Canadian Folk Music Awards Nominees Announced today in Ottawa

CFMA rep Bob Soucy and The Folklore Center's  Arthur McGregor performed the benedictions.

  The nominees for the Canadian Folk Music Awards, celebrated from November 27-29   in Ottawa, were announced today. Many Corby's Orbit favourites (in red) plus many talented  yet-to-be-knowns were given the judges' approval for eligibility.

Hyper-Orbital photographer 
Leonard Poole caught the announcement ceremony, featuring a short set by Jill Zmud, who was surprised to find that she was nominated in the Contemporary Album of the Year category.

 Also attending was uber-  entrepreneur Harvey  Glatt,  due / long overdue  to  receive Folk Music  Ontario's Estelle Klein  Award at the FMO  conference  next  month. The award  honours the work of an  individual or group  that has made  significant  contributions to  Ontario’s folk music  community. A full list  of the nominees follows >>>

Young Performer of the Year nominees include:
 Keiffer Mclean for Drama in the Attic
 Rebecca Lappa for Ode to Tennyson
 Quinn Bachand for Brishen
 Kacy & Clayton for The Day Is Past & Gone
Benjamin Rogers for Wayfarer

The New/Emerging Artist of the Year nominees include:
 The Bros. Landreth for Let it Lie
Robyn Dell’Unto for Little Lines
 Scott Cook for One More Time Around
 Quinn Bachand for Brishen
 Kacy & Clayton for The Day Is Past &Gone

Celebrating innovation in creating new folk sounds, the Pushing The Boundaries category puts a spotlight on:
 Tanya Tagaq for Animism
 MAZ for Chasse-Galerie
 Mark Berube for Russian Dolls
 The Fretless for The Fretless
 West My Friend for When The Ink Dries

Songwriting is a key component of folk music. This year’s English Songwriter of the Year nominees are:
 Shari Ulrich for Everywhere I Go (Shari Ulrich)
 James Keelaghan for History (James Keelaghan)
 Lennie Gallant for Live Acoustic at The Carleton (Lennie Gallant)
 Del Barber for Prairieography (Del Barber)
 Chris Ronald for Timeline (Chris Ronald)

The French Songwriter of the Year nominees are:
 Laurence Hélie for À Présent le Passé (Laurence Hélie)
 Klô Pelgag for L’Alchimie des monstres (Klô Pelgag)
 Alexandre Poulin for Le mouvement des marées (Alexandre Poulin)
 Antoine Corriveau for Les Ombres Longues (Antoine Corriveau)
 Julie Aubé, Viviane Roy et Katrine Noël for Mon Homesick Heart (Les Hay Babies)

The Aboriginal Songwriter of the Year nominees are:
 Tanya Tagaq for Animism (Tanya Tagaq)
 Vince Fontaine for Colors (Indian City)
 Amanda Rheaume for Keep a Fire (Amanda Rheaume)
 Buffy MacNeil and Larry Boutilier for Surrounded (Buffy & Larry)
 Jasmine Netsena for Take You With Me (Jasmine Netsena)

World Music is an essential foundation of the global sound of folk music, tipping the hat to tradition of countries and cultures. This year’s nominees who excel in this field are:

World Group of the Year:
 MAZ for Chasse-Galerie
 Shtreiml for Eastern Hora
 TANGA for HavanaElectro
 Moustafa Kouyaté & Romain Malagnoux for Les frontières imaginaires
 Brishen for Brishen

World Solo Artist of the Year:
 Quique Escamilla for 500 Years of Night
 Jorge Martinez for Carnaval
 Susan Aglukark for Dreaming Of Home
 Amanda Martinez for Mañana
 Robert Michaels for Via Italia

Folk music is rooted in tradition but sometimes also looks ahead to more contemporary interpretations. Here are this year’s nominees in the traditional and contemporary categories:

Traditional Album of the Year:
 Còig for Five
 Poor Angus for Gathering
 Moustafa Kouyaté & Romain Malagnoux for Les frontières imaginaires
 The High Bar Gang for Lost and Undone: A Gospel Bluegrass Companion
 Sarah Jane Scouten for The Cape

Traditional Singer of the Year:
 Kim Beggs for Beauty and Breaking
 Fafard & Schwartz for Borrowed Horses
 Mélisande [électrotrad] for Les métamorphoses
 Sarah Jane Scouten for The Cape
 Ventanas for Ventanas

Contemporary Album of the Year:
 The Bros. Landreth for Let it Lie
 Colleen Rennison for See The Sky About To Rain
 Jill Zmud for Small Matters of Life and Death
 Matt Andersen for Weightless
 The Strumbellas for We Still Move On Dance Floors

Contemporary Singer of the Year:
 Matthew Barber for Big Romance
Jadea Kelly for Clover
 James Keelaghan for History
 Del Barber for Prairieography
 Matt Andersen for Weightless

Instrumental artists are leading the pack in nominations this year. Here are the complete list of nominees in these categories:

Instrumental Group of the Year:
 The Andrew Collins Trio for A Play On Words
 MAZ for Chasse-Galerie
 Còig for Five
 Brishen for Brishen
 The Fretless for The Fretless

Instrumental Solo Artist of the Year:
 Maxim Cormier for 2
 Gillian Boucher for Attuned
 Steve Dawson for Rattlesnake Cage
 Jayme Stone for The Other Side of the Air
 Robert Michaels for Via Italia

Rounding out the category nominations are these excellent talents:

Vocal Group of the Year
 The Fugitives for Everything Will Happen
 Gathering Sparks for Gathering Sparks
 The High Bar Gang for Lost and Undone: A Gospel Bluegrass Companion
 The Marrieds for Saving Hope
 Sweet Alibi for We’ve Got To

Ensemble of the Year
 The High Bar Gang for Lost and Undone: A Gospel Bluegrass Companion
 Brishen for Brishen
 Notre Dame de Grass for That’s How the Music Begins
 The Fretless for The Fretless
 Ventanas for Ventanas

Solo Artist of the Year
 Matthew Barber for Big Romance
 Shari Ulrich for Everywhere I Go
 James Keelaghan for History
 Lennie Gallant for Live Acoustic at The Carleton
 Del Barber for Prairieography

Children’s Album of the Year
 Helen Austin for Colour It
 Rattle and Strum for Rattle and Strum
 Alex Mahé for Réveillons les bonnes chansons
 Kathy Reid-Naiman for When It’s Autumn
 Fred Penner for Where In The World

Producer of the Year
 Marc Maziade for Chasse-Galerie (MAZ)
 Tom Terrell and Karl Falkenham for City Ghosts (The Modern Grass)
 Luke Doucet for Éphémère sans repère (Whitehorse)
 The Fretless with Joby Baker for The Fretless (The Fretless)
 Steve Dawson for St. Louis Times (Jim Byrnes)