Junos hand off torch for Calgary awards
It was the perfect time and a fitting place for the Junos to pop by to remind Calgarians that they’re headed our way.
At a press conference Thursday afternoon in the gorgeous, newly opened Charbar in the historic Simmons Building, representatives from the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, members of the 2016 Calgary Juno Host Committee, dignitaries, local music royalty, industry folk and media gathered to drum up some excitement for the national music awards show, which will be hitting town March 28 to April 3.
It was, said Allan Reid, president and CEO of the Torontobased CARAS, “an opportunity for us to put a stake in the ground in Calgary and say, ‘ We’re only nine months away. It’s coming.’ ”
Outside, the East Village was alive with activity that showed how fitting a choice the city was to host the 45th annual celebration of this country’s music makers.
Not to far away, of course, construction continues on the $ 168- million, 160,000- squarefoot Studio Bell, which, when it opens next year to coincide with the awards, will be the new home of the National Music Centre, and feature studios, performances spaces and exhibits, including one that is of special interest to keepers of our national musical legacy.
“To have a physical place for the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, for us, is monumental,” said Reid, who was set to tour the site later in the afternoon. “It’s never existed before. It literally is in the CARAS office in Toronto.”
On a less bricks and mortars level, the area on this gorgeous Thursday afternoon was also a hub of activity on the Riverwalk, as final preparations were being made for the East Village Block Party, the free family event held as part of Sled Island, which currently has the city alive with music and will until it wraps up on Sunday.
Reid admits Juno organizers were mindful of that when they chose this week specifically to hold their event.
“It’s not about the Junos parachuting into the city, it’s about us integrating with what’s already happening in the city,” he said.
“There are so many great festivals happening here. And obviously we’re big believers in what music can do to transform a city — on an economic level ( the event brings in an average of $ 10 million to the host location), but also right down to a community level through our charity MusiCounts.
“But obviously, with Sled Island happening, we’re happy that ( organizers) were cool with us coming. We didn’t want to overshadow it. It’s a great chance to come here, be part of what they’re doing, and just elevate what music can do for a city.”
They aim to do that over the course of that late March, early April week next year with a whole host of events surrounding the Junos, which they also announced on Thursday. Some of the happenings include a Kickoff Concert, the annual Juno Cup hockey game between NHL greats and Canadian musicians and celebrities, the opportunity for fans to meet the artists with the Fan Fare, the two- night JunoFest that will fill clubs around the city with acts, and a concert for kids featuring all of the 2016 Children’s Album of the Year nominees.
The week will then culminate in the April 3 award show, itself, which will see Junos handed out at the Saddledome to some of this country’s biggest rock stars.
Fittingly, the man many call this city’s own rock star, Mayor Nenshi, was on hand at the press conference to offer his enthusiastic reiteration that 2016 will be “the year of music” in Calgary and was, in a relatively new Juno tradition, given the host city Juno Award by Reid.
In a nice, cheeky moment, Nenshi, in turn, white- hatted the Junos, by placing one of the small, longtime ceremonial civic symbols on the award.
An outspoken arts supporter and proponent, the mayor, too, was also very mindful of what was taking place outside on the Riverwalk and the other Sled venues around the city this week. And he thinks the Junos returning here for the first time in eight years will be the perfect opportunity and platform to let the rest of the country know that it, and many other events, makes Calgary a remarkably vibrant musical hub.
“Twenty- sixteen … is about having the Junos here shining a light on the amazing music that happens here every single day,” he said.
“It’s a real opportunity for us to talk about Sled Island, to talk about the folk festival, to talk about what I often call the biggest music festival in Canada with a rodeo — the Calgary Stampede …
“I think that’s an exciting thing.”
One of the artists who’s been making music happen in the city for the past 25 years was also in attendance: Jann Arden. The multiple Juno- winning singer, who was actually signed to her major label deal by Reid when he was an A& R rep for A& M in the ’ 90s, expressed her hopes that the attention the awards will bring to “a really incredible local scene,” will encourage musicians to not leave to get their big break, to, like her and fellow attendee Paul Brandt, continue making Calgary their home while making their art.
As for her participation in the 2016 Junos, when it comes to her hometown, Arden is unsure.
“Obviously I’d love to be involved,” she said. As host? “No, no, no, no, no absolutely not,” Arden said emphatically. “I can’t imagine anything more nerve- racking. The advent of social media makes it almost impossible for anyone to succeed with a task like that. My skin isn’t thick enough.
“I hosted it in ’ 97, so I’ve done my bit. It’s for the kids, man, it’s for the kids.”
It’s a real opportunity for us to talk about Sled Island, to talk about the folk festival … ALLAN REID