“It was a great surprise. I was not prepared at all for accepting them,” Northside singer/songwriter Carmen Townsend, says about her recent quadruple award win at the Music Nova Scotia weekend in Yarmouth, “I wish I had of thought that it was possible so I could have been a little more Zen. I was shocked.”
Townsend was nominated for five awards and won every category except for Entertainer of the Year. Her four winning categories were in Female Artist Recording, New Artist Recording, Recording of the Year, and Rock Recording of the Year for her most recent release Waitin’ and Seein’. She also performed at the awards show.
Other MNS award-winning Cape Breton acts were Jimmy Rankin earning SOCAN Songwriter of the Year for “Here in My Heart” and funk jam band Slowcoaster receiving Group Recording of the Year for The Darkest Of Discos.
The awards are voted on by the Music Nova Scotia membership of more than 1400 musicians and industry professionals.
Townsend says the multiple MNS wins will help her and her band gain more exposure.
“It’s great to be recognized for all the hard work myself, my band and Darren Gallop, my manager, have put in to the project,” Townsend says in an email interview. “I have been playing for years and this record was definitely my baby. I just hope it will open some more ears to my music. Some radio stations wouldn’t pick up the record because there was too much variety on it. I don’t see that as a negative thing, I hope they can maybe be more open to it.”
Townsend has had a busy couple of years. She toured Canada, the United States, and Europe in support of her latest release as well as touring across Canada as the opener for rock legends Heart. She also regularly tours as part of the Tom Fun Orchestra and was featured on the 2008 Neil Young tribute album, Cinnamon Girl: Women Artists Cover Neil Young for Charity (Laundromat Records), and in the award winning independent film, Just Buried.
“I am taking a little break to write and gear up for the next record,” Townsend says. “We have plans to tour Canada again and Europe. As well as a showcase in New York City. I have a TV performance coming up where I’ll be singing Billie Holiday with a Big Band Swing Orchestra so I am looking forward to that! Much different from the Rock show but I love stepping out of my comfort zone.”
