Lighting the way

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Lorne Cardinal is proud to act as beacon for other aboriginal performers.

Lorne Cardinal gets it.

The veteran stage and screen actor fully understands the burden that comes with hosting the Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards (Friday at 8 p.m., APTN) because so many up-and-coming native performers, and even more young aboriginals for whom showbiz success remains a far-away dream, will look to him for inspiration because he's one of the few who've made it.

"It's a huge responsibility, for sure," says Cardinal, who spent six hugely successful seasons as Corner Gas's simple but effective cop, Davis Quinton. "That's undeniable. Other people shy away from it, but I don't. It's part of the responsibility -- you're a visible person, you're a beacon, and it's your job to instil hope, and let young people know that anything is possible."

But as much as he's comfortable with the burden of being an inspiration to some, Cardinal is quick to add that he's also a huge fan of many of the other performers on this year's APCMA roster.

"All of them, actually," he says. "I've seen most of them before, but I'm so looking forward to seeing Buffy Sainte-Marie. She's such an icon; I'm just going to be honoured to be on the same stage as her."

Other scheduled performers include Sierra Noble, Joey Stylez, Tracy Bone, Charlie Major, Digging Roots, George Canyon, Crystal Shawanda, Inez and Wayne Lavallee.

Friday's televised APCMA event -- the second of two nights of awards presentations -- is part of the larger Manito Ahbee Festival, which runs until Sunday at various venues around the city. With Cardinal directing traffic -- his fourth time at the awards, but first as solo host -- Friday's show will include presentations in a dozen categories, including best rock CD, best country CD, best pow wow CD (traditional and contemporary), best new artist, single of the year and aboriginal performer of the year.

This year's performer-of-the-year finalists are Buffy Sainte-Marie, Crystal Shawanda, Don Amero, Tracy Bone and Eagle & Hawk.

Nominees for best new artist include Inez, Jon-C, Plex, Will Belcourt and the Chris Barker Band.

In preparation for Friday's broadcast, Cardinal made a quick trip to Winnipeg late last month to shoot a sketch-comedy segment that will be used as the show's opening.

"It was a lot of fun; it was a great little script we worked on," he says. "I think it'll be a fun beginning -- working with Sierra Noble, Billy Joe Green, Tracy Bone and J.C. Campbell.

"We had tons of fun in a short amount of time."

That trip, and this weekend's hosting gig, require Cardinal to step briefly away from his current job, co-starring with Royal Canadian Air Farce alumnus Craig Lauzon in a production of Kenneth T. Williams' play Thunderstick at Saskatoon's Persephone Theatre.

Cardinal says the stage remains his first love, but he will continue to pursue film and TV work in order to maintain the financial freedom to work in theatre.

"The game plan right now is to get more theatre happening," he explains. "We're inviting a lot of artistic directors in Western Canada (including Prairie Theatre Exchange's Robert Metcalfe) to check out our show; hopefully, they'll see the value in it and bring it to their towns.

"I think it's important, especially in this country, to have more native artists on stage, so other natives can see them... There's a bunch of native theatre artists out there who are world-class calibre and deserve to be on mainstages across the country."

With Corner Gas fading into the distance in his rear-view mirror, Thunderstick on his current agenda and a new APTN comedy pilot, Wolf Canyon, providing some intriguing possibilities for the future, Cardinal says he's comfortable if others expect him to carry a torch that might light the way for the next wave of aboriginal performers.

"I don't see myself as a role model, because that infers different things, and spouting something or other," he says. "I'm an actor who happens to be a native guy and who happens to be successful. I'm not preaching to anybody, but if people want to ask questions, I'm glad to answer, and to encourage young people to keep doing what they're doing.

"I mean, I come from Sucker Creek, Alberta. I never thought I'd be on TV; being an actor was never one of my plans. I just wanted to be alive. So now that I'm here, I just want to spread the positivity around, and reinforce the idea that you can be anything you want to be. You just have to do the hard work. There's no shortcuts."

brad.oswald@freepress.mb.ca

Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards APTN First Night

Tonight, McPhillips Street Station

(Invitation only)

Best Aboriginal Music Radio Station Program

Best Album Cover Design

Best Gospel CD

Best Hand Drum CD

Best International Artist

Best Peyote CD

Best Producer or Engineer

Best Rap or Hip-Hop CD

Best Television Program Promotion of Aboriginal Music

Radio Single of the Year

Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards Live Broadcast Show

Friday at 8 p.m., MTS Centre

Aboriginal Entertainer of the Year

Aboriginal Songwriter of the Year

Best Blues CD

Best Country CD

Best Duo or Group

Best Folk Acoustic CD

Best New Artist

Best Pop CD

Best Pow Wow CD -- Contemporary

Best Pow Wow CD -- Traditional

Best Rock CD

Single of the Year

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition November 5, 2009 E12