A slew of Manitoba artists and music industry professionals could be picking up some new hardware in Saskatoon this fall, after being nominated Tuesday for Western Canadian Music Awards.
The annual award ceremony, part of the four-day BreakOut West conference to be held this September, celebrates creative and industry professionals from Manitoba, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Yukon and the Northwest Territories.
This year’s nominees include a wide range of local talent, from children’s entertainers to a jazz orchestra to artist development organizations.
Leading the pack is acclaimed roots singer-songwriter William Prince, up for four awards this year. Indie-rock/alt-country artist Boy Golden is right behind him with three nominations, while guitarist Ariel Posen and singer-songwriter Fontine have each been nominated twice.
Manitoba nominees include:
Breakout Artist of the Year: Boy Golden, Field Guide, Slow Leaves, William Prince
Children’s Artist of the Year: Al Simmons, Micah!
Country Artist of the Year: Don Amero
Francophone Artist of the Year: Fire & Smoke
Indigenous Artist of the Year: Fontine
Instrumental Artist of the Year: Apollo Suns
Jazz Artist of the Year: Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra
Metal & Hard Music Artist of the Year: KEN Mode
Producer of the Year: Lana Winterhalt
Rap & Hip-Hop Artist of the Year: Super Duty Tough Work
Recording of the Year: Begonia, Boy Golden, Ariel Posen, William Prince
Rock Artist of the Year: Ariel Posen, Kris Ulrich
Roots Artist of the Year: Fontine, William Prince
Songwriters of the Year: Alexa Dirks, Matthew Schellenberg and Matt Peters for Begonia’s Butterfly, Liam Duncan for Boy Golden’s For Jimmy, William Prince for Stand in the Joy, and Celeigh Cardinal, Dave Landreth and Joey Landreth for Cardinal’s Light of the Moon
Community Excellence Award: West End Cultural Centre, Good + Plenty Arts Collective, Women in Music Canada
Excellence in Visual Design: Roberta Landreth
Impact in Artist Development: Birthday Cake Media, Misfit Music MGMT, Paquin Artists Agency, West End Cultural Centre
(Article courtesy of Sam Thompson – Global News Winnipeg)
