Winnipeg duo takes trio of awards

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This article was published 06/04/2020 (2356 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Small Glories’ experience of the Canadian Folk Music Awards on Saturday wasn’t your usual gala affair. No stuffy ceremony. No red carpet. No need to don fancy formal wear.

Instead, Cara Luft and JD Edwards of the Winnipeg duo watched from the comfort of their living rooms as the award winners were streamed over the internet. Three weeks earlier, organizers had cancelled the awards gala, set for Charlottetown, P.E.I., and moved the announcement online as the global COVID-19 pandemic began sweeping across Canada.

From there, the anticipation was the same. So was the celebration after the Small Glories won three awards — the group was the evening’s big winner — and so were the pride and excitement of being recognized.

“Watching an awards show online, in our individual homes, is so different than attending a gala in person, and yet I think we both felt that the CFMAs did a beautiful job given the circumstances,” Luft writes in an email Monday.

“We were texting each other back and forth as each win was announced, and I think we were both feeling overwhelmed with gratitude!”

For Edwards, who was watching the announcement on his phone, those texts often came at awkward times due to streaming lag.

“I kept getting messages, ‘You’ve won!’ and I hadn’t seen it on my phone yet,” he said in a telephone interview Monday. “Just a small part of me wanted to see it live; I didn’t want anyone to tell me.

“It’s like you’re recording the ball game and you don’t want someone to blurt out the score.”

The Small Glories’ album, Assiniboine & The Red, won for contemporary album of the year and the duo won for vocal group of the year and ensemble of the year.

The group will have to wait to take advantage of the opportunities the CFMA wins present.

“Usually when awards like this happen, there’s some immediate interest from presenters, and I think that interest will eventually show itself, but right now so many promoters and venues are wondering what the future holds for them,” Luft writes.

“We know that when the time is right we’ll be back out there sharing our music and celebrating these wins with friends in person.”

Edwards has a U.S. visa that allows him to perform in the States, but it expires at the end of May.

“This whole COVID situation has been so devastating for music and so frustrating.”

Assiniboine & The Red, which is also up for a Juno award for traditional album of the year, is a Prairies album; the opening track is Alberta and the finale is Winnipeg.

“It’s the socials at the hall / watching farmers playin’ ball / it’s the Sunday night cruise down on Portage Avenue,” go the lyrics of Winnipeg, a celebration of the city. “It’s the northern lights / it’s the snowplows at night / it’s your parka and your tuque and it’s the way you wear your boots.”

 

alan.small@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter:@AlanDSmall