Music

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Braden Gates Plays Tomorrow (Thurs 17 Sept) in College Heights

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We are excited to announce the first Home Routes concert of the new season: Alberta's Braden Gates. Described as a "born raconteur," we anticipate Braden will put on a great show.

From Edmonton, Alberta, Braden Gates is quickly becoming one of the most intriguing singer/songwriters in the province. A born raconteur in both his songwriting and song introductions, he is often compared to a young Loudon Wainwright: for his similar grimacing as he hits the notes and the sharpness of his observation and sly humor. Drawn to those with a story to tell, Gates aims to communicate these stories in a way that brings people together – which is often the case in one of his intimate live shows. Gates’ second album, Ferris Wheel, is a combination of intricate guitar work, driving fiddle playing and honest story telling. Engineered by celebrated recording engineer and producer, Miles

DATE: Thursday, Sept 17th
TIME: 6 pm dinner, 7 pm show
PLACE: Private Residence, College Heights
COST: $20 at the door
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Pharis & Jason Romero nominated for 2015 Canadian Folk Music Award

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2015 Canadian Folk Music Awards nominees announced

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 November 6-8, 2015 in Edmonton

BC's Pharis & Jason Romero lead with 4 nominations

Amelia Curran (NL), Fortunate Ones (NL), Jenn Grant (NS), Whitehorse (ON) & Catherine MacLellan (PEI) each receive 3 nominations

#CFMA2015 #StrumTogether
EDMONTON, September 9, 2015 - The first ever National Strum (#StrumTogether) was held at noon on September 9th at Edmonton's City Hall to celebrate and honour this year's nominees for the Canadian Folk Music Awards. With a choir comprised of fervent local songwriters coordinated by singer-songwriter and artist development expert Rhea March and Northern Lights Folk Club founder BillWerthmann, the Edmonton folk community came together to perform Dave Gunning's official song of celebration "These Hands" in front of a gathered crowd. Andy Frank, the Canadian Folk Music Awards' Project Director welcomed the crowd and announced the nineteen categories of nominees for the 11th annual Canadian Folk Music Awards (CFMA). Overall, 73 artists and groups were announced as Canadian Folk Music Awards nominees in 19 categories who hail from 9 provinces and 3 territories in Canada.
 Known for their vibrant duets and handmade banjos, Horsefly, BC's Pharis and Jason Romero lead the pack with four nominations for their album A Wanderer I'll Stay. Their nominations include Traditional Album of the Year, Vocal Group of the Year, Traditional Singer of the Year (Pharis Romero), and Producer of the Year (Pharis and Jason Romero with David Travers-Smith).

Amelia Curran (St John's, NL), Fortunate Ones (St John's, NL),  Jenn Grant (Lake Echo, NS),  Whitehorse (Toronto, ON) and Catherine MacLellan (Charlottetown, PEI) each bring home 3 nominations for their music.

This year's youngest nominee is nine year old Vancouver Island artist Stella Swansonfor the album I'm Not A Bunny in the Children's Album of the Year Category. Inspired by Stella's pet bunny Romeo, the album was produced by Comox's Helen Austin, a previous Canadian Folk Music Award and Juno Award recipient and a nominee this year with her group Big Little Lions.

CFMA's host city of Edmonton has three local artists with nominations: Laura Vinson and Free Spirit, nominated for Aboriginal Songwriter of the Year, Lizzy Hoytnominated for Solo Artist of the Year and Rebecca Lappa who is nominated for Young Performer of the Year.

A quick look at the nominated artists by province and territory:

British Columbia: 16 nominations, 12 artists
Alberta: 4 nominations, 4 artists Saskatchewan: 1 nomination, 1 artist Manitoba: 4 nominations, 6 artists Ontario: 33 nominations, 25 artists Quebec: 14 nominations, 12 artists
Nova Scotia: 7 nominations, 4 artists Newfoundland:  11 nominations, 5 artists
Prince Edward Island: 3 nominations, 1 artist
Yukon: 1 nomination, 1 artist Northwest Territories: 1 nomination, 1 artist

Nunavut: 2 nominations, 1 artist

The 2015 CFMA weekend is being held in the vibrant city of Edmonton. It begins on November 6th  and runs through to November 8th, culminating in the bilingual gala awards presentation at the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton. The gala event on November 8 is hosted by musicians Connie Kaldor and Benoit Bourque (La Bottine Souriante). Tickets for the gala are $48 (plus administrative fee of $2).  Thursday and Friday evening showcase events are $25 per evening. Full purchase links are available at folkawards.ca.
The complete list of nominees and categories are below.
For a complete list of nominees by category: bit.ly/CFMA2015nomineesbycategory
For nominee artist bios incl. province and hometown: bit.ly/CFMA2015nomineebios
For high-resolution images of all this year's nominees: bit.ly/CFMA2015nomineephotos