In their own words: Province’s artists react to award nominations
Saskatchewan will be well-represented at the 2020 Juno Awards in Saskatoon.
Shaunavon’s Hunter Brothers are nominated for breakthrough group of the year as well as country album of the year, Regina’s Foxwarren is up for alternative album of the year, Regina-based band The Dead South is nominated for traditional roots album of the year, and Terri Fidelak and Carey Shaw are nominated for album artwork of the year for their work on Belle Plaine’s new album Malice, Mercy, Grief & Wrath.
Here are some of their thoughts following Tuesday’s unveiling of nominees in advance of the March 15 awards in Saskatoon ...
NATE HILTS, MEMBER OF THE DEAD SOUTH
“A random number called me. I picked up and it was someone from CBC and said, ‘How does it feel to have been nominated for a Juno?’ I was like, ‘I didn’t know that until you just told me, so thank you.’
“I haven’t really had too much time to process it yet . ... We just got home from touring (Monday). But it feels good, it feels good. I’ve been texting with the guys and everyone seems to be pretty stoked and we’re excited to be nominated again.”
TERRI FIDELAK, NOMINATED WITH
CAREY SHAW FOR ALBUM ARTWORK ON BELLE PLAINE’S ALBUM MALICE, MERCY, GRIEF & WRATH
“It’s really strange, but it’s amazing to have the artwork that supports the album ... I think the whole point was to try to articulate the album’s message in another way, in a visual way. And so it’s really nice to have that recognized.
“(Melanie Berglund) and I spent a lot of time talking about her ideas behind her songwriting and the meaning and what she was evoking through her words and music. And then I spent a lot of time listening to the rough cuts of the album and thinking about her words ... She really trusted me to just run with the vision that I had and so I did that. It was really a great gift for her to trust me like that.”
DARRYL KISSICK, MEMBER OF FOXWARREN
“We never would have expected a nomination, but then last week were invited to the announcement party and so our manager said that’s usually a good sign. We still were pretty skeptical because you don’t want to get your hopes up.
“I know my mom will be excited ... I think that generation, there’s something about things like (awards) where that has meaning, whereas anything else that we do doesn’t really resonate with them. But this means something. My mom hasn’t heard or anything yet, but I’m sure she’ll be stoked when she finds out . ... I think I’ll just let her stumble upon it.”
JJ HUNTER, MEMBER OF THE HUNTER BROTHERS
“I wasn’t with my brothers (Tuesday) morning and I was out of (phone) service, so I was quite late on learning the news. But then we all got together and we had a little, not celebration, but we had a little moment where we all enjoyed hearing about the nominations.
“We grew up in Saskatchewan, we still live there, we’re proud of the people, the culture — everything that happens ... We couldn’t be more thrilled. It’s an honour for us. Our first Juno nomination held in our home province — it’s more than we could’ve asked for.”