Folkies set to honour their own
Montreal’s MAZ in running for two awards
A teenage guitarist f rom Victoria, Quinn Bachand, is neck and neck with another B.C. singer-songwriter, Shari Ulrich, at the head of the pack of nominees in this year’s Canadian Folk Music Awards. They are followed closely by another Victoriabased ensemble, the Fretless, and Montreal instrumentalists MAZ. Perth-based troubadour James Keelaghan is not far behind and Polaris champ Tanya Tagaq continues to gain accolades in the latest round of award nominations, announced in Ottawa on Wednesday.
Also in the running are two Ottawa singer-songwriters: Jill Zmud and Amanda Rheaume. They face off against entries from the Bros. Landreth, Matt Andersen, Colleen Rennison and the Strumbellas.
“I’m kind of speechless, to be honest,” Zmud said. “I made this album while I was pregnant and going through home renovations and doing all sorts of crazy stuff. I feel proud of it, and it’s really cool to get an extra pat on the back with a nomination.”
Celtic-guitar prodigy Bachand has a chance at five awards. He’s competing in the categories of emerging artist of the year and young performer of the year, while his group, Brishen, is up for the year’s best instrumental group, best ensemble and best world group.
Meanwhile, Ulrich earns two mentions (English songwriter and solo artist of the year) for her latest album, Everywhere I Go, and three for High Bar Gang, the gospel revival group she belongs to, along with former rocker Barney Bentall. Their nominations find them in the categories of year’s best ensemble, traditional album and vocal group.
Four nominations go to the Fretless, an innovative string band composed of fiddlers Karrnnel Sawitsky, Trent Freeman and Ivonne Hernandez and cellist Eric Wright. Based on the strength of their self-titled second release, the group is vying for instrumental group of the year, produ- cer of the year (with Joby Baker), ensemble of the year and the Oliver Schroer Pushing the Boundaries Award.
They face off against Montreal’s MAZ for the Schroer award and instrumental group of the year. MAZ is also competing for world group of the year, while their producer, Marc Maziade, is in con- sideration as the year’s best producer.
Keelaghan has three shots at awards, with nominations in the categories of solo artist of the year, contemporary singer of the year and English songwriter of the year, all in recognition of his latest album, History. Manitoba singer-songwriter Del Bar- ber is another triple nominee hoping to score honours as the year’s best contemporary singer, solo artist and/or English songwriter.
Fresh off her Polaris win earlier this week, Tanya Tagaq continues to rake in the praise for her Animism album, which earns CFMA nominations for the Schroer award and as the year’s best aboriginal songwriter. Her competition in that category includes Ottawa singer-songwriter Amanda Rheaume, who gets a nod for her Keep a Fire album.
Other artists with a pair of nominations include singersongwriter Matthew Barber (no relation to Del), Lennie Gallant and Matt Andersen, Cape Breton Celtic group Coig and world-music artist Robert Michaels.
In all, 68 acts from nine provinces and one territory were nominated in the 19 categories, representing a wide spectrum of folk and roots music, both traditional and contemporary.
The awards will be handed out during the 10th-anniversary celebrations of the event, which take place Nov. 27-29 in Ottawa. The main event is a bilingual gala on Nov. 29, hosted by CBC’s Shelagh Rogers and musician Benoit Bourque of the Quebec trad band La Bottine Souriante. Artist showcases are presented Nov. 27-28.
Passes for the entire weekend of festivities are $70. You can also purchase tickets to the gala ($40), and showcases ($25 for each night.) Go to folkawards.ca for more details.
This year’s edition of the awards marks a return to its birthplace in the Ottawa area. Dreamed up by a group of folk-music veterans that included Penguin Eggs’ Roddy Campbell and Borealis Records’ Grit Laskin and Bill Garrett, they were motivated by what they saw as the limitations of the Juno Awards’ roots and traditional categories. The inaugural CFMA ceremony took place in 2005 at the Canadian Museum of Civilization. Ottawa’s Lynn Miles was one of the first big winners.