(REGINA) For release November 30, 2020

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​SaskMusic today announced the nominees of the 2020 Saskatchewan Music Awards, via a streamed event. The awards are intended to honour excellence and celebrate the achievements of our Saskatchewan music industry members over the past year. The 2020 awards event will take place in a streaming format on January 24/2021 via SaskMusic’s social media pages. Performers for the virtual event will be announced at a later date. Today’s announcement also included the long list for The Best Saskatchewan Albums of 2020. Now in its sixth year, this annual year-end list was created to draw attention to fantastic Saskatchewan music released in a broad range of styles, and now goes forward for the public to determine the winner of Album of the Year.

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SaskMusic Executive Director Mike Dawson explained, “The music industry’s been one of the sectors hardest hit by the pandemic. It’s had an unprecedented impact not only on our musicians, but also our venues, festivals, sound techs, and stage and touring crews, just to name a few. I think it’s because of this - perhaps in spite of this - that it feels like it’s so important to celebrate the work and successes of our artists and industry here in Saskatchewan. I’m constantly inspired, not only by the incredible music that comes out of Saskatchewan, but also by the support and encouragement the musicians offer each other. Although we can’t get together in person as we have in the past, we hope that you will join us in celebrating these nominations, and tuning in to the awards in January.”

 

The awards are being held in conjunction with the Very Prairie Music Summit, an educational and network-building event for the Saskatchewan music industry, which will also be held online. Please follow SaskMusic’s social media accounts, and www.saskmusicawards.com, for updates.

 

SaskMusic would like to thank Creative Saskatchewan and FACTOR (The Foundation Assisting Canadian Talent on Recordings) for their support.

 

THE NOMINEES

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Alternative Artist of the Year

• Ava Wild

• Close Talker

• Natural Sympathies

• The Garrys

• W3APONS

 

Country Artist of the Year

• Hunter Brothers

• Jordyn Pollard

• Justin LaBrash

• Samara Yung

• Shantaia

• Tenille Arts

 

Electronic Artist of the Year

• Natural Sympathies

• Origin of Spin

• Parab Poet

• Patient Hands

• Patrick Moon Bird

• RUMPUS

 

Experimental / Contemporary Artist of the Year

• ADEOLUWA

• éemi

• Jesse Brown

• Patient Hands

• The Garrys

• Toria Summerfield

 

Hip Hop Artist of the Year

• Alex Bent + the Emptiness

• Dayda Banks

• Factor Chandelier

• InfoRed

• Origin of Spin

 

Indigenous Artist of the Year

• InfoRed

• Patrick Moon Bird

• The North Sound

• Too Soon Monsoon

• Yvonne St.Germaine

 

Metal/Loud Artist of the Year

• Black Thunder

• Dream Creeps

• Midnight Gallows

• Mike Froh

• The Basement Paintings

• The Moon Runners

 

Rock/Pop Artist of the Year

• Davy Sage

• Shirley & The Pyramids

• Too Soon Monsoon

• velours

• W3APONS

 

Roots/Folk Artist of the Year

• Ellen Froese

• Gunner & Smith

• Jeffery Straker

• JJ Voss

• The North Sound

 

Producer of the Year

• Barrett Ross

• Bart McKay

• Chris Dimas

• Factor Chandelier

• Ryan Andersen

 

Music Video of the Year

• Andrew Parry for "Scaredy Cat," Marissa Burwell

• Dylan Hryciuk - Versa Films for "Blessed Be," Spiritbox

• Dylan Hryciuk - Versa Films for "Summer Haze," velours

• Mitch Goetz for "Getta Say," Laska

• Sean Xiao He for "Nevertheless," Zayd

• Thoen Brothers for "Drum Machine," RUMPUS

 

Single of the Year

• "Country Girls," Jess Moskaluke

• "Halfway Home," Jess Moskaluke

• "Hard Dirt," Hunter Brothers

• "Notes from Tom," Jesse Brown and Tom Merrall

• "Somebody Like That," Tenille Arts

 

Industry Achievement

• Broadway Theatre

• Eliza Doyle

• Trifecta Sound Co

• 91.3FM CJTR

• Saskatchewan Jazz Festival

 

Venue of the Year

• Broadway Theatre

• Coors Event Centre

• TCU Place Sid Buckwold Theatre

• The Exchange

• The Happy Nun

 

Notes:

• Single of the Year is a data-driven category which is can include any genre. All other nominees were determined by juries comprised of music industry members.

• Venue of the Year is a juried category which takes into consideration both the music programming of the venue over the past year, in addition to initiatives that the venue may have accomplished during the pandemic.

• The Breaking Borders Award, typically presented by the Derek Bachman Foundation, is on hiatus for this year.

 

THE BEST SASKATCHEWAN ALBUMS OF THE YEAR: LONG LIST

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From 130+ full-length albums released in the eligibility period, SaskMusic juries assembled our Long List of 42. Now we turn to the public to determine the Top Ten of 2020, and ultimately the Album of the Year. We encourage music lovers to discover new albums and then vote for their favourites before the midnight December 13/20 deadline. Only one vote per IP address will be counted for the duration of the voting period. 

 

The Top 10 albums will be announced via social media the week of December 16, with the top spot being awarded the Saskatchewan Music Award for Album of the Year. 

 

More information and to vote is on the Best Sask Albums page of this website.

 

The 2020 BSA Long List

• 3 Moonjask, Lunar Elixir 

• Aaron Karpinka, Tender Heart     

• ADEOLUWA, After Bells and Whistles        

• Arcana Kings, Lions As Ravens    

• The Basement Paintings, Antipodes         

• Bex, You'll Be Here Someday       

• Black Thunder, La Fine Creata      

• Dex Riley, Body 

• Doubt It, Dang It               

• Dumb Angel, Dumb Angel           

• Dylan Jules Cooper, Summer       

• Ellen Froese & Campbell Woods, Farm Boy Sings The Blues              

• Fabric YXE & Dayda Banks, Leaving Neverland      

• Factor Chandelier, First Storm     

• The Garrys, Haxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages (Original Score)   

• Hoodoo, The LizardMang EP        

• Jay & Jo , Victory

• Jesse Brown, Where To? 

• JJ Voss, Come Along With Me      

• jj white, Rewind

• Jon Carteri, Road Trip to Mars      

• Kay the Aquanaut & Maki, The Nautical Blue          

• Keiran Semple, Chester  

• Legends, Legends           

• LTP, Singularity 

• Marshall Burns, Dogs and Booze 

• Midnight Gallows, Attack Warning Red    

• Natural Sympathies, Porous         

• The North Sound, As The Stars Explode    

• Origin of Spin, Abstract Perception           

• Patient Hands, Stasis      

• Patrick Moon Bird, USEFUL.          

• Pimpton, TUNNELZ          

• The Radiation Flowers, Stuck in a Maze    

• Saintvicious, Saintvicious              

• Shirley & The Pyramids, A New American Classic   

• Skizza, Things I Found    

• The Steadies, Tiro de Leone          

• Tenille Arts, Love, Heartbreak, & Everything in Betweeen  

• Theo Maczek, Harvest The Sunrise             

• Toria Summerfield, From Her Rib

• Yvonne St. Germaine, Sorrow Road           

 

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​SaskMusic is a non-profit, member-based association that represents, promotes and develops the artists and commercial music industry of Saskatchewan, both domestically and internationally. We offer one-on-one guidance, workshops, marketing and export assistance, career development opportunities, peer sessions, artist and business listings, and more. From songwriters and freelance musicians to studios, we work with artists and industry members across our province, in an extensive range of genres and skill levels. SaskMusic is a source of information and resources for both the public and the music industry.