Manitoba Artists and Entrepreneurs Pick Up 31 Western Canadian Music Awards Nominations

Posted on

Manitoba will have a strong presence when the Western Canadian Music Awards are handed out in Calgary this fall. Artists and music companies picked up 31 nominations in 20 categories for the 11th annual celebration of music from the western provinces and territories with talented acts from Manitoba’s Aboriginal and Francophone communities dominating their respective categories. The hardware will be handed out at an industry brunch on October 5 and at a gala event on October 6 in Calgary, Alberta.

Manitoba’s Aboriginal music community continues to shine, landing three out of five nods for Aboriginal Recording of the Year for the second year in a row. All three nominees are also recent JUNO Award nominees, including genre-smashing outfit Burnt-Project 1, a winner in 2004, which landed a third career JUNO nod last year; multi-award-winning singer/songwriter Don Amero, who picked up his first JUNO nod last year; and country songstress Tracy Bone, whose debut was nominated for a JUNO in 2009.

The Franco-Manitoban scene is also a strong leader for the second year in a row, with three local albums up for Francophone Recording of the Year. This year’s nods went to folk ensemble Ça Claque!; the debut from singer/songwriter Jocelyne Baribeau, who is also known for her acclaimed children’s act, Madame Diva; and the French-language recording from world-touring bluegrass quartet, Oh My Darling.  

Acoustic pop troubadour JP Hoe is a triple nominee this year, landing nominations for Independent Album of the Year and Pop Recording of the Year for his latest recording, Mannequin. His stop-motion video for “Nothing’s Gonna Harm You” netted Winnipeg-based filmmakers Proctor Bros. a nod for Video of the Year.

KEN mode adds to its growing list of accolades with a nod in the brand new Metal/Hard Music Recording of the Year category for its new album, Entrench. The noisecore trio, which recently landed a coveted spot on the Polaris Music Prize’s long list, picked up the inaugural JUNO Award in the same category for Venerable last year.

Other artistic award nominees include LuLu and the TomCat and Marie-Claude for Children’s Recording of the Year; Sid Robinovitch and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra for Classical Recording of the Year; Mira Black for another new category, Electronic/Dance Recording of the Year; Mahogany Frog for Instrumental Recording of the Year; two duos, Erin Propp and Larry Roy, and Jeff Presslaff and Will Bonness, for Jazz Recording of the Year; Indicator Indicator for Pop Recording of the Year; The Lytics for Rap/Hip Hop Recording of the Year; Del Barber and Keri Latimer for Roots Solo Recording of the Year; Steve Bell for Spiritual Recording of the Year; and Casimiro Nhussi for World Recording of the Year.

With eight nominations, Manitoba’s music companies also have an impressive showing again in this year’s Industry Awards categories. The West End Cultural Centre and The Park Theatre are both vying for Live Music Venue of the Year. This year’s nominees for Manager of the Year include Paquin Entertainment Group (Del Barber, Bachman & Turner, Buffy Sainte-Marie), which is also up for Agency of the Year, and Tim Jones of Pipe & Hat (Mise En Scene, The Noble Thiefs). Other industry nominees from Manitoba include two past winners, Cameron Loeppky for Engineer of the Year and Winnipeg Folk Festival’s Chris Frayer for Talent Buyer of the Year, who picked up honours in their categories in 2011.

The awards gala is the pinnacle event of BreakOut West, which will be held October 3-6, 2013. The event features a conference and three-day music festival with 50 showcasing acts in addition to the two awards shows. BreakOut West presents an incredible opportunity for emerging and established artists to be a part of the western Canadian music community. Participating artists and other music professionals have the chance to meet key industry stakeholders creating the opportunity for a new wave of exciting industry developments from record deals to international tours.

For a complete list of 2013 WCMA nominees, please visit breakoutwest.ca.

2013 Western Canadian Music Awards - Manitoba Nominees

Artistic Nominees

ABORIGINAL RECORDING OF THE YEAR    
Burnt-Project 1 - The Black List
Don Amero - Heart On My Sleeve
Tracy Bone - Woman of Red

CHILDREN'S RECORDING OF THE YEAR         
LuLu and the TomCat - The World of Odd
Marie-Claude - Mon coffret à surprises

CLASSICAL RECORDING OF THE YEAR          
Sid Robinovitch - Choral Odyssey
Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra - War of Angels

ELECTRONIC/DANCE RECORDING OF THE YEAR       
Mira Black - MIRA

FRANCOPHONE RECORDING OF THE YEAR   
Ça Claque! - Automne
Jocelyne Baribeau - Petits papiers
Oh My Darling - Venez Danser

INDEPENDENT ALBUM OF THE YEAR
JP Hoe - Mannequin

INSTRUMENTAL RECORDING OF THE YEAR   
Mahogany Frog - SENNA

JAZZ RECORDING OF THE YEAR        
Erin Propp & Larry Roy - Courage, My Love
Presslaff/Bonness Keyboard Duo - Rhapsodies by Two

METAL/HARDMUSIC RECORDING OF THE YEAR         
KEN mode - Entrench

POP RECORDING OF THE YEAR         
Indicator Indicator - Indicator Indicator
JP Hoe - Mannequin

RAP/HIP-HOP RECORDING OF THE YEAR       
The Lytics - They Told Me

ROOTS SOLO RECORDING OF THE YEAR       
Del Barber - Headwaters 
Keri Latimer - Crowsfeet and Greyskull

SPIRITUAL RECORDING OF THE YEAR
Steve Bell - Keening For the Dawn

WORLD RECORDING OF THE YEAR    
Casimiro Nhussi - Gweka

Industry Nominees

AGENCY OF THE YEAR           
Paquin Entertainment Group     

ENGINEER OF THE YEAR        
Cameron Loeppky    

LIVE MUSIC VENUE OF THE YEAR
The Park Theatre          
West End Cultural Centre          

MANAGER OF THE YEAR        
Paquin Entertainment Group     
Tim Jones        

TALENT BUYER OF THE YEAR
Chris Frayer (Winnipeg Folk Festival)

VIDEO OF THE YEAR  
Proctor Bros. Industries - “Nothing's Gonna Harm You” by JP Hoe

Read more news