SaskMusic today announced the nominees of the 2020 Saskatchewan Music Awards, via a streamed event. The awards are intended to honour excellence and celebrate the achievements of our Saskatchewan music industry members over the past year. The 2020 awards event will take place in a streaming format on January 24/2021 via SaskMusic’s social media pages. Performers for the virtual event will be announced at a later date. Today’s announcement also included the long list for The Best Saskatchewan Albums of 2020. Now in its sixth year, this annual year-end list was created to draw attention to fantastic Saskatchewan music released in a broad range of styles, and now goes forward for the public to determine the winner of Album of the Year.
SaskMusic Executive Director Mike Dawson explained, “The music industry’s been one of the sectors hardest hit by the pandemic. It’s had an unprecedented impact not only on our musicians, but also our venues, festivals, sound techs, and stage and touring crews, just to name a few. I think it’s because of this - perhaps in spite of this - that it feels like it’s so important to celebrate the work and successes of our artists and industry here in Saskatchewan. I’m constantly inspired, not only by the incredible music that comes out of Saskatchewan, but also by the support and encouragement the musicians offer each other. Although we can’t get together in person as we have in the past, we hope that you will join us in celebrating these nominations, and tuning in to the awards in January.”
The awards are being held in conjunction with the Very Prairie Music Summit, an educational and network-building event for the Saskatchewan music industry, which will also be held online. Please follow SaskMusic’s social media accounts, and www.saskmusicawards.com, for updates.
SaskMusic would like to thank Creative Saskatchewan and FACTOR (The Foundation Assisting Canadian Talent on Recordings) for their support.
THE NOMINEES
Alternative Artist of the Year
Ava Wild
Close Talker
Natural Sympathies
The Garrys
W3APONS
Country Artist of the Year
Hunter Brothers
Jordyn Pollard
Justin LaBrash
Samara Yung
Shantaia
Tenille Arts
Electronic Artist of the Year
Natural Sympathies
Origin of Spin
Parab Poet
Patient Hands
Patrick Moon Bird
RUMPUS
Experimental / Contemporary Artist of the Year
ADEOLUWA
éemi
Jesse Brown
Patient Hands
The Garrys
Toria Summerfield
Hip Hop Artist of the Year
Alex Bent + the Emptiness
Dayda Banks
Factor Chandelier
InfoRed
Origin of Spin
Indigenous Artist of the Year
InfoRed
Patrick Moon Bird
The North Sound
Too Soon Monsoon
Yvonne St.Germaine
Metal/Loud Artist of the Year
Black Thunder
Dream Creeps
Midnight Gallows
Mike Froh
The Basement Paintings
The Moon Runners
Rock/Pop Artist of the Year
Davy Sage
Shirley & The Pyramids
Too Soon Monsoon
velours
W3APONS
Roots/Folk Artist of the Year
Ellen Froese
Gunner & Smith
Jeffery Straker
JJ Voss
The North Sound
Producer of the Year
Barrett Ross
Bart McKay
Chris Dimas
Factor Chandelier
Ryan Andersen
Music Video of the Year
Andrew Parry for "Scaredy Cat," Marissa Burwell
Dylan Hryciuk - Versa Films for "Blessed Be," Spiritbox
Dylan Hryciuk - Versa Films for "Summer Haze," velours
Mitch Goetz for "Getta Say," Laska
Sean Xiao He for "Nevertheless," Zayd
Thoen Brothers for "Drum Machine," RUMPUS
Single of the Year
"Country Girls," Jess Moskaluke
"Halfway Home," Jess Moskaluke
"Hard Dirt," Hunter Brothers
"Notes from Tom," Jesse Brown and Tom Merrall
"Somebody Like That," Tenille Arts
Industry Achievement
Broadway Theatre
Eliza Doyle
Trifecta Sound Co
91.3FM CJTR
Saskatchewan Jazz Festival
Venue of the Year
Broadway Theatre
Coors Event Centre
TCU Place Sid Buckwold Theatre
The Exchange
The Happy Nun
Notes:
Single of the Year is a data-driven category which is can include any genre. All other nominees were determined by juries comprised of music industry members.
Venue of the Year is a juried category which takes into consideration both the music programming of the venue over the past year, in addition to initiatives that the venue may have accomplished during the pandemic.
The Breaking Borders Award, typically presented by the Derek Bachman Foundation, is on hiatus for this year.
THE BEST SASKATCHEWAN ALBUMS OF THE YEAR: LONG LIST
From 130+ full-length albums released in the eligibility period, SaskMusic juries assembled our Long List of 42. Now we turn to the public to determine the Top Ten of 2020, and ultimately the Album of the Year. We encourage music lovers to discover new albums and then vote for their favourites before the midnight December 13/20 deadline. Only one vote per IP address will be counted for the duration of the voting period.
The Top 10 albums will be announced via social media the week of December 16, with the top spot being awarded the Saskatchewan Music Award for Album of the Year.
More information and to vote is on the Best Sask Albums page of this website.
The 2020 BSA Long List
3 Moonjask, Lunar Elixir
Aaron Karpinka, Tender Heart
ADEOLUWA, After Bells and Whistles
Arcana Kings, Lions As Ravens
The Basement Paintings, Antipodes
Bex, You'll Be Here Someday
Black Thunder, La Fine Creata
Dex Riley, Body
Doubt It, Dang It
Dumb Angel, Dumb Angel
Dylan Jules Cooper, Summer
Ellen Froese & Campbell Woods, Farm Boy Sings The Blues
Fabric YXE & Dayda Banks, Leaving Neverland
Factor Chandelier, First Storm
The Garrys, Haxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages (Original Score)
Hoodoo, The LizardMang EP
Jay & Jo , Victory
Jesse Brown, Where To?
JJ Voss, Come Along With Me
jj white, Rewind
Jon Carteri, Road Trip to Mars
Kay the Aquanaut & Maki, The Nautical Blue
Keiran Semple, Chester
Legends, Legends
LTP, Singularity
Marshall Burns, Dogs and Booze
Midnight Gallows, Attack Warning Red
Natural Sympathies, Porous
The North Sound, As The Stars Explode
Origin of Spin, Abstract Perception
Patient Hands, Stasis
Patrick Moon Bird, USEFUL.
Pimpton, TUNNELZ
The Radiation Flowers, Stuck in a Maze
Saintvicious, Saintvicious
Shirley & The Pyramids, A New American Classic
Skizza, Things I Found
The Steadies, Tiro de Leone
Tenille Arts, Love, Heartbreak, & Everything in Betweeen
Theo Maczek, Harvest The Sunrise
Toria Summerfield, From Her Rib
Yvonne St. Germaine, Sorrow Road
SaskMusic is a non-profit, member-based association that represents, promotes and develops the artists and commercial music industry of Saskatchewan, both domestically and internationally. We offer one-on-one guidance, workshops, marketing and export assistance, career development opportunities, peer sessions, artist and business listings, and more. From songwriters and freelance musicians to studios, we work with artists and industry members across our province, in an extensive range of genres and skill levels. SaskMusic is a source of information and resources for both the public and the music industry.
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