City rolls out red carpet for musicians at 2019 awards, Very Prairie summit
As the year moves steadily toward its end, award season is starting to ramp up for the arts — and it starts right here in the hometown.
The 2019 Saskatchewan Music Awards happen Thursday at the Broadway Theatre. The awards are intended to honour musicians who make their home in the province.
“Last year was such a positive experience for so many people,” Saskmusic executive director Michael Dawson said. “We all know what a great music community and what a great city Saskatoon is, so being able to showcase that was great ... and a lot of great takeaways for artists.”
In addition to the awards, Saskmusic
will host the second annual Very Prairie music summit over the weekend on the heels of the award show. Started in 2018, the summit features a host of expert and professional-led panels and conference meetings designed to answer questions for musicians at all stages of their career.
Last year’s summit had discussions on touring, media management, recording practices and more.
This year, Dawson said, many of the same topics will make an appearance, with more panels and discussion to help with festival application and preparation and how to best use streaming services for selling and promoting music.
“A lot of it is sort of revisiting the conversations from last year, seeing how things have changed and shifted,” Dawson said.
After splitting the awards show and the Very Prairie summit between Regina and Saskatoon respectively in 2018, both events are in Saskatoon this year. The summit is spread across various venues throughout the Broadway and downtown Saskatoon areas from Nov. 28 through Dec. 1.
The nominees for the 2019 SMAS include some old favourites such as Bombargo, Autopilot, The Dead South, and more — but also has some newer faces, like Alex Bent + the Emptiness after his recent album release and up-and-coming folk duo Gunner and Smith.
Also among the nominees are
Saskatchewan-born performers such as Reignwolf and Tenille Arts, who make most of their music in the United States now. Dawson said eligibility for nominations follows similar guidelines to being able to procure funding through Saskmusic, which typically requires a home address and “filing taxes” in Saskatchewan.
“You always get a couple artists who are committed to working abroad or elsewhere at the moment,” Dawson said.
“That landscape ... is comparable to hockey or something, where there’s opportunities for their career to be playing elsewhere but this is where they call home.”