B.C.’s Alex Cuba gets Grammy nod

Already crowned with one of the biggest awards of his career, a Latin Grammy for Best Singer-Songwriter Album earlier this year, Smithers, B.C. pop-rock artist Alex Cuba is looking to transcend boundaries.

His latest genre-bending album Healer has earned Cuba a nomination at the forthcoming 2016 Grammy Awards in the Best Latin Pop Album category.

Healer blends Cuba’s soulful Latin roots — born Alexis Puentes, he originally hails from Artemisa, Cuba — with pop and rock influences from North America. Cuba has already earned four Latin Grammys, two Junos, and two SOCAN Awards, among many other recognitions. “I feel very proud of this nomination,” Cuba said in a press release. “It’s just incredible as well that I am the only independent artist in the category.” The competition in the Best Latin Pop Album category includes Ricky Martin, Pablo Alboran, Alejandro Sanz and Julieta Venegas.

“To be making music from Smithers, B.C. and receive this kind of recognition is quite unbelievable,” he added. “It fills my heart and soul with hope and a sense that anything is possible.”

Cuba will be touring across Canada in January and February, with a stop at the Kay Meek Centre in West Vancouver on Feb. 6. Meanwhile, DJ Kevin “Sipreano” Howes’s masterful compilation of indigenous rock and folk, Native North America (Vol. 1): Aboriginal Folk, Rock, and Country 1966-1985 (released via archive-friendly label Light In The Attic) last year, also earned a Grammy nod.

The beautiful set, originally released as a triple vinyl box, has earned a nomination in the Best Historical Album category alongside Bob Dylan’s Basement Tapes Complete: The Bootleg Series Vol. 11.

The 2016 Grammy Awards ceremony will take place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Feb. 15.