pair was worried their individual audiences would fail to accept their collaboration. But they needn't have worried because the CD received both critical and popular acclaim. They were named Aboriginal Songwriters of the Year at the 2016 Canadian Folk Music Awards and they were nominated for Debut Duo of the Year and Best Recording of the Year at the Native American Music Awards.

With Jaaji`s support Chelsey June was able to get over her stage fright and the pair began to tour together.

Since the release of their debut album they have performed more than 800 times across Canada and throughout North America.

In June 2017 they released their much anticipated second album Signal Fire with which they further expanded their contemporary folk musical stylings while maintaining their indigenous roots.

They were named Aboriginal Songwriters of the year for the second time at the 2017 Canadian Folk Music Awards and they took home two Native American Music Awards � Best Folk Album and Duo of the Year.

Their video Broke Down Ski'tuuq was the first Inuttitut music video to make it into the Best Music Video Category at the Native American Music Awards. More importantly they decided to join forces on the most intimate level possible by tying the matrimonial not in September 2017.

Twin Flames will bring their unique mix of contemporary folk, traditional indigenous instrumentation and intimate presentation to the Shenkman Arts Centre on Saturday, Dec. 8.

Besides their original songs, the performance will also feature a selection of holiday favourites, including Silent Night sung in English, Inuktitut and French.

Tickets can be purchased at the Shenk-man Arts Centre box office or by visiting www.shenkmanarts.ca.

(This story was made possible thanks to the generous support of our local business partners.)