KEN mode, Amero, Nowosad, McLean and Ehnes nominated for Junos

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This article was published 02/02/2016 (3743 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The nominations for the 45th annual Juno Awards were announced this morning, and, unsurprisingly, the Weeknd is leading the pack.

The singer is up for six awards including Juno Fan Choice, Single of the Year, Artist of the Year, Songwriter of the Year and R&B/Soul Recording of the Year.

Local nominees include noise-rock trio KEN mode, who were nominated for Metal Album of the Year for their record Success.

“We’re delighted to be nominated again, especially alongside our friends Fuck the Facts and Cancer bats,” says guitarist and vocalist Jesse Matthewson.

Singer-songwriter Don Amero’s Refined is up for Adult Contemporary Album of the Year, and he says he is “over the moon” to be nominated alongside heavy-hitters such as Diana Krall and Jann Arden.

“This is huge for me. I am grateful to have been recognized over the years as an aboriginal artist but now be in the mix for adult contemporary album among Jann Arden, Diana Krall, Johnny Reid and the Tenors,” he says. “I know most will look at that list and say, ‘Who’s Don Amero?’ My hope is that they will do some searching and like what they find.”

Other local nomiations include Curtis Nowosad’s Dialectics, nominated for Jazz Album of the Year Solo, James Ehnes of Brandon for the Classical Album of the Year: Solo or Chamber Ensemble and Classical Album of the Year: Soloist(s) with Large Ensemble Accompaniment, and Big Dave McLean’s Faded But Not Gone in the Blues Album of the Year category.

Other big nominees include Drake and Justin Bieber, who are both up for five Junos, while R&B artist Alessia Cara and current ‘It Boy’ Shawn Mendes are each nominated in four categories.