Nova
Scotians top ECMA nods
Cormier, Canyon have five apiece; Barber, Hynes, In-Flight
Safety claim four each
By ANDREA NEMETZ Entertainment Reporter
IT’S
AN understatement to say Halifax singer-songwriter Jill Barber
had a good day on Tuesday.
She
was sitting down in Toronto chatting with Blue Rodeo’s
Jim Cuddy about his appearance in her video for Don’t
Go Easy when her manager tapped her on the shoulder to let
her know she’d been nominated for four East Coast Music
Association awards.
"I’m
in a great mood," she said by cell phone from the St.
Lawrence Market where she and Cuddy began filming at 7:30
a.m.
Barber
was nominated for FACTOR recording of the year, female recording
of the year, SOCAN songwriter of the year and folk recording
of the year. She was one of three artists along with Halifax
band In-Flight Safety and Newfoundland singer-songwriter Ron
Hynes who were quadruple nominees when the East Coast Music
Association announced 149 nominees for this year’s awards
at a news conference at the Marquee Club.
George
Canyon and J.P. Cormier will be vying for the most hardware
when the 19th East Coast Music Awards are held in Halifax
Feb. 15 to 18. Each claimed five nominations.
Pictou
County cowboy Canyon, who now divides his time between his
ranch in Alberta and his home in Nashville, was nominated
for recording of the year, male solo recording of the year,
entertainer of the year, video of the year and country recording
of the year.
Cape
Breton’s Cormier received nods for male solo recording,
bluegrass recording, DVD, instrumental recording and folk
recording.
Charlie
A’Court, the Chucky Danger Band, the Joel Plaskett Emergency,
Sloan and The Trews each received three nods.
In-Flight
Safety performed the title track from their album The Coast
Is Clear to open Tuesday’s festivities, and later learned
they’d claimed four nominations.
"We
didn’t expect as many nods. It was very welcome news,"
lead singer John Mullane said of the nominations for CBC Galaxie
rising star recording of the year, video of the year for Surround,
alternative recording and group recording of the year for
The Coast Is Clear, which was released in January.
It’s
been a break-through year for the alternative pop quartet.
"I
think the main thing is we finally put out a full-length record
and it snowballed from there. To have a video alongside Nelly
Furtado and Eminem is a real highlight. We watched Much Music
as kids growing up," says Mullane, who also plays guitar.
"We
also toured in the U.K. and played in Ireland this year and
we were pretty happy about our success at the Nova Scotia
Music Awards." In-Flight Safety took home trophies for
group of the year, album and alternative album at last month’s
awards in Liverpool.
Barber,
who was nominated two years ago for ECMAs for folk recording
and female recording of the year, joked she’s doubled
her nominations this year. The one that means the most to
her is the songwriting nomination for Don’t Go Easy,
which appears on her disc For All Time.
"It
brings the most satisfaction when you feel your talents as
a songwriter are recognized. That’s where the art comes
in. And it’s fairly safe to say it’s a category
that tends to be fairly male-dominated."
Other
songwriting nominees are Bruce Guthro for Holy Road, Joel
Plaskett for Nowhere With You performed by the Joel Plaskett
Emergency, Hynes for Dry and Rose Cousins for Good Enough.
Cousins,
who was also nominated for the rising star award, was among
the announcers Tuesday. Among the others were members of the
Halifax Mooseheads hockey team, politicians Len Goucher and
Dawn Sloane, actor Kelly Peck and Fred MacGillivray, CEO of
the World Trade Centre where much of the action for the ECMAs
will take place, including the gala awards broadcast from
the Halifax Metro Centre on Feb. 18 at 8 p.m. on CBC.
MacCallum
Settlement’s Charlie A’Court said he was like
a kid in the candy shop after learning he’d been nominated
for FACTOR recording of the year, male solo recording of the
year and pop recording of the year for Bring on the Storm.
"The
male solo artist is a heavy category. I’m competing
against Bruce Guthro (Beautiful Life), George Canyon (Somebody
Wrote Love), J.P. Cormier (Looking Back Vol. 2 – The
Songs) and Ron Hynes (Ron Hynes). To have the association
view me with the same regard they do these artists, artists
I’ve grown up listening to, to know they house us all
on the same playing field is a bit of a shock."
A’Court,
who was previously nominated for three ECMAs for his debut
album Color Me Gone and won blues artist, says the fact the
ECMAs draw delegates from around the world is helping artists’
careers.
"I
showcased the last time the ECMAs were in Halifax in 2003
and delegates saw that showcase and told me they could build
me in the European market, facilitating my tours there."
Enfield-raised
rapper Classified, who was nominated Tuesday for video of
the year and rap/hip-hop single track of the year, says it’s
been a very good year. The winner of hip-hop recording of
the year at last month’s Music Nova Scotia awards says
success has been a long time coming. He put out his first
album in 1995.
He
has just returned from a 28-date, month-long tour featuring
top Canadian hip hop artists and is working on a video for
the single All About You, which he expects to drop in January.
"People
have been saying it’s very Jack Johnson-ish. It hits
a different market," he said, noting he’s also
busy producing a CD for local artist Jordan Croucher that
will be a mix of R and B, soul and rock.
The
first round of ECMA showcase artists was also announced Tuesday
including the Mainstage Showcase featuring double nominees
Catherine MacLellan and JP LeBlanc, as well as nominees hey
rosetta! and Old Man Luedecke, among others.
The
Roots Room Showcase at the Schooner Room in the Casino will
feature double nominee Amelia Curran and nominees Duane Andrews,
Elmer Deagle, Lennie Gallant, Madviolet and The Divorcees,
among others.
And
the Max Trax Rock Showcase at the Marquee Club will feature
nominees Chris Colepaugh and the Cosmic Crew, Jon Epworth
and the Improvements, On Vinyl and Two Hours Traffic, among
others.
More
showcase performers, industry nominees and participants in
the 72-hour jam are expected to be announced in mid-January.
(
anemetz@herald.ca)
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