by WGO staff
The Canadian Folk Music Awards celebrates its 16th edition with a roster of nominations that celebrates the breadth and depth of Canadian folk music. This year’s nominees span the country from Baie-Egmont, Prince Edward Island to Pangnirtung, Nunavut, and from Horsefly, British Columbia to St. John’s, Newfoundland — celebrating the diversity and talent of artists and musicians across Canada.
Established by Canada’s vibrant and internationally-recognized folk music community, the awards currently boasts 19 categories. Nominees are chosen for each category through a two-stage jury process. More than 100 jurors, located across Canada, representing all official provinces, territories and languages, determine the official recipients in each category.
Among the 100 nominees for CFMA’s this year, there are four from Cape Breton. Trad favourites Beòlach are nominated in two categories—Instrumental Group of the Year and Traditional Album of the Year—for their third album, All Hands. Natalie MacMaster is nominated for Instrumental Solo Artist of the Year on the strength of her latest album, Sketches, and Mike McKenna Jr. has been recognized for his second full length album, At The Edge of the World, with a nomination for Contemporary Album of the Year.
The CFMA has added new award category for 2021, Single of the Year, which recognizes an artist or group, and their producer(s) for a single release recording, or a track from an album that was released as a single. This category is open to all folk genres, songs and instrumentals. The East Pointers, from Prince Edward Island, picked up a nomination in this category for their single “Wintergreen”, produced by Nashville-based Cape Bretoner Gordie Sampson.
The 16th edition of the Canadian Folk Music Awards Celebration will take place online again this year, and will present all 19 awards, plus the Unsung Hero Award, over the weekend of April 9-10, 2021. The Awards were originally scheduled in-person over this weekend in Charlottetown, PEI, however, the CFMAs have made the difficult decision to cancel the live shows and weekend celebrations due to COVID-19. The health and safety of our patrons, artists, staff and the general public remains paramount, more information will be shared in early 2021.
The Awards Weekend online presentations will capture the true heart of the folk community, while celebrating the 2021 nominees and the category recipients. The virtual CFMA Awards show will announce the recipients of the 2021 Canadian Folk Music Awards, including the Unsung Hero Award Presentation, along with announcing where the 2022 event will take place.
If you just can’t wait for April to catch up with your favourite Canadian Folk artists, watch the nominations announcement here or listen to the 2021 CFMA Nominees on Spotify. Visit folkawards.ca for the full list of 2021 CFMA nominees and categories and for easy access to the Awards livestream and all the latest news, drop by CFMA’s facebook page.
