Among the best in the West

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This article was published 05/07/2023 (1180 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba’s known for punching above its weight, but don’t tell that to the province’s musicians and performing artists.

They act like heavyweights when it comes to the Western Canadian Music Awards; Manitoba’s diverse group of musical acts had a knockout year, picking up 28 WCMA nominations, which were announced Tuesday.

Two of Manitoba’s rising stars, William Prince, the country-folk singer-songwriter from Peguis First Nation, and Begonia, the Winnipeg pop vocalist, earned three nominations each.

Several others earned two nominations each, including city folk singer Leith Ross, Anishinaabe DJ Boogey the Beat, the roots-rock group Whitehorse and bilingual soul band Jérémie and the Delicious Hounds.

Begonia, the stage name for Winnipeg songwriter Alexa Dirks, joins Ross and Prince in the Songwriter of the Year category. The song Butterfly, which Dirks co-wrote with Matt Peters, will vie for one of the most notable WCMAs with Prince’s When You Miss Someone and Ross’s We’ll Never Have Sex.

Begonia, whose 2023 album Powder Blue made the Polaris Music Prize longlist in June, is also up for Pop Artist of the Year and the video for her song Married by Elvis picked up a nod for Ryan Steel for Video Director of the Year.

Prince, who released the album Stand in the Joy in April, is also nominated for Recording of the Year and Roots Artist of the Year.

Whitehorse, the husband-and-wife duo of Luke Doucet and Melissa McClelland, called Hamilton home until 2021, when they moved to Winnipeg, where Doucet grew up, to take care of his mother. They earned nominations for Recording of the Year and Country Album of the Year for 2023’s I’m Not Crying, You’re Crying.

Ross, who moved to Winnipeg from Ottawa in 2022 and calls the city home, is also nominated as the WCMA’s Breakout Artist of the Year.

Boogey the Beat, who curated Spotify’s Indigenous music channel in June, is nominated for Electronic and Dance Artist of the Year and Producer of the Year.

St. Boniface’s Jérémie and the Delicious Hounds joins Andrina Turenne, Jocelyne Baribeau and Sala as Manitobans nominated for Francophone Artist of the Year, and also caught the WCMA’s eye for R&B Artist of the Year.

Winnipeg blues-rockers the Bros. Landreth are up for Roots Artist of the Year, while the record label they co-founded, Birthday Cake Media, earned two of Manitoba’s eight nominations for WCMA music industry awards.

Other local artists receiving WCMA nominations: Karl Stobbe, classical artist/ensemble; Megumi Masaki, classical artist/ensemble; El Leon and the Stranger, global artist; Onna Lou, global artist; Jocelyn Gould, jazz artist; Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra, jazz artist; KEN Mode, metal and hard rock artist; Deadmen, producer of the year; Dill the Giant, rap and hip-hop artist; Michael Linton, video director of the year; Cam Loeppky, audio engineer of the year; Roberta Landreth, excellence in visual design, Birthday Cake Media, impact in artist development and impact in music marketing; Paquin Entertainment, impact in artist development and impact in live music; West End Cultural Centre, impact in live music and impact in music marketing; Good + Plenty Arts Collective, community excellence award.

The awards will be handed out during the WCMA’s annual Breakout West event, which takes place Oct. 11-15 in Kelowna, B.C.

alan.small@winnipegfreepress.com

Twitter: @AlanDSmall