Manitoba Acts grab three Juno noms in the Aboriginal category

Billy Joe Green, Tracy Bone and Team Rezofficial grabbed three of the five nominations in the Aboriginal Album of the Year category for the 2009 JUNO Awards. The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) announced nominees early on February 3, naming several other homegrown acts as well as a few expats in the process, making this one of the strongest showings for Manitoba music in recent Juno history.

Green picked up the nom for his latest release on Strongfront Records entitled First Law of the Land, while Arbor Records label mates Bone and Team Rezofficial are nominated for their No Lies and The World (And Everything In It) discs, respectively.

Manitoba is also well represented in the Roots & Traditional Album of the Year (Group) category with nominations for Chic Gamine, The Duhks and Twilight Hotel. Doc Walker is in the running for Country Recording of the Year, Composer T. Patrick Carrabré is nominated for Classical Composition of the Year, Paquin Entertainment’s Gilles Paquin, with Joan Prowse, is up for Music DVD of the Year for Buffy Sainte-Marie’s A MultiMedia Life and Winnipeg blues legend Big Dave McLean is up for Blues Album of the Year.

The expats up for JUNO Awards this year include Former Winnipegger DJ Brace (Instrumental Album of the Year), Brandon-born violinist James Ehnes (Classical Album of the Year: Solo or Chamber Ensemble) and Christian rock band Starfield (Contemporary Christian/Gospel Album of the Year).

Congratulations are also in order for multiple Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Award winner Crystal Shawanda, innovative throat singer Tanya Tagaq and Academy Award winning songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie. Shawanda is up for New Artist of the Year and Country Recording of the Year, Tagaq is in the running for Instrumental Album of the Year and the Aboriginal Album of the Year, and Sainte-Marie is nominated for Music DVD of the Year and Aboriginal Album of the Year.
Winners will be declared at the JUNO Gala Dinner & Awards on March 28, and the 2009 JUNO Awards broadcast on CTV on March 29 at General Motors Place in Vancouver, BC.

For a complete list of 2009 JUNO Awards nominees, go to www.junoawards.ca.

2009 JUNO Awards – Manitoba Nominees

ABORIGINAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Billy Joe Green - First Law Of The Land
Tracy Bone - No Lies
Team Rezofficial - The World (And Everything In It)

COUNTRY RECORDING OF THE YEAR
Doc Walker - Beautiful Life

CLASSICAL COMPOSITION OF THE YEAR
T. Patrick Carrabré - From The Dark Reaches

ROOTS & TRADITIONAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR (GROUP)
Chic Gamine -Chic Gamine
The Duhks - Fast Paced World
Twilight Hotel - Highway Prayer

BLUES ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Big Dave McLean - Acoustic Blues – Got ‘Em From The Bottom

MUSIC DVD OF THE YEAR
Gilles Paquin, Joan Prowse - A MultiMedia Life (Buffy Sainte-Marie)