NEW AWARDS, NEW FOCUS
10th Country Music Alberta Awards evolve with efforts to further inclusion and diversity
After a year of exponential growth, and a few key changes, the 10th annual Country Music Alberta Awards are being broadcast Sunday night.
Canadian country star George Canyon and the CMAB'S reigning Horizon Female Artist, Mariya Stokes, will be co-hosting the well-organized affair, which includes a Facebook live post-party where winners will virtually join in on a giant video wall at Production World Studios.
An initial look at this year's nominees showed a list so white, it could make you squint. But a few conversations, and some tough questions with the awards' producer, a Country Music Alberta board member and the lead singer of the multi-nominated band The Prairie States, brought about some authentic understanding, and an organic opportunity for today's country artists came into focus.
Founded as the Alberta Country Music Association 13 years ago, the non-profit supports country artists in Alberta at any point in their career, but it's mandated toward those emerging at a grassroots level.
With the generational shift of a decade, the board of directors wanted to evolve to meet new artists where they're at today, and rebranded with some new policy initiatives and award categories to further efforts at inclusion, diversity and added support — thankfully, the new award categories are not for Black or Indigenous artists.
“In the Junos, we have an Indigenous category. Like, why put us in a different category?” asks Mat Cardinal, a country music artist “that happens to be Indigenous.”
“Are we making Indigenous music? Is it strictly Indigenous music? Or are you putting us in the box?”
Cardinal's unique voice takes centre stage with The Prairie States, and he wants his band recognized for its hard work rather than his ethnic roots. With six CMAB nominations this year, including Group of the Year and Fans' Choice nods, it looks like they're getting it right.
Chard Morrison, a CMAB board member and chair of the awards committee, says the changes had to happen to stay relevant and useful to its new members.
“Instead of them feeling grandfathered into the ACMA, when we rebranded into Country Music Alberta we found that all the new generation kind of rallied because now it's theirs — like the changing of the guard,” Morrison says, explaining a safe-space initiative was included in the new code of conduct.
“It's a very big topic and a lot of work,” he admits of efforts to recognize where better supports in the industry are needed with partnerships, too soon to announce, “from all across the province to start having these conversations.”
With the exception of very few, the CMAB awards are completely member-driven, for nominations and voting. Anyone can join, and each voice counts equally when deciding who gets the top spot. Competition can be healthy, especially when the only hurdle to participation is the $60 membership fee, meaning more diverse voices can weigh in on a level playing field.
“Country Music Alberta is not responsible for knowing what every single artist in Alberta is doing,” Morrison says. “But what we can do is, we open up our awards to anyone who is a member to nominate yourself or someone you know.”
The new awards being presented this year include space for the big players of the genre, “the Gord Bamfords, the Carolyn Dawn Johnsons, the Terri Clarks. These high-level national acts,” Morrison says. “They have a lot of knowledge they can pass on to the next generation.”
The star-studded power not only helps bring attention to the association with new artists, it adds another level of excitement to the awards ceremony, which has grown over the years.
“There was never a question of not doing it,” says Tera Lee Flaman, who has worn many hats in the industry as an artist and radio personality, and is producing the awards show for a third time. “It's the 10th annual, we had to find a way.
“Last year, we had big aspirations of a big birthday bash and hopefully having some of our Alberta artists that now live in Nashville come back and help celebrate with us.”
Plans went through four or five incarnations while navigating the unknown climate that comes with a pandemic, until a final decision was made in mid-january to go virtual, and they stopped at nothing to ensure this year's celebration had all the excitement and glam that comes with awards show as we've known them.
“You know the great saying, many hands make light work, and we had many hands — I'm not sure it was light work, but we had a lot of help from a lot of people,” she says, adding that appearances from Albertans now living in Music City, like Tenille Townes and Lindsey Ell, are a part of the broadcast taped a couple of weeks ago.
While a pre-recorded show misses the anticipation of unknown winners and their reactions, the post-party workaround, hosted by Dan Davidson with three nominations himself, will bring this engagement.
“Basically it's now a TV show, where we were live and in-house in previous years. So, always an opportunity to learn and, really, finding a way to make the virtual show entertaining and just a little bit different from others that have happened online,” Flaman says. “Just trying to keep people engaged, keep it moving fast and celebrate the great things that have happening in country music in Alberta this year because there's been a lot of great things, there really has.”
For more on The Prairie States, whose new single, High That I'm Riding, was released to radio Wednesday, and some of the videos nominate for best of the year, find this story in the Arts section at edmontonjournal.com.
In the Junos, we have an Indigenous category. Like, why put us in a different category? Is it strictly Indigenous music? Or are you putting us in the box?