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

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