JUNO Fan Choice Award (Presented by TD)
Arcade Fire Arcade Fire Music*Universal
Bobby Bazini Universal
He released his sophomore full-length release, Where I Belong in May. In the Fall of 2013, Bazini took the trip of a lifetime when he grabbed his guitar, packed up his car and left a small Montreal suburb for the Golden State to record with legendary producer Larry Klein. Five days later, he was in Los Angeles having breakfast with the iconic producer and jumping right into the recording process at the renowned Village Recorder that has hosted some of Bazini’s heroes – Bob Dylan, Otis Redding and Johnny Cash. Where I Belong was recorded with a studio filled with some of Bazini’s favourite musicians including, Booker T (organ), Jack Ashford (percussion) and Jay Bellrose (drums). What resulted is a collection of live-sounding folk/country and soul songs featuring the single, “Heavy Love”.
Drake Cash Money*Universal
Hedley Universal
Hedley headlined the 101st Grey Cup Halftime show at Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field in Regina, Saskatchewan on November 24, 2013. Performing a 13-minute compilation of “Hands Up,” “Anything,” “Invincible” and “Cha-Ching.”
After playing at The Studio at Webster Hall in New York on January 14 and Los Angeles at The Sayers Club on January 16, Hedley went on a Canadian national headlining Wild Live Tour, to promote the album from February through April 2014, playing 37 cities and ending in their hometown of Abbotsford.
Leonard Cohen Columbia*Sony
He has sold over 23 million albums, worldwide and published 12 books, the most recent of which was 2006’s Book of Longing, a collection of poetry, prose and drawings, which reached #1 on the Top 10 Hardcover Fiction Books in Canada.
Leonard Cohen has been honored as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient (2010), inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame (2008), the Canadian Music Hall of Fame (2006), the Canadian Songwriters Hall Of Fame (2006) and the Songwriters Hall Of Fame (2010). He has received the prestigious Principe de Asturias Prize – the highest literary award in Spain (Spain, 2011) as well as the Glenn Gould Prize, awarded to an individual for a unique lifetime contribution that has enriched the human condition through the arts (Canada, 2011). The Canadian native has earned his country’s highest civilian honors – Officer of the Order of Canada (1991), Companion to the Order of Canada (2003), Grand Officer of the National Order of Quebec (2008).
Magic! Sony
“I’m a huge fan of The Police, and I always wanted to do my own project that merged reggae, rock, pop, and a little soul for quite some time,” he affirms. “The moment Mark began playing, it felt natural. We had this vision, and it all tied together instantly. We began recording, and the sound was so locked in on every song. That’s even where we derived the band name. Everything simply worked like MAGIC!”
Soon after that initial jam, drummer Alex Tanas and bassist Ben Spivak joined the fold as the quartet entered a Los Angeles studio to record its full-length 2013 debut.
Michael Bublé Reprise*Warner
Nickelback Nickelback II Productions*Universal
Nickelback is one of the most commercially successful Canadian groups, having sold more than 50 million albums worldwide and ranking as the eleventh best-selling music act, and the second best-selling foreign act in the U.S. of the 2000s, behind The Beatles. Billboard ranks them the top rock group of the decade, and their hit song “How You Remind Me” was listed as the top rock song of the decade and the fourth song of the decade. They were listed number seven on the Billboard top artist of the decade, with four albums listed on the Billboard top albums of the decade.
Their eighth studio album No Fixed Address was released on 18 November, 2014. The band has won numerous awards including 12 JUNO Awards among 28 nominations.
Serge Fiori GSI*eOne
“Fiori does it with wit and poetic elegance… This one was worth waiting for.” says Bernard Perusse, The Gazette. “Serge Fiori is a national treasure. The new Fiori is brilliant” says Terry Dimonte of CHOM-FM.
A mere eight weeks after its release, the album was certified platinum by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA), recognizing sales of 80,000 copies. SERGE FIORI also ranked #1 in sales in Québec for eight consecutive weeks, and in Canada for two consecutive weeks, and is now approaching the 100,000 mark, proof positive of the deep and abiding connection fans have with the singer-songwriter.
You+Me RCA*Sony
Single of the Year
Drake Cash Money*Universal
Hold On, We’re Going Home ft. Majid Jordan
Hedley Universal
Crazy for You
The Wild Life album was released via Capitol Records in the U.S. on May 20, 2014.
Hedley headlined the 101st Grey Cup Halftime show at Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field in Regina, Saskatchewan on November 24, 2013. Performing a 13-minute compilation of “Hands Up,” “Anything,” “Invincible” and “Cha-Ching.”
After playing at The Studio at Webster Hall in New York on January 14 and Los Angeles at The Sayers Club on January 16, Hedley went on a Canadian national headlining Wild Live Tour, to promote the album from February through April 2014, playing 37 cities and ending in their hometown of Abbotsford.
Kiesza Island*Universal
Hideaway
Inspired by epic nights out at NYC hotspots like Body & Soul and Libation, this Calgary-born 25-year-old’s debut album Sound Of A Woman is packed with deep house grooves and shimmering soulful melodies, but Kiesza is also an in-demand songwriter for acts across the globe, puts together her own stunning artwork, is a trained ballerina, and former tall-ship sailor who the Army once attempted to train as a sniper.
In 2014 she kicked things off in style with her debut single, the blistering anthem “Hideaway” which rocketed to the #1 spot in the UK charts was one of the fastest-selling debuts of the year. “Hideaway” is two-times Platinum in Canada, was a #1 All-Format Canadian single at radio, spent eight consecutive weeks at #1 on the Shazam Top 200 and snagged the #1 spot in 21 countries on iTunes.. The song’s distinctive video was shot on the streets of Brooklyn, and showcases Kiesza’s attention-grabbing dance moves.
Magic! Sony
Rude
“I’m a huge fan of The Police, and I always wanted to do my own project that merged reggae, rock, pop, and a little soul for quite some time,” he affirms. “The moment Mark began playing, it felt natural. We had this vision, and it all tied together instantly. We began recording, and the sound was so locked in on every song. That’s even where we derived the band name. Everything simply worked like MAGIC!”
Soon after that initial jam, drummer Alex Tanas and bassist Ben Spivak joined the fold as the quartet entered a Los Angeles studio to record its full-length 2013 debut.
Sam Roberts Band Secret Brain*Universal
We’re All in This Together
International Album of the Year
Katy Perry Capitol*Universal
PRISM
Perry began her third headlining tour, The Prismatic World Tour, on May 7, 2014. It started in Europe, and will have continued throughout North America and Oceania before concluding in Europe on March 22, 2015. Perry will perform at the Super Bowl XLIX halftime show on February 1, 2015.
Lorde Universal
Pure Heroine
One Direction Sony
Midnight Memories
They had entered as soloists and had never met each other – but during the Bootcamp stage of the competition, they were asked to group together by Simon Cowell in order to secure their position. They agreed, and One Direction was formed. Together, they went on to become the third place winners of the show. A few weeks later, a deal was signed with Syco Music.
It’s been five years since the world fell in love with One Direction. Since then, those five boys from the UK and Ireland have gone on to achieve a staggering 94 number ones, more than 46 million records worldwide, drum up more than 109 million Twitter followers and connect with 33 million Facebook fans.
There’s no doubt about it, they are the biggest band on the planet.
Sam Smith Capitol*Universal
In the Lonely Hour
In December 2013, he was nominated for the 2014 BRIT Critics’ Choice Award and the BBC’s Sound of 2014 poll, both of which he won. He released his debut studio album, In the Lonely Hour, in May 2014 on Capitol Records. The lead single, “Lay Me Down”, was released prior to “La La La”. The second single was “Money on My Mind”. The album’s third single, “Stay with Me,” was an international success, reaching number one on the UK Singles Chart and number two on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. In December 2014, Smith was nominated for six Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist, “Stay with Me” for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Pop Solo Performance, and In the Lonely Hour for Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album.
Taylor Swift Big Machine*Universal
1989
1989 sold 1.287 million copies in its first week of US release, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 and making Swift the first and only act to have three albums sell more than one million copies in a week. The first single, “Shake It Off”, was released in August 2014 and spent four non-consecutive weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100
Album of the Year (Sponsored by Music Canada)
Bobby Bazini Universal
Where I Belong
He released his sophomore full-length release, Where I Belong in May.
In the Fall of 2013, Bazini took the trip of a lifetime when he grabbed his guitar, packed up his car and left a small Montreal suburb for the Golden State to record with legendary producer Larry Klein. Five days later, he was in Los Angeles having breakfast with the iconic producer and jumping right into the recording process at the renowned Village Recorder that has hosted some of Bazini’s heroes – Bob Dylan, Otis Redding and Johnny Cash. Where I Belong was recorded with a studio filled with some of Bazini’s favourite musicians including, Booker T (organ), Jack Ashford (percussion) and Jay Bellrose (drums). What resulted is a collection of live-sounding folk/country and soul songs featuring the single, “Heavy Love”.
Hedley Universal
Wild Life
The Wild Life album was released via Capitol Records in the U.S. on May 20, 2014.
Hedley headlined the 101st Grey Cup Halftime show at Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field in Regina, Saskatchewan on November 24, 2013. Performing a 13-minute compilation of “Hands Up,” “Anything,” “Invincible” and “Cha-Ching.”
After playing at The Studio at Webster Hall in New York on January 14 and Los Angeles at The Sayers Club on January 16, Hedley went on a Canadian national headlining Wild Live Tour, to promote the album from February through April 2014, playing 37 cities and ending in their hometown of Abbotsford.
Leonard Cohen Columbia*Sony
Popular Problems
He has sold over 23 million albums, worldwide and published 12 books, the most recent of which was 2006’s Book of Longing, a collection of poetry, prose and drawings, which reached #1 on the Top 10 Hardcover Fiction Books in Canada.
Leonard Cohen has been honored as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient (2010), inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame (2008), the Canadian Music Hall of Fame (2006), the Canadian Songwriters Hall Of Fame (2006) and the Songwriters Hall Of Fame (2010). He has received the prestigious Principe de Asturias Prize – the highest literary award in Spain (Spain, 2011) as well as the Glenn Gould Prize, awarded to an individual for a unique lifetime contribution that has enriched the human condition through the arts (Canada, 2011). The Canadian native has earned his country’s highest civilian honors – Officer of the Order of Canada (1991), Companion to the Order of Canada (2003), Grand Officer of the National Order of Quebec (2008).
Nickelback Nickelback II Productions*Universal
No Fixed Address
Nickelback is one of the most commercially successful Canadian groups, having sold more than 50 million albums worldwide and ranking as the eleventh best-selling music act, and the second best-selling foreign act in the U.S. of the 2000s, behind The Beatles. Billboard ranks them the top rock group of the decade, and their hit song “How You Remind Me” was listed as the top rock song of the decade and the fourth song of the decade. They were listed number seven on the Billboard top artist of the decade, with four albums listed on the Billboard top albums of the decade.
Their eighth studio album No Fixed Address was released on 18 November, 2014. The band has won numerous awards including 12 JUNO Awards among 28 nominations.
Serge Fiori GSI*eOne
Serge Fiori
“Fiori does it with wit and poetic elegance… This one was worth waiting for.” says Bernard Perusse, The Gazette. “Serge Fiori is a national treasure. The new Fiori is brilliant” says Terry Dimonte of CHOM-FM.
A mere eight weeks after its release, the album was certified platinum by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA), recognizing sales of 80,000 copies. SERGE FIORI also ranked #1 in sales in Québec for eight consecutive weeks, and in Canada for two consecutive weeks, and is now approaching the 100,000 mark, proof positive of the deep and abiding connection fans have with the singer-songwriter.
Artist of the Year
Bryan Adams Badman*Universal
He has achieved #1 status in over 40 countries. He is a Companion of the Order of Canada, has been inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, has a Star on Canada’s Walk of Fame and Hollywood’s Walk of Fame and in 2010 was awarded the Allan Waters Humanitarian Award and the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement.
In 2014 Bryan released Tracks of My Years, a collection of cover songs that were a part of the radio culture of his youth, in addition to the re-release of Reckless, in celebration of the iconic album’s 30th anniversary.
Deadmau5 Mau5trap*Universal
Up to this point, his career stands earmarked by a series of firsts and shattered records. At the 54th annual Grammy Awards in 2012, he gave a monumental performance as part of the prestigious ceremony’s first-ever telecast celebrating electronic music. He’s also the first electronic artist in history to grace the cover of Rolling Stone. His sold out show at Toronto’s Rogers Centre, documented on the MEOWINGTONS HAX 2k11 DVD, and London’s Earl’s Court, documented on the deadmau5 live @ earl’s court DVD, made him the first Canadian artist as well as the first electronic artist to headline both venues.
Leonard Cohen Columbia*Sony
He has sold over 23 million albums, worldwide and published 12 books, the most recent of which was 2006’s Book of Longing, a collection of poetry, prose and drawings, which reached #1 on the Top 10 Hardcover Fiction Books in Canada.
Leonard Cohen has been honored as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient (2010), inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame (2008), the Canadian Music Hall of Fame (2006), the Canadian Songwriters Hall Of Fame (2006) and the Songwriters Hall Of Fame (2010). He has received the prestigious Principe de Asturias Prize – the highest literary award in Spain (Spain, 2011) as well as the Glenn Gould Prize, awarded to an individual for a unique lifetime contribution that has enriched the human condition through the arts (Canada, 2011). The Canadian native has earned his country’s highest civilian honors – Officer of the Order of Canada (1991), Companion to the Order of Canada (2003), Grand Officer of the National Order of Quebec (2008).
Sarah McLachlan Verve*Universal
In 2010, McLachlan released her first studio album of all original material for the first time in nearly seven years titled Laws of Illusion. Produced by her longtime collaborator Pierre Marchand, the album featured 12 new songs and debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200. This album featured the single “One Dream” which became the official theme song of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. McLachlan then went on to perform her hit “Ordinary Miracle” at the opening ceremony of the Olympics in her home city Vancouver in front of an estimated 3 billion television viewers worldwide.
Getting back in the studio in 2013, McLachlan began to put together her much anticipated album Shine On, delighting multitudes of fans who have waited four years for new material.
The Weeknd The Weeknd XO*Universal
Group of the Year
Arkells Arkells Music*Universal
Jackson Square, the band’s first full length LP was released in 2008 to critical and commercial acclaim, garnering the JUNO Award for New Group Of The Year in 2010. In 2011, they released Michigan Left, a collection of blue-eyed soul, sing-a-long anthems. In 2012 they won the JUNO Award For Group Of The Year, and the CBC Music award for Best Live Band.
Arkells have toured with acts such as Metric, The Tragically Hip, Tokyo Police Club, British Sea Power, Anti-Flag, The Black Crowes.
Their new album, High Noon, was written in Hamilton and produced by Tony Hoffer (Beck, The Kooks, M83). This collection of songs is the band’s most unabashed effort yet – politically charged, heart on your sleeve lyrics combined with adventurously modern and throwback production stylings.
Chromeo Last Gang*Universal
Mother Mother Mother Mother Music*Universal
Two years after the Juno-nominated The Sticks, the band’s apocalyptic 2012 album steeped in isolation and dread, the Vancouver quintet returns with its fifth studio album: an edgy, synth-heavy, club-driven rock record filled with massive hooks.
But as is the band’s trademark, behind the gauzy boy-girl vocal harmonies, angular guitar lines and infectious rhythms lies something deeper and darker.
Mother Mother come out swinging on “Get Out The Way,” a super-charged call to arms Guldemond describes as not letting anyone to get in the way of your truth, whatever your truth may be. “I know I’m supposed to integrate,” he snarls, “but how’s about instead I inch away?”
No subject is taboo for Mother Mother on Very Good Bad Thing: male body image (“I Go Hungry”), morning-after self-loathing (“Have It Out”), bullying and suicide (“Kept Down”, inspired in part by the death of Amanda Todd). Close to 10 years after it formed, Mother Mother is embracing its true nature. And it speaks volumes.
Nickelback Nickelback II Productions*Universal
Nickelback is one of the most commercially successful Canadian groups, having sold more than 50 million albums worldwide and ranking as the eleventh best-selling music act, and the second best-selling foreign act in the U.S. of the 2000s, behind The Beatles. Billboard ranks them the top rock group of the decade, and their hit song “How You Remind Me” was listed as the top rock song of the decade and the fourth song of the decade. They were listed number seven on the Billboard top artist of the decade, with four albums listed on the Billboard top albums of the decade.
Their eighth studio album No Fixed Address was released on 18 November, 2014. The band has won numerous awards including 12 JUNO Awards among 28 nominations.
You+Me RCA*Sony
Breakthrough Artist of the Year (Sponsored by FACTOR and Radio Starmaker Fund)
Glenn Morrison Robbins Entertainment*Sony
His name alone gets 1.7 million social networking and internet hits a month. His productions have featured on over 900 compilations in the last five years. He has enjoyed the support of DJs as varied as John Digweed and Richie Hawtin to David Guetta and Tiesto. For three years he was resident at the world’s best club, Ibiza’s Amnesia Club, and is currently a resident at Space in Ibiza, as well as Space in Miami.
In short, Glenn Morrison is one of the most dynamic and accomplished talents in electronic music today. Period.
Jess Moskaluke MDM*Universal
A notable performer on the 2014 CCMA Awards Show live broadcast, Jess dominates the stage with her powerful vocals, country-pop style and infectious smile. Produced by Corey Crowder (Jamie Lynn Spears) and mixed by Scott Cooke (Dallas Smith, Florida Georgia Line), her single “Cheap Wine and Cigarettes” quickly became the highest charting song on the iTunes top 200 singles chart for any Canadian artist. With this second single off of her new 10-track album, Light Up The Night, she also achieved gold record status in August 2014; becoming the first Canadian female solo country artist to surpass 40,000+ downloads for a song since Shania Twain.
Kiesza Island*Universal
Inspired by epic nights out at NYC hotspots like Body & Soul and Libation, this Calgary-born 25-year-old’s debut album Sound Of A Woman is packed with deep house grooves and shimmering soulful melodies, but Kiesza is also an in-demand songwriter for acts across the globe, puts together her own stunning artwork, is a trained ballerina, and former tall-ship sailor who the Army once attempted to train as a sniper.
In 2014 she kicked things off in style with her debut single, the blistering anthem “Hideaway” which rocketed to the #1 spot in the UK charts was one of the fastest-selling debuts of the year. “Hideaway” is two-times Platinum in Canada, was a #1 All-Format Canadian single at radio, spent eight consecutive weeks at #1 on the Shazam Top 200 and snagged the #1 spot in 21 countries on iTunes.. The song’s distinctive video was shot on the streets of Brooklyn, and showcases Kiesza’s attention-grabbing dance moves.
Mac DeMarco Captured Tracks*Outside
Salad Days gives the listener a personal insight into what it’s all about to be Mac amidst the craziness of a rising career in a public format. The lead single, “Passing Out Pieces,” contains lines like “…never been reluctant to share, passing out pieces of me…” “Chamber of Reflection,” a track featuring icy synth stabs and soulful crooning, wouldn’t be out of place on a fantasy Shuggie Otis/Prince collaboration. Standout tracks like these show Mac’s widening sound, whether insights into future directions or even welcome one-off forays into new territory.
We’re only in Part 2 1/2 (one EP and two LP’s in) of Mac’s career. As you read, he’ll probably be on tour, or preparing for one… or maybe writing new music. A relentless work ethic is admirable, but when it’s of the quality Mac is giving us, it starts to turn from admiration to awe.
Shawn Mendes Island*Universal
Prior to his signing, Mendes toured as a member of the MagCon Tour alongside other young artists and social media sensations such as Nash Grier, Cameron Dallas, Jack & Jack, and more
Breakthrough Group of the Year (Sponsored by FACTOR and Radio Starmaker Fund)
Adventure Club BMG Rights*Sony
Alvvays Royal Mountain*Universal
Molly Rankin and Kerri MacLellan grew up as next-door neighbours in Cape Breton, lifting fiddles and folk-songs. Heartbreaks of different shades soon entered their lives, as did the music of Teenage Fanclub and Belle & Sebastian. Similar noisy melancholy drifted over to Prince Edward Island, finding Alec O’Hanley, Brian Murphy and Philip MacIsaac.
Convening in Toronto, the group have been making music since dusk or maybe dawn, when stars were appearing or fading off. As a result, their debut self-titled album is both sun-splashed and twilit – nine songs concealing drunkenness, defeat and death in tungsten-tinted pop that glitters like sea glass.
With needlepoint melody and verse, Rankin and O’Hanley’s songs were recorded at Chad VanGaalen’s Yoko Eno studio and mixed by Graham Walsh (Holy Fuck) and John Agnello (Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., Kurt Vile).
The resultant album is loud and clear and sure. Flood your ears. Alvvays, the record was released on July 21 in Europe on Transgressive Records and on July 22, on Royal Mountain Records in Canada and Polyvinyl Records in the U.S.
Magic! Sony
“I’m a huge fan of The Police, and I always wanted to do my own project that merged reggae, rock, pop, and a little soul for quite some time,” he affirms. “The moment Mark began playing, it felt natural. We had this vision, and it all tied together instantly. We began recording, and the sound was so locked in on every song. That’s even where we derived the band name. Everything simply worked like MAGIC!”
Soon after that initial jam, drummer Alex Tanas and bassist Ben Spivak joined the fold as the quartet entered a Los Angeles studio to record its full-length 2013 debut.
USS Coalition*Warner
Zeds Dead Mad Decent*Ultra
The duo are currently signed to the Mad Decent record label and have released music on several others. Much of their music remains bootlegged, unofficially released, or given away as free downloads. Zeds Dead tours in extensive fashion and are significant components of the live music and festival circuits. They most recently toured around Canada and the United States for their Somewhere Else EP, but have played shows all over the world: including big name festivals like Mad Decent Block Party, Coachella, Electric Forest, Lollapalooza, Panorama, and many more.
Songwriter of the Year (Sponsored by SiriusXM Canada)
Bahamas Barchords*Universal
“All the Time”, “Bitter Memories”, “Stronger Than That” BAHAMAS IS AFIE
Catherine MacLellan Independent
“Jack’s Song”, “Tell Me Luella”, “The Raven’s Sun” THE RAVEN’S SUN
Since then she has toured internationally and her music has been a perennial fixture at the top of Canada’s Roots Music Charts, winning acclaim from international media including the Austin Chronicle, The Boston Globe, BBC Radio, Maverick Magazine, Q Magazine and many others.
Daughter of legendary Canadian songwriter, Gene MacLellan (“Snowbird”, “Put Your Hand in the Hand...”), Catherine has long been engaging the world through song.
Her latest release, The Raven’s Sun, takes the listener further along Catherine’s journey in song, delving deeper into the territories of life, death and transformation. Produced by her long-time musical partner, Chris Gauthier, The Raven’s Sun shines light on their musical chemistry and catches them both at their best. Recorded in the woods outside of Woodstock, NY by Grammy Award winning Danny Blume, it features stellar guest performances by Nashville fiddler Andy Leftwich. This album is another reminder that Catherine’s songwriting is unparalleled among performers of her generation.
Henry “Cirkut” Walter Capitol*Universal, Mr. 305/Polo Grounds/RCA*Sony
“Birthday”–K.Perry, L.Gottwald, M.Martin, B.McKee “Dark Horse ft. Juicy J”-K.Perry, J.Houston, L.Gottwald, S.Hudson, M.Martin PRISM – K.Perry "Wild Wild Love"-A.C.Pérez, L.Gottwald, M.Everett, M.Martin, A.Malik, A.Castillo Vasquez GLOBALIZATION – Pitbull
Walter was raised in Halifax and moved to Toronto in 2004 and formed the band Let’s Go To War with partner Adrian Gough. Walter opened Dream House Recording Studios with partners Gough and Alex Bonenfant in 2010, and also owns Dream Machine Publishing and Dream Machine Management with Gough.
In recent years Walter relocated to Los Angeles, California to work with Luke “Dr. Luke” Gottwald’s production team at Prescription Songs. He has been described by the Hollywood Reporter as Dr. Luke’s “right-hand man and main production partner”.
Jenn Grant Outside
“Bring Me a Rose”, “No One’s Gonna Love You (Quite Like I Do)”, “Trailer Park” COMPOSTELA
Magic! Sony
“Don’t Kill the Magic” – co-songwriter Adam Messinger, “Let Your Hair Down”, “Rude” – co-songwriter Adam Messinger, DON’T KILL THE MAGIC
“I’m a huge fan of The Police, and I always wanted to do my own project that merged reggae, rock, pop, and a little soul for quite some time,” he affirms. “The moment Mark began playing, it felt natural. We had this vision, and it all tied together instantly. We began recording, and the sound was so locked in on every song. That’s even where we derived the band name. Everything simply worked like MAGIC!”
Soon after that initial jam, drummer Alex Tanas and bassist Ben Spivak joined the fold as the quartet entered a Los Angeles studio to record its full-length 2013 debut.
Country Album of the Year
Dallas Smith 604*Universal
Lifted
Hailing from British Columbia, the platinum selling country star, brings a healthy dose of rock and roll power to his brand of lively country music. Recognized as one of Taste Of Country Magazine’s “Top 10 Artists To Watch”, Smith, a JUNO Award nominee and 8-time CCMA Awards nominee made his U.S. country debut last March and set the record for the fastest Canadian country single to go platinum with the title track “Tippin’ Point”. Following a slew of festival dates last year, including record breaking (attendance) performances at Craven Country Jamboree and Boots and Hearts, Smith reunited with 2014 CCMA Award winning producer, Joey Moi (Florida Georgia Line, Jake Owen) for Lifted (11/25/14), the follow up to 2012’s breakout country album Jumped Right In, which produced multiple radio hits and a gold single.
Jess Moskaluke MDM*Universal
Light Up The Night
A notable performer on the 2014 CCMA Awards Show live broadcast, Jess dominates the stage with her powerful vocals, country-pop style and infectious smile. Produced by Corey Crowder (Jamie Lynn Spears) and mixed by Scott Cooke (Dallas Smith, Florida Georgia Line), her single “Cheap Wine and Cigarettes” quickly became the highest charting song on the iTunes top 200 singles chart for any Canadian artist. With this second single off of her new 10-track album, Light Up The Night, she also achieved gold record status in August 2014; becoming the first Canadian female solo country artist to surpass 40,000+ downloads for a song since Shania Twain.
Kira Isabella Sony
Caffeine & Big Dreams
Mackenzie Porter Road Angel*Warner
Mackenzie Porter
This summer, MacKenzie released her debut album. On tour this past summer she opened up for country superstars Blake Shelton and Rascal Flatts.
She received a CCMA Rising Star Nomination for her debut single “I Wish I’d Known”. Her second single, “Never Gonna Let You”, which she co-wrote, was a top 10 radio hit. Her third single, “If You Ask Me To”, broke into the top 20 on the charts.
Not only does MacKenzie excel as an musician, she also has an award-winning and noteworthy acting career. Along with appearing as a regular in Hell On Wheels, MacKenzie will be guest starring in upcoming episodes of APTN’s Blackstone. MacKenzie has also had starring roles in the TV features The Horses of Mcbride, Jingle Bell Rock and The Other Woman.
The Road Hammers Open Road*Universal
Wheels
Adult Alternative Album of the Year
Bahamas Barchords*Universal
Bahamas Is Afie
Jenn Grant Outside
Compostela
Jeremy Fisher Hidden Pony*Universal
The Lemon Squeeze
Despite the fact that Fisher was inspired by albums on wax, The Lemon Squeeze doesn’t have that traditional flow. For this, Jeremy makes no apologies. “I grew up with albums and I feel driven to make albums as an artist. The way we listen to music is changing though and as much as I tried to create a cohesive body of work, The Lemon Squeeze plays like an album of singles. It was liberating to make every song on the record unique.”
Leonard Cohen Columbia*Sony
Popular Problems
He has sold over 23 million albums, worldwide and published 12 books, the most recent of which was 2006’s Book of Longing, a collection of poetry, prose and drawings, which reached #1 on the Top 10 Hardcover Fiction Books in Canada.
Leonard Cohen has been honored as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient (2010), inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame (2008), the Canadian Music Hall of Fame (2006), the Canadian Songwriters Hall Of Fame (2006) and the Songwriters Hall Of Fame (2010). He has received the prestigious Principe de Asturias Prize – the highest literary award in Spain (Spain, 2011) as well as the Glenn Gould Prize, awarded to an individual for a unique lifetime contribution that has enriched the human condition through the arts (Canada, 2011). The Canadian native has earned his country’s highest civilian honors – Officer of the Order of Canada (1991), Companion to the Order of Canada (2003), Grand Officer of the National Order of Quebec (2008).
The Barr Brothers Secret City*Universal
Sleeping Operator
Alternative Album of the Year (Sponsored by Long & McQuade)
Alvvays Royal Mountain*Universal
Alvvays
Molly Rankin and Kerri MacLellan grew up as next-door neighbours in Cape Breton, lifting fiddles and folk-songs. Heartbreaks of different shades soon entered their lives, as did the music of Teenage Fanclub and Belle & Sebastian. Similar noisy melancholy drifted over to Prince Edward Island, finding Alec O’Hanley, Brian Murphy and Philip MacIsaac.
Convening in Toronto, the group have been making music since dusk or maybe dawn, when stars were appearing or fading off. As a result, their debut self-titled album is both sun-splashed and twilit – nine songs concealing drunkenness, defeat and death in tungsten-tinted pop that glitters like sea glass.
With needlepoint melody and verse, Rankin and O’Hanley’s songs were recorded at Chad VanGaalen’s Yoko Eno studio and mixed by Graham Walsh (Holy Fuck) and John Agnello (Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., Kurt Vile).
The resultant album is loud and clear and sure. Flood your ears. Alvvays, the record was released on July 21 in Europe on Transgressive Records and on July 22, on Royal Mountain Records in Canada and Polyvinyl Records in the U.S.
Chad VanGaalen Flemish Eye*Outside
Shrink Dust
He has animated videos for his own music, Yo Gabba Gabba!, J. Mascis and Holy Fuck, and his animated work and drawings have been shown in galleries and festivals worldwide. In 2010 VanGaalen produced the celebrated second album Public Strain for the band, Women, which brought the band wide acclaim and won VanGaalen praise for his production technique.
Chad VanGaalen has built a cult following with his first four albums, and the 2014 album Shrink Dust is his most resolved and confident album to date.
VanGaalen lives a quiet life with his girlfriend and their two daughters in Calgary. He continues to stay in the basement,
writing songs for his dog, immune to all the fuss, and occasionally emerging to share his discoveries. He can often be found drawing anthills or tossing Frisbee in the local schoolyard. He is also 6’7”.
July Talk Sleepless*Universal
July Talk
Founded in 2012, Dreimanis and Fay partnered with guitarist Ian Docherty, bassist Josh Warburton, and drummer Danny Miles. And while Dreimanis’s initial vision for the project centered on that tag-team vocal exchange, July Talk’s emotionally intricate, contradiction-driven dynamic results largely from the band’s raw authenticity.
After finding a manager and setting to work on their debut, July Talk quickly threw themselves into a frantic touring schedule that’s gone a long way in shaping the sound and soul of the band.
Tanya Tagaq Six Shooter*Universal
Animism
Timber Timbre Arts & Crafts*Universal
Hot Dreams
Pop Album of the Year (Sponsored by TD)
Avril Lavigne Epic*Sony
Avril Lavigne
Down With Webster Down With Webster Entertainment*Universal
Party For Your Life
Party For Your Life was co-produced by the band and reunited them with producers James Robertson and Grammy-winning Boi-1da (Drake, Rick Ross, Eminem).
Formed over a decade ago as students, Down With Webster have built a fiercely loyal following on the strength of their must-be-seen-to-be-believed live performances and their singles “Rich Girl$”, “Your Man”, “She’s Dope”, and “Whoa Is Me”, which have combined to sell more than 500,000 downloads. DWW are five-time JUNO Award nominees.
Lights Lights Music*Universal
Little Machines
“Having a kid made everything else seem less scary,” Lights says. “All those stupid pressures that you get caught up in become an afterthought. It just feels like, ‘Hey, if I lose everything today, I still have this. And this is amazing.’ So it makes you want to do it. You want to make something you’re proud to leave behind. It’s not about the money you’re making or the hits you’re getting. It’s reinvigorated my desire to make great music.”
Magic! Sony
Don’t Kill The Magic
“I’m a huge fan of The Police, and I always wanted to do my own project that merged reggae, rock, pop, and a little soul for quite some time,” he affirms. “The moment Mark began playing, it felt natural. We had this vision, and it all tied together instantly. We began recording, and the sound was so locked in on every song. That’s even where we derived the band name. Everything simply worked like MAGIC!”
Soon after that initial jam, drummer Alex Tanas and bassist Ben Spivak joined the fold as the quartet entered a Los Angeles studio to record its full-length 2013 debut.
Nikki Yanofsky A440*Universal
Little Secret
She has worked with luminaries such as Herbie Hancock, Phil Ramone, Wyclef Jean, and Stevie Wonder. Now, under the guidance of her greatest fan and mentor, Quincy Jones, Nikki had her highest album debut with her sophomore release Little Secret, entering the Canadian Album Chart at #4, #4 in France Digital Sales, and #1 on the jazz chart in both countries.
Little Secret combines pop-song structures with sophisticated harmonies, club-ready beats with punchy big-band horns, and earworm hooks with scat-singing solos. It’s all held together by her powerful delivery, as well as a newfound sass.
Little Secret’s first two hit singles, “Something New” and “Necessary Evil” have earned her huge acclaim globally with recent tours through Europe and Japan.
Rock Album of the Year (Sponsored by SiriusXM Canada)
Arkells Arkells Music*Universal
High Noon
Jackson Square, the band’s first full length LP was released in 2008 to critical and commercial acclaim, garnering the JUNO Award for New Group Of The Year in 2010. In 2011, they released Michigan Left, a collection of blue-eyed soul, sing-a-long anthems. In 2012 they won the JUNO Award For Group Of The Year, and the CBC Music award for Best Live Band.
Arkells have toured with acts such as Metric, The Tragically Hip, Tokyo Police Club, British Sea Power, Anti-Flag, The Black Crowes.
Their new album, High Noon, was written in Hamilton and produced by Tony Hoffer (Beck, The Kooks, M83). This collection of songs is the band’s most unabashed effort yet – politically charged, heart on your sleeve lyrics combined with adventurously modern and throwback production stylings.
Big Wreck Anthem*Warner
Ghosts
Sam Roberts Band Secret Brain*Universal
Lo-Fantasy
The Glorious Sons Black Box*Universal
The Union
Your Favorite Enemies Hopeful Tragedy*D.E.P.
Between Illness and Migration
Vocal Jazz Album of the Year
Angela Galuppo Justin Time*Universal
Angela Galuppo
Diana Panton Diana Panton*eOne
Red
Elizabeth Shepherd Linus*eOne
The Signal
Julie Crochetière Vega*D.E.P.
Counting Dreams
The album reflects another time; the live off the floor recordings of the 60’s, the time before auto-tune and vocal pyrotechnics. A time when all it took to make a killer hook was five fingers carefully placed on a piano, when a song was a craft that was built to carry a message raw with emotion, with joy, with sadness and with a moving human story. The album was produced by Tim Gowdy (Coral Egan, The Barr Brothers) and co-produced by Julie herself. It features Quatuor Orphée with string arrangements by Robin Smith (James Morrison, Cher, Andrea Bocelli).
Molly Johnson Molly Johnson*Universal
Because of Billie
Billie Holiday’s journey inspires Johnson not only as an artist, but as a model citizen. “Billie and her generation were the civil rights movement,” Johnson notes. “Her generation sacrificed for my privilege and I am honour-bound to them. I love history. I love to look back while pushing forward.”
“For years, people have said to me, ‘You are so much like Billie Holiday,’” says Johnson speaking on this ambitious and also deeply personal project. “My response has been ‘No, I am because of Billie.’”
Recorded in Toronto with producers John Bailey and Mike Downes, Johnson wanted to infuse Because Of Billie with her idol’s spirit, preparing the album’s 14 songs emotionally and technically so many could be recorded in one take.
Jazz Album of the Year: Solo
Jim Head Independent
Zoetrope
His latest recording as a leader, Zoetrope, was recorded in New York with alto saxophonist John O’Gallagher (The Anton Webern Project, Joe Henderson Big Band), bassist Johannes Weidenmueller (Kenny Werner Trio), JUNO Award nominated drummer Owen Howard (Drum Lore, Benedikt Jahnel Trio), and pianist Chris Andrew (2013 Montreal TD Grand Prize winner).
Kirk MacDonald Addo*Conveyor
Vista Obscura
Lenny Breau Linus*eOne
LA Bootleg 1984
Many live and “lost” recordings have been issued since Breau’s death. His studio recordings have also been reissued. Breau was fan of jazz pianist Bill Evans and often adapted his compositions for guitar. Breau said in relation to this: “I approach the guitar like a piano. I’ve reached a point where I transcend the instrument. A lot of the stuff I play on the 7-string guitar is supposed to be technically impossible, but I spent over twenty years figuring it out. I play the guitar like a piano, there’s always two things going on at once. I’m thinking melody, but I’m also thinking of a background. I play the accompaniment on the low strings.”
A documentary entitled The Genius of Lenny Breau was produced in 1999 by Breau’s daughter Emily Hughes. One Long Tune: The Life and Music of Lenny Breau by Ron Forbes Roberts is considered the definitive work on Breau. CBC Radio presented a documentary-soundscape on Lenny Breau entitled On the Trail of Lenny Breau. (2009).
Marianne Trudel Justin Time*Universal
La vie commence ici
Owen Howard Brooklyn Jazz Underground*Independent
Drum Lore Vol. 1 - More Lore
Born in Edmonton, Owen’s passion for the drums began at the age of 15. As a young up and coming drummer in Edmonton, Owen had ample opportunities to perform and hone his skills as a sideman with many fine Canadian and international artists passing through town. In 1988 he made the move to New York, to complete his BFA at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music.
Owen currently has five previous CDs to his credit, Sojourn and Pentagon (both on Koch), Days Before and After (co-lead with Andrew Rathbun) and Time Cycles (Fresh Sound). His most recent CD, Drum Lore Vol 2. – More Lore (BJUR Records) is the much anticipated follow up recording to Drum Lore, which received a 2011 JUNO Award nomination for Jazz Album of the Year and has garnered high praise from fans and critics around the globe!
With his personal approach to the drums, Owen is much in demand and he tours the world over, both as a leader and a sideman in a wide range of musical contexts.
Jazz Album of the Year: Group
Andrew Downing, Jim Lewis & David Occhipinti Independent
Bristles
The trio, which has been performing together since 2008, also experimented with improvisations, which resulted in six compositions dedicated to painters.
David Occhipinti produced and mixed their first release, Bristles, which was released on his Occdav Music label (OM007) and received 4 stars in Downbeat Magazine, which called it “cool and mysterious, stark but beautiful.”
Bobby Rice Latin Jazz Big Band Addo*Conveyor
Bobby Rice Latin Jazz Big Band: X-Treme Latin Jazz
He is currently a part-time professor in the Humber College Music Program in Toronto and holds a master’s degree in composition to complement his B.A in Jazz Studies and Humber College Music Diploma. He has also received four grants (composition and recording) from the OAC and TAC respectively.
His seven-piece Latin jazz group has performed at numerous jazz festivals in virtually every major jazz festival in Ontario. Bobby has also performed and/or recorded with: Shania Twain, Mary Wilson (Supremes), Frankie Vali, Frankie Avalon, the Drifters, Dick Clark, Joan Rivers Louise Pitre, Robert Pilon, Colm Wilkinson, Michael Burgess, Jackie Richardson, Rich Little, Rik Emmett (Triumph), Jane Bunnett, Hiliario Duran, NOJO, George Oliver, George St. Kitts, Diego Marulanda & Pacande, Judy & David and many more.
Brian Dickinson Trio Addo*Conveyor
Fishs Eddy
Jane Bunnett and Maqueque Justin Time*Universal
Jane Bunnett and Maqueque
Myriad3 Alma*Universal
The Where
– Brent Black, Critical Jazz
Myriad3 exploded onto the international jazz scene with the release of their debut album, Tell, in late 2012. This introduced the world to an exciting new trio whose sound is greater than the sum of its individual seriously-talented parts. The trio comprises pianist Chris Donnelly, bassist Dan Fortin, and drummer Ernesto Cervini. All highly-regarded players on the Toronto scene, they met in late 2010, and a shared creative chemistry quickly found them committed to this new joint project.
Tell earned Myriad3 impressive airplay in Canada, Europe and the U.S. (where it topped the CMJ charts for three weeks). It made them a critic’s favorite, and led to a successful first European tour. So Where to next? Onward and upwards is the answer to that query.
Any talk of a sophomore slump or jinx is extinguished upon first listen to the second Myriad3 album, The Where. It showcases a group compelled to experiment and progress, not rest on their laurels. Myriad3 is a band looking ahead, not back. Following their progress to who knows where is guaranteed to be a really exciting journey.
Instrumental Album of the Year
Canadian Brass Linus*eOne
Great Wall of China
In 1977, as China emerged from the Cultural Revolution, Canadian Brass arrived in Beijing for a concert tour that was part of a cultural exchange. They were the first Western musicians to visit the country since Western music & art were banned in May, 1966. The experience was the inspiration for this album that features the world famous ensemble performing arrangements of some of China’s most popular songs.
Founding member Chuck Daellenbach describes the inspiration behind Great Wall of China: “Traveling the long road from Beijing down to Guangzhou, we performed in auditoriums, schools and factories, plus held radio tapings, interviews and impromptu outdoor shows along the way. It was during this trip we were first introduced to Chinese folk music for brass instruments, with the adaptation of “Lift Your Veil” given to us as a present. We include this piece here, a moving reminder of the profound power of music to bridge international boundaries and heal that we were so fortunate to experience first-hand during that tour.
Daniel Lanois Anti*F.A.B.
Flesh and Machine
Flesh And Machine was initially conceived as an ambient album, and tracks such as “Forest City” take the classic Brian Eno albums that he worked on Ambient 4: On Land (1982) and Apollo: Atmospheres And Soundtracks (1983) as a wonderful bedrock to stand on to see the sonic future. The album bristles with new ideas. He spent countless hours processing an array of source sounds – steel and electric guitar, piano and human voice – to create the sound palette that is Flesh and Machine.
John Stetch Addo*Conveyor
Off With the Cuffs
Quartango Tangovation
Encuentro
Quartango’s vast repertoire is characterized by refined musical arrangements, full of energy, the majority of which are the creations of pianist Richard Hunt (who has also composed some 20 original works for the group). Since Hunt’s death in 2011, new names (Antoine Bareil, Jonathan Goldman and Stéphane Aubin) have come to surround founding member René Gosselin and to bring their new musical sensibilities to the group. These young musicians nourish their own compositions with influences that range from classical music, jazz, rock’n’roll and world music in a way that is as subtle as it is unexpected. Quartango sheds new light on the music of the tango with its international take on this Argentinean musical tradition.
Sultans of String Independent*Red River
Symphony!
The band has been recorded live on BBCTelevision, SiriusXM in Washington, CTV’s CanadaAM, CBC’s CanadaLive, and has topped community radio charts in Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Colombia, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain, The Netherlands, U.S., U.K. Live concerts include Celtic Connections (U.K.), Birdland Jazz Club (NYC), Canada’s NAC, Memphis Folk Alliance, and with the TSO.
“A new fusion of roots and classical…the results are mind blowing. Even though the instrumentation is different, you get the feeling this is Strunz and Farah or Willie and Lobo or Gypsy Kings taken to the next level…any fan of worldbeat or contemporary instrumental music is sure to absolutely flip for this gem. Hot stuff throughout!” ?Midwest Record, Chicago
Francophone Album of the Year
Jimmy Hunt Dare To Care*D.E.P.
Maladie d’amour
Seasons passed and Jimmy Hunt returns in October 2013 with Maladie d’amour, a new album with a sound reminiscent of the graceful folk of his debut. But of course, Jimmy was not going to stop there – Maladie d’amour also blends dense electro with minimalist lyrics. We wouldn’t want to go overboard, but here goes: there’s definitely some Gainsbourg in the innovation and the unusual texture of this album. Plus… have you seen that cover?
These sonic explorations also owe their unique directions to two of Jimmy’s close collaborators, who have previously joined him for shows. Keyboardist and sound programmer Christophe Lamarche-Ledoux (Organ Mood) handled recording and arrangements on selected tracks, and multi-instrumentalist Emmanuel Éthier (Passwords) directed the sessions. Both also play on the album.
Klô Pelgag
Coyote*D.E.P.
L’alchimie des monstres
Philippe B Bonsound*Select
Ornithologie, la nuit
Philippe B reasserts his strong songwriting skills as well as his enviable position on the Francophone musical landscape with this self-produced opus. Abandoning the classical music samples, the key element of his previous effort, Philippe creates here a late-night soundtrack, both modern and vintage, by juxtaposing wind instruments with female vocals.
Translating Philippe’s nightbird tendencies, Ornithologie, la nuit describes the course of a protagonist from the shadows to the light. Spread out over the course of one year, the album accompanies the main character on his search for meaning and daily pleasures in order to achieve healing as the year progresses.
Sagot Simone*Select
Valse 333
As his musical family grew, the multi-instrumentalist continued to write lyrics and music, adding the new material to the hefty piles that had been accumulating for months. With a pronounced willingness to explore electro-acoustic sounds, the material formed the foundation of what would become Valse 333, his second album with Simone Records.
With tracks ranging from works like “Ficelle,” ”a song exploring the experiences of our cities’ lost souls, suffocated by obtuse systems,” – to works like “Les squelettes,” “a poem by Jean Sauvegrain on the inevitability of death–” Valse 333 is the work of a lyricist, composer and musician at the top of his game. The album shows a deep desire to transcend reality through poetry and fantastical abundance.
Serge Fiori GSI*eOne
Serge Firoi
“Fiori does it with wit and poetic elegance… This one was worth waiting for.” says Bernard Perusse, The Gazette. “Serge Fiori is a national treasure. The new Fiori is brilliant” says Terry Dimonte of CHOM-FM.
A mere eight weeks after its release, the album was certified platinum by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA), recognizing sales of 80,000 copies. SERGE FIORI also ranked #1 in sales in Québec for eight consecutive weeks, and in Canada for two consecutive weeks, and is now approaching the 100,000 mark, proof positive of the deep and abiding connection fans have with the singer-songwriter.
Children's Album of the Year
Bobs & LoLo Nettwerk*Sony
Wave Your Antlers
Bobs & LoLo’s energetic and interactive music is sure to have audiences on their feet, singing and dancing along before the first song is done. Performing award-winning, original music from their four albums (Connecting the Dots, Action Packed, Musical Adventures and Sea Notes), Bobs & Lolo inspire audiences to care about themselves, their neighbours and the planet."
Fred Penner The Children’s Group*eOne
Where In The World
Having sold more than one million records and performed live to more than a million fans, Penner was dubbed “Mr. Multi–Media” by Billboard Magazine. His diverse repertoire includes a prolific 12 children’s albums and countless energetically packed live shows for throngs of eager audiences across North America.
Those who grew up with him now have children of their own, introducing Penner to a whole new generation. After taking a break from performing to score music for other family TV shows, he decided to record his first new family album in close to a decade – Where in the World – and head back out to perform live. In Fred’s own words, the album is “relevant and speaks to children about what’s happening in the world and the importance of positive messages.
LuLu et le Matou
Independent
Le chat botté
que remarquable album pour enfant, et deux autre nominations pour les Western Canadian Music Awards - album francophone de
l'année! LuLu et le Matou était sélectionné comme finaliste au Gala manitobain de la chanson. LuLu et le Matou sont des animateurs musicaux dont raffolent des enfants de tout âge. Ils forment un groupe d'animation bilingue, original et interactif, qui a une grande passion pour les animaux. LuLu et le Matou ont réussi des prix multiples comme <<édu-amuseurs>>. Leurs albums ont gagné de nombreux prix en incluant deux fois meilleur album d'enfants (le prix Musique de prairie, le prix WCMA), deux fois le prix Choix des parents, deux fois Centre de livre canadien
nombreuses stations de radio locales et nationales. Ils animent des histoires et tout le monde s'amuse avec leurs performances.
Raffi Troubadour*Universal
Love Bug
Raffi is a music producer, author, entrepreneur, and ecology advocate. He is the recipient of numerous honours, including the Global 500 Roll and the Order of Canada. He holds four honorary degrees and is a member of the Club of Budapest.
In a career spanning four decades, Raffi has refused all commercial endorsement offers and has never taken part in direct advertising to children. He is a passionate supporter of a commercial-free childhood. In 2006, he was awarded the Fred Rogers Integrity Award for this work.
His recent work includes the 2013 book, Lightweb Darkweb: Three Reasons To Reform Social Media Before It Re-Forms Us and his first new kids’ CD in 12 years, Love Bug.
Splash'N Boots Independent
Happy Times
Splash’N Boots’ growing fan base and tour schedule is a result of their authenticity and dedication to connecting with their audience. Their music is timeless and universal, creating opportunities for parents and children to enjoy the same entertainment, enabling kids to feel empowered and positive about their lives. Talented, unique and inventive, the cutting-edge duo are constantly providing their fans with new material, truly working 24/7 at building their business, brand and fans.
From social media, to their philanthropy with SickKids Hospital, Splash’N Boots’ brand extends far beyond the stage alone, they are passionate about what they do, inspired by the children they meet and continually prove to have an undeniably fresh approach to family music.
Classical Album of the Year: Solo or Chamber Ensemble
Angèle Dubeau & La Pietà Analekta*Select
Blanc
David Krakauer, Matt Haimovitz, Socalled, Jonathan Crow & Geoffrey Burleson
Oxingale*S.R.I.
Akoka: Reframing Olivier Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time
In a rare live recording, AKOKA bookmarks the complete Messiaen masterwork Quartet for the End of Time between Krakauer’s own Akoka, and Meanwhile… by sound artist Socalled.
The album lifts Messiaen’s original work out of the polite context of a chamber music performance and places it in a dramatic setting that drives home its gravity and impact, while bringing it into the 21st century. As the forces of fundamentalism, intolerance and violence intensify in today’s world, this particular mounting of the great work seems all the more timely.
James Ehnes
Chandos*Naxos
Bartok: Chamber Works for Violin Vol. 3
He has won numerous awards and prizes, including the first-ever Ivan Galamian Memorial Award, the Canada Council for the Arts’ prestigious Virginia Parker Prize, the 2005 Avery Fisher Career Grant and nine JUNO Awards. In July 2007 he became the youngest person ever elected as a Fellow to the Royal Society of Canada. In 2010, he was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada, and in 2013 he was named Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music. He lives in Bradenton, Florida with his wife and daughter.
Jonathan Crow & Paul Stewart
ATMA*Naxos
Prokofiev: Sonates & Mélodies
In 2005 Jonathan Crow joined the Schulich School of Music at McGill University as Assistant Professor of Violin and was appointed Associate Professor of Violin in 2010. He is currently Associate Professor of Violin at the University of Toronto.
Karl Stobbe
Avie
Ysaÿe Sonatas for Solo Violin
Avie Records 2014 CD of Karl playing Ysaÿe’s Solo Violin Sonatas has received worldwide attention, including London’s Sunday Times who called Karl “a master soloist, recalling the golden age of violin playing … producing a breathtaking range of tone colours”. He has performed in North America’s most famous concert halls, including New York’s Carnegie Hall and Boston’s Jordan Hall, and has shared the stage with some of the most important and diverse violinists of our day, from James Ehnes to Mark O’Connor.
Classical Album of the Year: Large Ensemble or Soloist(s) with Large Ensemble Accompaniment
Angela Hewitt
Hyperion*HM
MOZART: Piano Concertos Nos. 22 & 24
James Ehnes Onyx*HM
Khachaturian/Shostakovich
He has won numerous awards and prizes, including the first-ever Ivan Galamian Memorial Award, the Canada Council for the Arts’ prestigious Virginia Parker Prize, the 2005 Avery Fisher Career Grant and nine JUNO Awards. In July 2007 he became the youngest person ever elected as a Fellow to the Royal Society of Canada. In 2010, he was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada, and in 2013 he was named Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music. He lives in Bradenton, Florida with his wife and daughter.
Orchestre symphonique de Montréal & Kent Nagano Analekta*Select
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 7, Departure - Utopia
Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Peter Oundjian
Chandos*Naxos
Rimsky-Korsakov: Sheherazade
Under Oundjian’s leadership, the TSO has distinguished itself as an active supporter of new Canadian and international works, predominantly through its annual New Creations Festival. Since 2008, the Orchestra has released eight recordings under its self-produced label, TSO Live, and recently signed a multi-disc recording contract with Chandos Records. Over the past decade, the TSO has toured to regions in Canada and the U.S., including regular excursions to Northern Ontario, as well as two sold-out appearances at Carnegie Hall. In August 2014, the Orchestra completed a critically acclaimed European tour which included the first performance of a North American orchestra at Reykjavik’s Harpa Hall.
Yannick Nézet-Séguin & Orchestre Métropolitain
ATMA*Naxos
Bruckner 3
Founded in Montreal in 1981, the Orchestre Métropolitain adopted a wide public approach that focused on broadening audiences for classical music from the very outset. The OM has developed a unique approach founded on an unshakeable determination to democratize classical music by bringing it to people in their neighborhoods. Since its inception, the Orchestre Métropolitain has made a priority of introducing people to classical music and breaking down economic barriers with a policy that makes tickets affordable to everyone. The Orchestre Métropolitain is also a byword for very high quality entertainment and an invitation to enjoy musical culture through pre-concert talk, and through its conductor who discusses each of the works on the program.
Classical Album of the Year: Vocal or Choral Performance
Gerald Finley & Julius Drake
Hyperion*HM
Schubert: Winterreise
Features of this season include concerts and recitals throughout Europe, the Marriage of Figaro at the Met, Don Giovanni in Munich and Cosi fan tutte at the Salzburg Festival. He adds to his Wagner roles at Covent Garden as Amfortas in Parsifal. In Toronto, his performance of the role of Falstaff with the COC has garnered much praise. His recording projects with Julius Drake this year include Winterreise and a CD of Liszt Songs, with Hyperion.
Julie Boulianne, Clavecin en concert & Luc Beauséjour
Analekta*Select
Handel & Porpora: The London Years
Karina Gauvin, Les Violons du Roy & Bernard Labadie
ATMA*Naxos
Mozart: Opera & Concert Arias
Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal
ATMA*Naxos
Terra Tremuit
The goal the Studio set for itself at its founding is to restore the dimensions of renaissance and baroque music in all their vitality, their sensuality, their presence and their strength of conviction. As Gustav Leonhardt says so well, “this undertaking inevitably expands the works, our knowledge and the essence of who we are.”
Theatre of Early Music, Schola Cantorum & Daniel Taylor
Analekta*Select
The Heart's Refuge
Founded in 2012 by Daniel Taylor, the University of Toronto Schola Cantorum aims to present the brilliant early choral and instrumental repertoire from across the centuries to a new audience.
Classical Composition of the Year
Alice Ping Yee Ho
Centrediscs*Naxos
Glistening Pianos - GLISTENING PIANOS
Often featured at national and international new music festivals such as ISCM World Music Days, Ottawa Chamberfest, Denmark’s CRUSH New Music Festival, Asian Music Week in Japan, etc. – her works have also been performed by many major ensembles and soloists including China National Symphony, Polish Radio Choir, Finnish Lapland Chamber Orchestra, Esprit Orchestra, the Toronto, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Victoria, and Windsor Symphonies, Amsterdam’s Neuw Ensemble, Penderecki String Quartet, Toronto’s New Music Concerts, percussionists Sumire Yoshihara and Beverley Johnston, violist Rivka Golani, and St. John’s Duo Concertante. Her discography includes releases on the Centrediscs, Blue Griffin, Electra and Phoenix labels.
Brian Current Naxos
Airline Icarus - AIRLINE ICARUS – COMPLETE OPERA
Gordon Fitzell
Centrediscs*Naxos
Magister Ludi - MAGISTER LUDI
Jacques Hétu
Naxos
Sextet, OP. 71 - COMPLETE CHAMBER WORKS FOR STRINGS
Awarded the Prix d’Europe in 1961, he travelled to Paris, studying composition there with Henri Dutilleux and analysis with Olivier Messiaen. Returning to Québec in 1963, he served in various academic positions at the Université Laval and the Université de Montréal, followed, from 1979 to 2000, by the Université du Québec à Montréal, where he was head of the music department from 1980-82 and 1986-88. Awarded various honours, he has been prolific as a composer.
John Estacio
Independent
Triple Concerto for Violin, Cello, Piano and Orchestra - A CONCERT FOR NEW YORK
In 2014, the Cincinnati Ballet commissioned a full length score for the new ballet King Arthur’s Camelot. In the last decade he has composed numerous symphonic and operatic works including Filumena for Calgary Opera/Banff Centre and Lillian Alling for the Vancouver Opera/Banff Centre. Filumena has received several remounts in Canada and was filmed for television and broadcast on the CBC and PBS.
The National Arts Centre Orchestra and conductor Pinchas Zukerman toured China in 2013 and the UK in 2014 with his orchestral overture “Brio.” The Richard Eaton Singers toured Europe with his new choral work, “branche”, in the summer of 2013. The Royal Winnipeg Ballet featured several of Estacio’s orchestral compositions in a new ballet Wonderland. He recently completed a song cycle for baritone and violin, premiered by Russell Braun and James Ehnes.
His works have been performed at Carnegie Hall, including performances by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and a performance of his “Triple Concerto for Violin, Cello and Piano” by the Edmonton Symphony.
During the past few seasons, the National Youth Orchestra of the Americas toured the US and Canada with “Bootlegger’s Tarantella”. The Los Angeles Philharmonic, along with acclaimed tenor Ben Heppner, toured Europe with Estacio’s arrangements of “Seven Songs of Jean Sibelius”. His orchestral works have been performed by all the major Canadian orchestras, as well as the Houston Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Fort Wayne Philharmonic, and orchestras in Europe and South America.
Rap Recording of the Year
Marco Polo Soulspazm*Independent
PA2: The Director’s Cut
Steadily focused on this goal, MP is in the midst of a career-defining period that will prove exciting for himself and hip-hop heads alike.
Naturally Born Strangers Legends League*Independent
The Legends League Presents: Naturally Born Strangers
P Reign RCA*Sony
Dear America
His song "Realest in the City" featuring Meek Mill and PartyNextDoor off the Dear America EP reached #1 on Billboard?’s Emerging Artists chart.
Saukrates Culvert*Universal
Amani
A fixture in the top-tiers of the Canadian hip-hop scene, he is present as a rapper, singer or producer on almost every Canadian major label hip-hop release over the past 20 years. Providing the likes of K-os, Swollen Members, Jully Black, Rascalz, Kardinal Offishal, and Choclair with his unique style of production that has become synonymous with the Torontonian hip-hop sound. Recently he has maintained his prevalence working with the best of the new breed of Canadian rappers such as: Classified, Shad, Tre Mission, SonReal, and OB O’Brien.
Tre Mission Last Gang*Universal
Stigmata
Born and raised in Toronto; the offspring of a Trinidadian mother and Jamaican father, Tre Mission carries a deep connection to his West Indian roots and culture, citing Bob Marley as his number one influence and gateway into his musical path. From a young age, he’s kept music close to him and considered himself a disciple of hip hop, studying every artist from his city, watching different styles and trends closely and always keeping his sights on authenticity. The discovery of grime was a revelation to him, opening his eyes to an underground culture that was genuine and offered the possibilities of new sounds, production styles and lyrical techniques. A couple of years ago, he entered that world as an outsider from Canada, quickly spreading his name in the scene like wildfire, working closely with genre leaders like Wiley and making appearances on high profile platforms like Tim Westwood’s radio show and Lord of The Mics 3.
Since then, Tre Mission signed to Big Dada Recordings/Last Gang Records (Wiley, Run the Jewels, Congo Natty) and has been collecting co-signs from all corners of the industry for his follow up to Malmaison, Stigmata. The album is almost entirely produced by the young MC and features collaborations with industry vets Wiley, JME and K-OS, among others. With an honest lyrical style that marries introspection and bravado, Tre Mission stays away from materialism and builds a narrative that is personal and human. The soundtrack to the world of Tre Mission is just getting introduced and you can believe the best is yet to come.
Dance Recording of the Year
Adventure Club BMG Rights*Sony
Calling All Heroes
Chromeo Last Gang*Universal
White Women
Glenn Morrison Robbins Entertainment*Sony
Goodbye
His name alone gets 1.7 million social networking and internet hits a month. His productions have featured on over 900 compilations in the last five years. He has enjoyed the support of DJs as varied as John Digweed and Richie Hawtin to David Guetta and Tiesto. For three years he was resident at the world’s best club, Ibiza’s Amnesia Club, and is currently a resident at Space in Ibiza, as well as Space in Miami.
In short, Glenn Morrison is one of the most dynamic and accomplished talents in electronic music today. Period.
Kiesza Island*Universal
Sound Of A Woman
Inspired by epic nights out at NYC hotspots like Body & Soul and Libation, this Calgary-born 25-year-old’s debut album Sound Of A Woman is packed with deep house grooves and shimmering soulful melodies, but Kiesza is also an in-demand songwriter for acts across the globe, puts together her own stunning artwork, is a trained ballerina, and former tall-ship sailor who the Army once attempted to train as a sniper.
In 2014 she kicked things off in style with her debut single, the blistering anthem “Hideaway” which rocketed to the #1 spot in the UK charts was one of the fastest-selling debuts of the year. “Hideaway” is two-times Platinum in Canada, was a #1 All-Format Canadian single at radio, spent eight consecutive weeks at #1 on the Shazam Top 200 and snagged the #1 spot in 21 countries on iTunes.. The song’s distinctive video was shot on the streets of Brooklyn, and showcases Kiesza’s attention-grabbing dance moves.
Trevor Guthrie Sony
Soundwave
In 2012, Guthrie’s dear friend was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tour inspiring him to write a song “This is What It Feels Like” which was released by electronic dance music superstar Armin Van Buuren. “This Is What It Feels Like” has received nominations for the 2014 Grammys, 2014 JUNO Awards, 2014 I Heart Music Awards and 2014 Canadian Radio Music Awards and has been listed for over a year in 15 different charts including; US Singles Top 100, Dutch Top 40 and Canada Singles Top 100.
On the heels of “This Is What It Feels Like”, Guthrie is collaborating with several producers and recording artists as well as continuing to develop his own material. His next song to be released is ‘SoundWave” with R3HAB of Calvin Harris’ camp.
R&B;/Soul Recording of the Year
Ben Stevenson Culvert*Universal
Dirty Laundry
Stevenson’s EP Dirty Laundry, is a tale of dealing with and overcoming personal struggle. “Music is so challenging,” says Stevenson, “ that I feel any project I do will only be a reflection of the state of “becoming” that I feel I will always be in.”
jacksoul Megawatt*Sony
Got To Have It
Haydain Neale created universally unforgettable music and succeeded in demonstrating that soul transcends the typical notion of genre. As a band, jacksoul was internationally heralded as incredible musicians who deliver soul rousing, powerfully intoxicating music. The energy of a jacksoul concert was electric – real, sweaty, human performances, and they shared the stage with James Brown, Patti Labelle, Jim Cuddy, The Guess Who and Nelly Furtado, among others.
JRDN Kuya*Fontana North
JRDN
Croucher grew up in Halifax and Toronto and, even though it was evident that the youngster had an excellent voice, music took a back seat to basketball in high school and at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia – which led to a year playing professionally in France.
Croucher elected to give up on his hoop dreams and re-immersed himself in music by working with Halifax producer Trobiz and recording mix tapes with the groups N.E.P. and Triple Threat. He eventually hooked up with multi-Juno Award-nominated artist/producer Classified (Luke Boyd), who produced Croucher’s 2007 debut album, No Dress Code.
Melanie Durrant Independent
Four Seasons
Born and raised in Toronto, Melanie attended the Earl Haig School of the Arts and trained at the Royal Conservatory of Music. Citing influences that range from the soulful sounds of Shirley Bassey to the hard-knock of Aerosmith to the powerful “respect” melodies of Aretha Franklyn, this radiant artist has no problems crashing through the wall of sound.
Melanie Durrant has received multiple accolades though out her career. Her songs have led to multiple wins and nominations at major music awards such as the JUNO Awards and the Much Music Video Awards to name a few.
In addition to performing her own shows for audiences across the world, Melanie Durrant has shared the stage alongside Jay Z, 50 Cent, Jill Scott, Common, Cissy Houston, Sean Paul, Kardinal Offishall as well as many of Canada’s top artists.
Currently Melanie is preparing for her sophomore album Anticipation slated for release in February 2015.
The Weeknd The Weeknd XO*Universal
Often
Reggae Recording of the Year
Exco Levi Kheilstone*Independent
Welcome the King
Born in Manchester, Jamaica, Levi came to Toronto in 2005. Heavily influenced by Bob Marley, Sizzla and Peter Tosh. Exco has come up with a unique sound that pays tribute to the founding fathers of Reggae with a modern twist.
In 2007, Exco recorded his first song in Canada, titled “Oh Canada”. This placed him in full view of the Canadian music industry. This hard working artist, on a mission to build his career and take his music globally, Exco Levi returned to Europe for his second tour in two years in spring 2014, performing seven shows in Germany, Austria and Switzerland over 14 days.
Exco Levi had his first EP release on April 29th. Words of the Wise produced by Penthouse and distributed by VP Records and will release his first album Country Man Spring 2015.
Kirk Diamond ft. Bob da Builda Don Dem/Galang*Independent
Love Inna Wi Heart
Mikey Dangerous Dub Avenue*D.E.P.
Wake Up
Steele Mobs*Independent
Hold On Till I Die
Described as dynamic and sensational, with the versatility and range that defies restriction to any one genre, Steele is as captivating in his handling of R&B; material as he is with soul, reggae, classical, and jazz. Born in Lucea, Jamaica, Steele’s inspiration comes from his parents who sang on the church choir. He has performed to rave reviews at the Jambana Festival, Eglington Street Festival, Rasta Fest, the Caribana Island Jam and Jamaica Day Celebration held in Toronto; the Winnipeg Caribbean Festival in Manitoba; Gage Park It’s your Festival in Hamilton; and the Calgary Reggae Festival, just to name a few. He has created lasting impression with his live performances in Jamaica and the U.S.A.
Steele remains steadfast in all his endeavours, and with his ever growing fan base, he give thanks for all the support he receives.
Tasha T
RasVibe*VP
Real Talk
Aboriginal Album of the Year (Sponsored by Aboriginal Peoples Television Network)
Crystal Shawanda
New Sun*Fontana North
The Whole World’s Got the Blues
In 2009, after five hit singles and a tour with Brad Paisley and Dierks Bentley, Crystal was named CCMA Female Artist of the Year. In 2010, Crystal toured Canada with Reba McEntire and performed at Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York. In 2012, Crystal launched her own label, New Sun Records. Her release “Just Like You” led her to a performance beside the White House on Inauguration Day and a 2013 JUNO Award for Aboriginal Album of the Year.
In the fall of 2014, Crystal produced and released her first modern blues album, The Whole World’s Got the Blues, on which six of the songs are her own originals. She looks forward to touring the US and Canada in 2015.
Digging Roots
Sugar Bush*Outside
For The Light
For The Light is woven with a whimsical thread of idealism that love can keep the darkness at bay, with songs like the lazy summer afternoon of, “Sunshine”; or the intimate longing of “Stay”. In contrast, the song, “Hwy 17”, takes a fierce bluesy stand against the darkness in our own nature. Fans still got that Digging Roots’ signature style of unaffected optimism with their single, “I’ve Got it Bad” and their pow-wow trail anthem, “All Night”. The masterpiece, however, is the title track, “For The Light.” Sung in Anishinabemowin and English, the song forges into new sound spaces, unravelling and weaving threads of tradition onto an entirely new design.
Leela Gilday
Diva Sound*Outside
Heart of the People
With four full-length recordings and a long touring history, Gilday has numerous national awards to her credit. But above all, she seeks connection with her audiences through music, and with each record brings more unique stories to the world. Whether it’s an anthem for the oppressed, or an upbeat song about mortality, she infuses her songs with a sense of humour as well as a sense of social justice, and an ironic appreciation of human folly.
Based in Yellowknife, Leela has toured with her band in every province and territory in Canada, and internationally through several countries. Her live shows, and many appearances on television and radio have earned her an important place in the Aboriginal music scene, and a loyal mainstream following.
Her new record Heart of the People resonates with the heartbeat of the earth and the connection we all have to it as human beings.
Tanya Tagaq Six Shooter*Universal
Animism
Tomson Highway Independent
The (Post) Mistress
Roots & Traditional Album of the Year: Solo
Amelia Curran Six Shooter*Universal
They Promised You Mercy
Catherine MacLellan Independent
The Raven’s Sun
Since then she has toured internationally and her music has been a perennial fixture at the top of Canada’s Roots Music Charts, winning acclaim from international media including the Austin Chronicle, The Boston Globe, BBC Radio, Maverick Magazine, Q Magazine and many others.
Daughter of legendary Canadian songwriter, Gene MacLellan (“Snowbird”, “Put Your Hand in the Hand...”), Catherine has long been engaging the world through song.
Her latest release, The Raven’s Sun, takes the listener further along Catherine’s journey in song, delving deeper into the territories of life, death and transformation. Produced by her long-time musical partner, Chris Gauthier, The Raven’s Sun shines light on their musical chemistry and catches them both at their best. Recorded in the woods outside of Woodstock, NY by Grammy Award winning Danny Blume, it features stellar guest performances by Nashville fiddler Andy Leftwich. This album is another reminder that Catherine’s songwriting is unparalleled among performers of her generation.
Del Barber True North*eOne
Prairieography
That’s more than evident on Weightless, where Andersen comes out of the gate swinging with “I Lost My Way,” one of two co-writes with Joel Plaskett, where he is singing a soul/gospel melody over a reggae groove. Then he channels Van Morrison on “My Last Day,” before delivering a gorgeous country ballad co-written with David Myles, “So Easy.” With Dave Gunning, Andersen tells the all-too-common tale of Maritimers heading west to work on the oil sands, in “Alberta Gold.” Hamilton’s Tom Wilson helps craft a rockabilly ode to a battered rust-belt town, “City of Dreams,” while Andersen’s Wolfville, N.S. neighbour Ryan Hupman lends a hand on three songs, including the title track, “Between the Lines” and the spiritual “What Will You Leave?”
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James Hill Borealis*eOne
The Old Silo
Hill has made a career as an award-winning ukulele player and songwriter, an uncompromising artist who “gives the ukulele its dignity back without ever taking himself too seriously” (Songlines). The Old Silo sees him charting a course into deeper, rockier waters with Plaskett at the helm. The album has an edginess and swagger unlike anything Hill has ever recorded: the thundering baritone ukulele riff in “She’s Still Got It” wouldn’t be out of place on a Black Keys album and the grinding slide ukulele in “Tie One On” would make Jack White proud. Welcome to The Old Silo. Who knows what you’ll find inside? James currently resides in Brookfield, Nova Scotia.
Matt Andersen True North*eOne
Weightless
That’s more than evident on Weightless, where Andersen comes out of the gate swinging with “I Lost My Way,” one of two co-writes with Joel Plaskett, where he is singing a soul/gospel melody over a reggae groove. Then he channels Van Morrison on “My Last Day,” before delivering a gorgeous country ballad co-written with David Myles, “So Easy.” With Dave Gunning, Andersen tells the all-too-common tale of Maritimers heading west to work on the oil sands, in “Alberta Gold.” Hamilton’s Tom Wilson helps craft a rockabilly ode to a battered rust-belt town, “City of Dreams,” while Andersen’s Wolfville, N.S. neighbour Ryan Hupman lends a hand on three songs, including the title track, “Between the Lines” and the spiritual “What Will You Leave?”
Roots & Traditional Album of the Year: Group
Blackie and the Rodeo Kings File Under: Music*Outside
South
Elliott Brood Paper Bag*Outside
Work and Love
The Bros. Landreth Independent*Fontana North
Let It Lie
Anchored by the bluesy wail of electric guitars, the swell of B3 organ, and the harmonized swoon of two voices that were born to mesh. At first listen, you might call it Americana. Dig deeper, though, and you’ll hear the nuances that separate The Bros. Landreth – whose members didn’t grow up in the American south, but rather the isolated prairie city of Winnipeg, Manitoba – from their folksy friends in the Lower 48. Where does the sound come from? Maybe it’s in their blood. After all, long before they made music together, siblings David and Joey Landreth attended their father’s bar gigs as babies. “Prior to the band getting started,” David adds. “There were three or four years where we really didn’t spend much time together, because we were touring with other groups. We’d always been really close as teenagers. With the Bros. Landreth, I feel like it’s almost a divine interception. We were supposed to come back together and make this music.
The Deep Dark Woods Six Shooter*Universal
Jubilee
The Once Nettwerk*Sony
Departures
The Once have embarked on an amazing journey, spending much of 2014-2015 touring the world with chart-topping artist, Passenger. The new album Departures was released worldwide on August 5, 2014
Blues Album of the Year (Sponsored by Stingray Music)
JW-Jones Blind Pig/Stony Plain*Warner
Belmont Boulevard
On June 19, 2014, Jones was presented with a Forty Under 40 Award by Ottawa Business Journal/Ottawa Chamber of Commerce. It’s the biggest and best celebration of entrepreneurship in Ottawa – the salute to the region’s young business stars who balance business achievement, professional expertise and community involvement.
Steve Hill Independent*Outside
Solo Recordings, Vol. 2
Featuring tracks that are heavy and hard hitting, deep and melodic, Hill manages to nail a wide rage of emotions with his song writing and masterful guitar playing. With eight original songs and three covers, including Little Walter’s “Hate to See You Go”, Muddy Water’s “I Want You to Love Me” and Ray Bonneville’s “Simple Things”, Solo Recordings Volume 2 is sure to please the most discerning blues lovers and music fans in general. This incredible release proves why the Montreal Gazette called Hill “the meanest guitar player in Canada” and why Vancouver’s Real Blues Magazine has referred to him as “the best young blues guitar player in North America.”
Steve Strongman Independent*Sonic Unyon
Let Me Prove It To You
The 24th Street Wailers Independent
Wicked
The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer Tonic*Fontana North
A Real Fine Mess
Their influences range from the iconic songwriting of Willie Dixon to the boundary pushing of Jack White and Danger Mouse but the sound on their third album, A Real Fine Mess is distinctly their own, smothered in greasy, gritty soul and imbued with funk. Shawn Hall provides the rousing, rugged vocals and blues harmonica, while Matthew Rogers rips on the guitar and pounds the skins with his feet. Their music is unapologetic. It slaps you in the face and makes you sweat like it’s a sticky, summer night. It cuts you to the core. It’s the blues played the way it was meant to be played.
Contemporary Christian/Gospel Album of the Year
Chelsea Amber Independent*David C. Cook
Introducing Chelsea Amber
Drew Brown Independent
Analog Love in Digital Times
Manafest Manafest Productions*Fontana North
The Moment
The result is easily Manafest’s most innovative and personal project yet. Centering around the importance is being present in all of life’s moments, whether big or small, Manafest also shook things up sonically by teaming up with three producers, Thousand Foot Krutch’s Joel Bruyere (10 tracks), frequent collaborator Adam Messinger (“Edge of My Life”) and Joshua O’Haire (“Light”).
Giving listeners a transparent look behind the curtain of his thoughts, beliefs and outlook on life, The Moment also showcases Manafest’s unique abilities as a rapper, rhymer and vocalist.
Manic Drive Bema Media*David C. Cook
VIP
Tim Neufeld Independent*David C. Cook
The Joy
World Music Album of the Year (Sponsored by Canada Council for the Arts)
Ayrad CFM*Select
Ayrad
Eccodek Black Swan/Big Mind*Outside
Singing in Tongues
Eccodek’s McPherson has collaborated with artists including JUNO Award winners/nominees Kiran Ahluwalia, Jaffa Road, Mansa Sissoko, Dubmatix, The McDades, Natalie McMaster, as well as Vieux Farke Touré, Delhi 2 Dublin, Transglobal Underground and Dub Colossus. Singing in Tongues has been universally praised since its release in May 2014 as one of the most impressive fusion releases of the year.
Emmanuel Jal Gatwitch*Universal
The Key
Pierre Kwenders Bonsound*Select
Le dernier empereur bantou
With his progressive music coloured with Congolese rumba and Afro-electro beats, the singer explores an innovative path, adding a new flavour (reminiscent of the works of Kwabs and Buruka Som Sistema) to his repertoire. Le Dernier Empereur Bantou is an ultimate cry of joy, using Cajun rhythms (“Mardi Gras”), mythical characters (“Popolipo”), and childhood musings and reminiscence (“Ani Kuni”). Pierre Kwenders also includes a few nods to his own musical background; African singers such as Johnny Clegg as well as music from the 80’s. “Le Dernier Empereur Bantou is a collective project of which I am simply the ambassador, and not the conductor,” explains Pierre Kwenders. “With this album, I evoke unity and authenticity.” The Montrealer of Congolese origin puts together all kinds of sounds and rhythms. Le Dernier Empereur Bantou was recorded over two years in Washington D.C, Nova Scotia and Montreal, and includes collaborations with Jacobus (Radio Radio), Baloji and The Posterz. Nom de Plume and Poirier also participated in the making of this full-length debut album.
Quique Escamilla Lulaworld*Outside
500 Years of Night
Jack Richardson Producer of the Year (Sponsored by Slaight Music)
Adam Messinger Island Def Jam*Universal
“Change Your Life” (co-producer Nasri Atweh) THE NEW CLASSIC – Iggy Azalea | “Rude” DON’T KILL THE MAGIC – Magic!
In recent years, his partnership with fellow Canadian singer/songwriter Nasri (known as “The Messengers”) has functioned as a writing/production team for a wide scope of artists, including Justin Bieber, Iggy Azalea, Shakira, Pitbull, Christina Aguilera, Chris Brown, Michael Bolton, Lea Michele, The Wanted and New Kids On The Block. Among other awards, The Messengers’ work has resulted in two Grammy nominations in 2011, and a Grammy win in 2012 for Best R&B; Album – Chris Brown (F.A.M.E.).
Messinger’s other credits include 2013’s hit “Feel This Moment” by Pitbull ft Christina Aguilera, Justin Bieber’s “Never Say Never”, “All Around the World”, and “Mistletoe”, Chris Brown’s “Don’t Judge Me”, and worldwide hit debut single “Rude” by reggae-pop band Magic!.
Eric Ratz Anthem*Warner | Arkells Music*Universal
“Ghosts” GHOSTS – Big Wreck | “Leather Jacket” – HIGH NOON – Arkells
Gavin Brown RCA*Sony | Mother Mother Music*Universal
“I Am Machine” – Three Days Grace | “Reaper Man” VERY GOOD BAD THING – Mother Mother
Jesse Zubot Six Shooter*Universal
“Caribou”, “Uja” ANIMISM – Tanya Tagaq
As a musician live and in the studio, Zubot has worked with artists as diverse as Dan Mangan, Kelly Joe Phelps, Stars, Hawksley Workman, Mother Mother, Nels Cline, Destroyer, Louise Burns and Tanya Tagaq.
Thomas “Tawgs” Salter Sony | Lights Music*Universal
“Soundwave”– Trevor Guthrie | “Up We Go” LITTLE MACHINES – Lights
Recording Engineer of the Year (Sponsored by Ontario Institute of Audio Recording Technology [OIART])
Eric Ratz Anthem*Warner | 604*Universal
“Ghosts” GHOSTS – Big Wreck | “Satellite Hotel” BLACK BUFFALO – One Bad Son
George Seara Megawatt*Sony
“Got To Have It”, “Whole Day” GREATEST HITS – jacksoul
Jeremy Darby Independent
“Mosaic”, “Nomad’s Arrival” MANDALA – Monsoon
Over his engineering career he has worked with many diverse artists from around the world such as Tony Bennett, (1994 Grammy winner) U2, Pink Floyd, Keith Richards, Lou Reed, David Bowie, Ella Fitzgerald and many many great iconic Canadian artists.
He records a staggering amount of music each year. Around 40 albums. Every year at least a handful of those records that he has worked on from his Toronto studios are nominated for JUNO and Grammy awards. As an engineer he is respected as knowing how to record many different styles of recorded music, world music, Latin, Asian, indian, classical, reggae, folk, rock, pop, and jazz. These genres require an intimate understanding of unusual and varied instruments, acoustic spaces, and their sonic context in the musical style.
Jeremy continues to support Canadian musicians by offering a wealth of experience to both emerging and established artists in these challenging economic times for the music community.
John “Beetle” Bailey Alma*Universal | Molly Johnson*Universal
“Any Day Now” JUST PASSING THROUGH – The Breithaupt Brothers | “Fine and Mellow” BECAUSE OF BILLIE – Molly Johnson
Since graduating from Fanshawe College in 1990, John’s been fueled by coffee, love of music, and sleep deprivation. In 2005 he took over the former Arnyard Studios facilities, renaming it The Drive Shed (a farm building used to store tractors and implements) in tribute to his small town rural background. John’s been busy at The Drive Shed working on recent and upcoming releases from Molly Johnson,The Breithaupt Brothers, The Treasures, Mia Martina, Bryan Adams, Michael Kolk, Myriad3, Diana Krall, and many more!
Lenny Derose RCA*Sony | Mother Mother Music*Universal
“I Am Machine” – Three Days Grace | “Reaper Man” VERY GOOD BAD THING – Mother Mother
As an engineer, he has been credited for his work on several motion picture soundtracks, including Naked in New York and 9½ Weeks, among others. DeRose has been nominated for several JUNO Awards for his work, and has produced every recording released by The Philosopher Kings. In 1995, he received the Recording Engineer of the Year award for his work with the band. Releases for 2012 include Elise Lagrow, The Tragically Hip, Metric, Hey Ocean, Walk of the Earth, Whos Army, and Barenaked Ladies.
Recording Package of the Year
Alex Durlak (Art Director/Designer), Jeff McMurrich and Bry Webb (Art Directors) Idée Fixe*Outside
FREE WILL – Bry Webb
Caroline Blanchette (Art Director), Martin Tremblay (Photographer/Designer), Byron Mikaloff (Designer)
Tandem*Sony
WONDERS OF THE WORLD – The Lost Fingers
In that time, Caroline has worked for multiple international ad agencies, including Cossette, LG2, BBDO MTL and Nolin Branding & Design
Blanchette’s work was featured in the book Nature Graphics in 2014.
Menno Versteeg (Art Director), Zack Mykula (Designer), Jason Bartell (Illustrator), Yoshi Cooper (Photographer) Royal Mountain*Universal
PUP – PUP
Roberta Hansen (Art Director/Designer/Illustrator), Mike Latschislaw (Photographer) Signpost*Outside
PILGRIMAGE – Steve Bell
After receiving a degree in Psychology and English from the University of Winnipeg, she went on to pursue the three year diploma for Graphic Design at Red River College. Roberta worked for two years as a freelance designer in conjunction with her job at a Winnipeg-based design agency. In September 2014, she left her job to pursue freelance work full-time. One of the first major pieces she completed independently was a 25th Anniversary box-set and campaign for JUNO Award winning singer/songwriter Steve Bell’s latest album, Pilgrimage. Another highlight was being nominated by the WCMAs for Album Art of the Year for her work on Let It Lie by The Bros. Landreth. Other musical clients have included JP Hoe, Del Barber, Blake Burgland and Chris Ulrich.
For a designer, apart from designing book covers and wine labels, creating album art and concert posters is the dream. When asked how she fell into such a favourable career path, Roberta credits the music scene in Winnipeg: “It’s a close knit community, where we all support each other creatively. This city is passionate about the arts and I feel extremely thankful to be a part of it.”
Taylor Kirk (Art Director/Designer/Photographer), Robyn Kotyk (Designer), Laura Margaret Ramsay (Photographer) Arts & Crafts*Universal
HOT DREAMS – Timber Timbre
Video of the Year (Sponsored by MuchFACT, exclusively funded by Bell Media)
Dane Collison, SonReal Black Box*Universal
Preach - SONREAL
Vernon, BC raised cinematographer and video editor Dane Collison has spent the last decade living in Vancouver where he has been documenting skateboarding around the globe as well as filling his time with creative music and corporate shorts. Dane is proud of the people he works with, both clients and colleagues. With projects playing on such outlets as Much Music, Vice’s ‘Noisey’ and Red Bull Media House, Dane is always pushing to further his work to a higher calibre and challenge himself along the way.
SonReal:
SonReal is a new school leader. With 2013 and 2014 JUNO Award nominations, this young artist has independently put all eyes on him by consistently putting out interesting innovative material. Notorious for releasing mixtapes that have an album feel, it’s easy to see why SonReal is at the forefront of the Canadian music industry.
In 2012, SonReal signed with independent label Black Box and released his first collaborative project The Closers with fellow Canadian rapper/producer Rich Kidd. Together they toured nationally and secured their first JUNO Award nomination for Rap Recording of the Year.
In 2013, SonReal released his first single “Everywhere We Go” (winner of the 2014 MMVA for MuchFACT Video of the Year), which quickly caught fire and received well over 1,000,000 views online. SonReal followed up this single with his first full-length album One Long Day which paved the way for SonReal to tour nationally in Canada. Shortly after the release of One Long Day, SonReal embarked on a 53 date U.S. tour with Seattle based artist, Grieves. With a new focus on conquering the international market, SonReal set off on his Everywhere We Go Tour throughout the U.S.A., as well as recording his international debut album.
Grandson & Son, Zeds Dead Mad Decent*Ultra
Lost You - ZEDS DEAD FT. TWIN SHADOW
In 2011, Grandson & Son was signed to The Field in Toronto Canada for music video representation. He has since directed and edited music videos for Emmnauel Jal ft. Nile Rodgers & CHIC, Zeds Dead X Twin Shadow, Art Department X Seth Troxler, Steve Aoki, Mansions on the Moon which was executive produced by Pharrell Williams of N*E*R*D and Mirel Wagner through Sub Pop, He has received glowing reviews from Rolling Stone Magazine, Pitchfork Magazine, SPIN, and NPR.org for his work. Grandson and Son is one person.
Zeds Dead:
Zeds Dead is a Canadian electronic music duo formed in 2009 from Toronto, composed of Dylan Mamid, or DC, and Zach Rapp-Rovan, or Hooks. Zeds Dead explores a diverse variety of genres that amalgamate aspects of electro house, hip-hop, glitch, and drum and bass into their largely dubstep platform.
The duo are currently signed to the Mad Decent record label and have released music on several others. Much of their music remains bootlegged, unofficially released, or given away as free downloads. Zeds Dead tours in extensive fashion and are significant components of the live music and festival circuits. They most recently toured around Canada and the United States for their Somewhere Else EP, but have played shows all over the world: including big name festivals like Mad Decent Block Party, Coachella, Electric Forest, Lollapalooza, Panorama, and many more.
Jeremy Schaulin-Rioux, Chandler Levack, Pup Royal Mountain*Universal
Guilt Trip - PUP
Jeremy Schaulin-Rioux (from Vancouver) and Chandler Levack (from Toronto) met at the Canadian Film Centre in 2012. Since then, they’ve directed music videos in North America and the UK for punk bands like PUP, DZ Deathrays and Slaves. Their collaboration with their friends PUP led to two UK Music Video Award nominations this year for “Best Rock/Indie Video.” They are represented by OB Management in London.
PUP:
What sets PUP apart in this booming scene is their ability to fuse hard raw punk energy with catchy earworms, big hooks, and scream-along choruses. Their songs are loud and fast, equal parts unchecked energy and calculated arrangements, with hair-pin turns, raging guitar riffs, and an overload of gang vocals.
Live, the band brings it full-throttled, every single show. They’ve gained a reputation for their sweaty, raucous, no-holds-barred live set. They play loud. Like really fucking loud. And every time they get on stage, you can be certain they’re gonna play their guts out – house party, dive bar, festival stage, it doesn’t matter.
In their short two years as a band, PUP has never stopped to catch their breath. It’s been two years of tireless gigging, sleeping on couches, eating vegetable soup, nose-to-the-grindstone, eating/sleeping/ breathing music.
Kiesza, Blayre Ellestad, Rami Afuni and Ljuba Castot Island*Universal
Hideaway - KIESZA
Natalie Rae Robison, Kandle Dare to Care*D.E.P.
Not Up To Me - KANDLE
Currently based in Toronto, Natalie Rae Robison is an award winning music video and commercial director from Vancouver, BC.
Kandle:
Kandle is the solo project of Victoria, B.C. native Kandle Osborne, a songstress whose elegiac and moody brand of singing and songwriting reflect a maturity well beyond her years. Following her acclaimed EP’s release, Kandle and her band embarked on tours throughout Europe and Canada including shows at CMJ, Osheaga, Pop Montreal and M for Montreal. Kandle spent much of 2013 recording her debut full-length album, which was co-produced by Neil Osborne and Sam Goldberg Jr. The album In Flames, featured the single “Demon”, an eerie rhythmic chant-like song, released in October 2013, alongside a video as powerful as the song itself. This is the year of opportunities for Kandle and the band, as they will have the chance to showcase the band’s full potential across North America and Europe.
Electronic Album of the Year
Caribou Merge*F.A.B
Our Love
Deadmau5 Mau5trap*Universal
While (1<2)
Up to this point, his career stands earmarked by a series of firsts and shattered records. At the 54th annual Grammy Awards in 2012, he gave a monumental performance as part of the prestigious ceremony’s first-ever telecast celebrating electronic music. He’s also the first electronic artist in history to grace the cover of Rolling Stone. His sold out show at Toronto’s Rogers Centre, documented on the MEOWINGTONS HAX 2k11 DVD, and London’s Earl’s Court, documented on the deadmau5 live @ earl’s court DVD, made him the first Canadian artist as well as the first electronic artist to headline both venues.
Lydia Ainsworth Arbutus*F.A.B.
Right From Real
Blurring the boundaries between indie music, filmic orchestration, and electronic music, Lydia’s debut Right From Real thrives on haunting melodies and draws inspiration from a wide range of musical sources: Verdi’s Requiem, Ace of Base, Bulgarian Choirs, Bernard Herrmann, Tones on Tail, Art of Noise, to name a few. This sense of unexpected marriages of influence flows throughout much of Lydia’s previous work which features use of voice sampling and string arrangements woven into a unique minimalist fabric.
Plastikman Mute*Warner
EX
Ryan Hemsworth Last Gang*Universal
Alone For The First Time
With his sophomore album, Alone For The First Time, Ryan Hemsworth continues his sonic collages and explorations, digging even deeper into unexplored genres, and this time coming back to his songwriting roots with a more thoughtful and layered record.
Metal/Hard Music Album of the Year
Devin Townsend Project HevyDevy*eOne
Z²
Kataklysm
Nuclear Blast*Sony
Waiting for the End to Come
The twelfth studio album Waiting For The End To Come was released in October. This album was recorded by guitarist and producer Jean Francois Dagenais (Malevolent Creation, Misery Index, Despised Icon, Ex Deo) and mixed by producer/engineer Zeuss (Hatebreed, Suffocation, Chimaira, All That Remains). Peter Sallai (Sabaton) has created the artwork for the standard jewel case and limited edition cassette tape versions and the artwork by Eliran Kantor (Testament, Hatebreed) will be features featured on the deluxe digipak and LP versions. On this album the drums were played by Oli Beaudoin (ex-Neuraxis ).
Shooting Guns
RidingEasy*Pre-Rock
Brotherhood of the Ram
Single Mothers
Dine Alone*Universal
Negative Qualities
Skull Fist NoiseArt*Fontana
Chasing the Dream
The second Skull Fist album Chasing the Dream was released in 2014 and sent them back out touring this entire circuit again. All of the major magazines have since featured the band and given it very positive reviews. In 2014 the band completed a European tour, a United Kingdom tour, a South American tour, and a Mexican tour.
Adult Contemporary Album of the Year
Alysha Brilla
Sunny Jam*Independent
Womyn
Coeur de pirate
Dare to Care*D.E.P.
Trauma: Chansons de la série télé (saison no. 5)
Jann Arden
Universal
Everything Almost
Arden has released 12 albums with 19 top ten singles. Her most recent recording, Everything Almost was released in 2014. With Grammy Award winning producer Bob Rock behind the console, the 11-track disc is considered to be amongst Jann’s finest work – progressive, yet retaining the magic that is distinctly Jann. In her career to date she has received eight JUNO Awards including Female Artist of the Year and Songwriter of the Year and in 1997 she hosted the JUNO Awards ceremony. Arden is also the recipient of 10 SOCAN Awards, four Western Canadian Music Awards, a Much Music Video Award, three Prairie Music Awards and an Alberta Recording Industry Association Award.
Ndidi
Universal
Dark Swing
Sarah McLachlan Verve*Universal
Shine On
In 2010, McLachlan released her first studio album of all original material for the first time in nearly seven years titled Laws of Illusion. Produced by her longtime collaborator Pierre Marchand, the album featured 12 new songs and debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200. This album featured the single “One Dream” which became the official theme song of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. McLachlan then went on to perform her hit “Ordinary Miracle” at the opening ceremony of the Olympics in her home city Vancouver in front of an estimated 3 billion television viewers worldwide.
Getting back in the studio in 2013, McLachlan began to put together her much anticipated album Shine On, delighting multitudes of fans who have waited four years for new material.
Allan Waters Humanitarian Award
Rush
Over the course of their four-decade-long career, the members of Rush have thrown their support behind a wide variety of worthy causes often privately and sometimes publicly. From their earliest shows at Toronto’s historic Maple Leaf Gardens, the band started working with the Toronto Food Bank to encourage fans to bring food for those in need. Eventually deciding to do their first charity concert at Maple Leaf Gardens to benefit the United Way in the early ‘80s, and an amFAR show to benefit Aids Research in the early ‘90s, engaging themselves and their fans in positive pursuits naturally became part of the Rush ethos.
As dedicated advocates of human rights, in 2008 Rush donated $100,000 from a Winnipeg concert’s gate to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. In the same year, on their Snakes & Arrows Tour, the band donated $100,000 from their show in New Orleans to Brad Pitt’s Make It Right Foundation to assist in the revitalization of the city post Hurricane Katrina, and sponsor the construction of a house in The Lower Ninth Ward dubbed “The House that Rush Built.”
From their 2010 Time Machine Tour onwards, Rush has donated $1 from every concert ticket sold to various charities including Doctors Without Borders, a total which will soon surpass $2 million over these last five years. In 2013, the band performed an incredibly successful benefit concert at Red Deer’s Enmax Centrium with all proceeds going to the Canadian Red Cross to help victims of the flooding that devastated many regions of southern Alberta. The event raised over $575,000 and was one of the largest donations made to the Alberta Flood Relief.
Rush’s vast catalogue includes such classics as 1974’s self-titled debut, 1976’s 2112, 1981’s Moving Pictures, 1996’s Test For Echo, and 2002’s Vapor Trails. Rush released their 20th studio album, Clockwork Angels in 2012 via Anthem/Roadrunner Records. The critically acclaimed collection marks their first studio recording since 2007’s Snakes & Arrows, and debuted at #1 in Canada and #2 on the Billboard 200 matching the highest chart debut of the band’s career. Rush was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1994, made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1996 and inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2010. They have received a star on both Canada’s Walk of Fame (1999) and Hollywood Walk of Fame (2010). Rush received the highest artistic honour in Canada by winning the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award in 2012 and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013.
Canadian Music Hall of Fame
Alanis Morissette
Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award
Ray Danniels
In addition to Rush, Anthem has released albums from Max Webster, Ian Thomas, Gowan, Molly Johnson, Steven Page and most recently The Tea Party, Big Wreck and Brody Dalle. Anthem has made an impact with projects that have defined Canadian culture, having released projects such as Bob & Doug Mackenzie and The Trailer Park Boys soundtracks. In its 40-year history, SRO Management has been instrumental in the careers of Rush, Van Halen, Extreme, The Tea Party, Matthew Good, and Big Wreck amongst others.
Danniels was inducted into the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame in 2007 and was also the recipient of the third annual Music Managers Forum Canada Honour Roll Award.