Halifax emerges as top for pop
City getting recognition for its unique music scene as more artists recognized
Halifax has emerged as an East Coast pop music hub, exporting artists with danceable hits with spots on the charts alongside Canadian heavyweights Justin Bieber and Drake.
The region’s artists will be recognized at the East Coast Music Awards gala on Thursday in Saint John, N.B., and Halifax pop hitmakers are leading the pack for nominations.
Ria Mae said her hometown — best known for giving birth to rock-radio staples such as April Wine and Sloan or singer-songwriters such as Sarah McLachlan — is nurturing pop musicians like never before.
“For the first time, Haligonians have a presence on pop radio,” said Mae, who is up for seven ECMAs.
“We’ve always had a strong singersongwriter community . . . And I think that right now in the world of pop music, people are craving real things again: real topics,” Mae said.
“It doesn’t have to be shiny and polished; it can just be unique.”
Mae’s self-titled 2016 record features “Clothes Off,” which became a smash hit on the Canadian radio charts and grabbed a Juno nomination for Single of the Year.
The album is nominated for Pop Recording of the Year at the ECMAs and was produced by Classified, a Halifax rapper who is himself up for nine awards.
And while Classified’s hit “No Pressure” — nominated for Song of the Year — features Snoop Dogg, it also samples a song from emerging Cape Breton-born, Halifax-based singersongwriter Dave Sampson.
It’s indicative of what Mae describes as Halifax’s musical family: a support system of artists that collaborate rather than compete.
“As soon as someone shows a bit of talent, they’re kind of taken into this family and we all want each other to do really well,” Mae said.
Newfoundland electronic band REPARTEE have racked up five nominations, while New Brunswickbased the Motorleague, Paper Lions of P.E.I., and Halifax homegrowns Ben Caplan and Erin Costelo each received four nods.
Francophone musicians also saw acclaim in the nominations, with Acadian artists Caroline Savoie and Les Hotesses d’Hilaire each picking up four.
The gala will feature Classified and David Myles, Mae, Lisa LeBlanc, Jason Benoit and many others.