Well, that was fun. List of award winners below. Biggies include Carmen Townsend, who won four awards, Three Sheet and David Myles. Meanwhile, the "Best Sandwich," "Vodka vs. Ouzo," "No-Pants" and "Best Elevator Trauma" awards were given out during a secret ceremony on Saturday night at around 4am.

Music Awards

Bell Aliant Entertainer of the Year - Three Sheet
Recording of the Year - Carmen Townsend — Waitin' and Seein'
New Artist Recording of the Year - Carmen Townsend — Waitin' and Seein'
Female Artist Recording of the Year - Carmen Townsend — Waitin’ and Seein’
Male Artist Recording of the Year - David Myles — Live at the Carleton
Group Recording of the Year - Slowcoaster — The Darkest Of Discos
SOCAN Songwriter of the Year - Jimmy Rankin — Here in my Heart
Music Video of the Year - The Stanfields — Ship To Shore — Director: Aram Kouyoumdjian
Alternative Recording of the Year - Ryan MacGrath — Cooper Hatch Paris
Blues Recording of the Year - The Hupman Brothers Band — Loveseat Volume 1
Country and Bluegrass Recording of the Year - Ryan Cook — Peaks & Valleys
Digital Artist of the Year - Three Sheet
DJ of the Year - DJ IV
Electronic Recording of the Year - Ruth Minnikin and Her Bandwagon — Depend On This
Folk Recording of the Year - David Myles — Live at the Carleton
Francophone Recording of the Year - Luc Tardif - Et sans aucune raison apparente
Hip Hop Recording of the Year - Something Good — Business As Usual
Loud Recording of the Year - Stone Mary — Hellbound Gypsy Train
Musician of the Year - Kev Corbett
Rock Recording of the Year - Carmen Townsend — Waitin' and Seein'
Traditional/Roots Recording of the Year - Dave Gunning — A Tribute to John Allan Cameron
Urban Recording of the Year - Dutch Robinson — Life

Industry Awards

Booking Agent of the Year - Stephanie Purcell
Community Presenter of the Year — CKDU
Company of the Year - Diminished Fifth Records
Corporate Sponsor of the Year - Molson Canadian
Educator of the Year - Waye Mason
Event of the Year - Halifax Pop Explosion
Industry Professional of the Year - Jonny Stevens
Manager of the Year - Jason Burns
Media Professional of the Year - Stephen Cooke
Producer of the Year - Daniel Ledwell
Production Company of the Year - Tour Tech East
Promoter of the Year - Sonic Concerts
Publicist of the Year - Matt Charlton
Radio Program of the Year - Atlantic Airwaves (CBC)
Radio Station of the Year - CKDU 88.1FM (Halifax)
Recording Studio of the Year - The Sonic Temple
Studio Engineer of the Year - Charles Austin
Technician of the Year - Steve "Snickers" Smith
Venue of the Year - The Carleton Music Bar & Grill
Visual Artist of the Year - Chr!s Sm!th
Volunteer of the Year - Debbie Rockola

Our own Alison Lang was up for an award for Media Professional of the Year at the Music Nova Scotia Music and Industry Awards brunch, so we headed to the Grand Ballroom in our nice shirts. It was sponsored by Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey so there was a bottle on every table. It wasn't so bad in coffee. Even though we thought we were early, that was not the case so we sat at a table in the back. Hence, my itsy bitsy photo.

Ben Caplan performed a very robust sounding rendition of "Stranger" and we ate a plate of what would come up under the dictionary definition of "breakfast". Host and Music Nova Scotia president Brian Doherty possibly needed a higher point font, but was an undeniably charming host. That accent! Despite the fact that a lot of winners weren't there to accept their own awards, the show went well (full list of winners at the end of this post). Ruth Minnikin performed an ethereal song off her new concept album about family photos and stole hearts.

After the awards, Saunders, Lang and I were homeward bound. With a handful of quality CDs (Clueless soundtrack, Salt & Pepa, Destiny's Child) from the pawn shop.

Tara Thorne stayed on to make sure the evening Gala Awards show went smoothly (hosted by this week's cover lady extraordinaire Candy Palmater and Tony Quinn). Her prayers to the awards show gods were answered.

Thanks to Music Nova Scotia and Yarmouth for making a very nice time.

Here are the weekend winners. They all have big blue glass awards now, glowing hearts and the admiration of their peers.

Presented at the NSLC Gala Awards Show:

Bell Aliant Entertainer of the Year - Three Sheet
Recording of the Year - Carmen Townsend – Waitin' and Seein'
New Artist Recording of the Year - Carmen Townsend – Waitin' and Seein'
Female Artist Recording of the Year - Carmen Townsend – Waitin’ and Seein’
Male Artist Recording of the Year - David Myles – Live at the Carleton
Group Recording of the Year - Slowcoaster – The Darkest Of Discos
SOCAN Songwriter of the Year - Jimmy Rankin – Here in my Heart
Music Video of the Year - The Stanfields – Ship To Shore – Director: Aram Kouyoumdjian

Presented at the Music and Industry Awards Brunch:

Alternative Recording of the Year - Ryan MacGrath – Cooper Hatch Paris
Blues Recording of the Year - The Hupman Brothers Band – Loveseat Volume 1
Country and Bluegrass Recording of the Year - Ryan Cook – Peaks & Valleys
Digital Artist of the Year - Three Sheet
DJ of the Year - DJ IV
Electronic Recording of the Year - Ruth Minnikin and Her Bandwagon – Depend On This
Folk Recording of the Year - David Myles – Live at the Carleton
Francophone Recording of the Year - Luc Tardif - Et sans aucune raison apparente
Hip Hop Recording of the Year - Something Good – Business As Usual
Loud Recording of the Year - Stone Mary – Hellbound Gypsy Train
Musician of the Year - Kev Corbett
Rock Recording of the Year - Carmen Townsend – Waitin' and Seein'
Traditional/Roots Recording of the Year - Dave Gunning – A Tribute to John Allan Cameron
Urban Recording of the Year - Dutch Robinson – Life

Industry Awards

Booking Agent of the Year - Stephanie Purcell
Community Presenter of the Year – CKDU
Company of the Year - Diminished Fifth Records
Corporate Sponsor of the Year - Molson Canadian
Educator of the Year - Waye Mason
Event of the Year - Halifax Pop Explosion
Industry Professional of the Year - Jonny Stevens
Manager of the Year - Jason Burns
Media Professional of the Year - Stephen Cooke
Producer of the Year - Daniel Ledwell
Production Company of the Year - Tour Tech East
Promoter of the Year - Sonic Concerts
Publicist of the Year - Matt Charlton
Radio Program of the Year - Atlantic Airwaves (CBC)
Radio Station of the Year - CKDU 88.1FM (Halifax)
Recording Studio of the Year - The Sonic Temple
Studio Engineer of the Year - Charles Austin
Technician of the Year - Steve "Snickers" Smith
Venue of the Year - The Carleton Music Bar & Grill
Visual Artist of the Year - Chr!s Sm!th
Volunteer of the Year - Debbie Rockola

Nova Scotia Music Week, we are at you!

After a three and a half hour drive through some undeniably pretty parts of Nova Scotia—and one stretch of what Tara Thorne was calling "a human centipede of traffic"—we arrived at the Rodd Grand Hotel feeling a little ill from reading on our phones while in the car (I had to look up the lyrics to "Mr. Vain") and eating some questionable candy I bought at a gas station. Can I resist surprise bags? Answer: No.

Front Desk Shane checked us all in and we joked about the pointlessness of our credit cards ("That's been the story of my life this weekend: card declined" he quipped). We got our passes, an extra cot and some supplies of the NSLC variety. After making Waye Mason laugh with my horrible attitude problem, a few of us went to Th'Yarc to see Bike Rodeo and Bad Vibrations. It's my understanding that this show was somewhat last minute, which may have explained why it was under-attended. That was everyone else's loss, though, because both bands sounded SO GOOD. Bike Rodeo's harmonies killed and Bad Vibrations showed off their post-tour superpowers. Allison Saunders and I had planned on filming on location Rat Chat interviews that night, but we forgot the camera at the office and I found myself horribly unsuited to the task. I shot an amazing four minutes of footage with Bad Vibrations on my phone only to realize that I had the mic muffled the whole time. It was in the utility closet. Picture a hilarious video in your mind, please.

After this show we tried to see Rich Aucoin at Dooly's but we had missed quite a few songs (sadly) and the bar was at capacity (also sadly). I saw one song, though. He got the rainbow parachute out. You know people love that parachute.

So it was back to the bumpin' lobby of the Rodd Grand. There are a lot of hands to be shaken here. We had a little power-up girl chat and Hunx and his Punx time and then Alison Lang, Allison and Tara went back downstairs and I texted them from my bed in my jammies. I had done my nightly routine, ok? You can't go back from that.

Interesting things that happened in the night:
-Lang got lost and Google Maps failed her, but an early morning gym-goer escorted her back to the hotel. You cool, Yarmouth.
-Someone was "boogieing" upstairs all night and got a talking to from someone in the hall, which we all appreciated and giggled at.
-There was a near-constant heater on/heater off battle between Saunders and myself. I am in the heater off camp. Who's with me?

Other things about this place:

There are shuttles here driven by volunteers that just take you wherever you what to go—24 hours a day! There are people playing guitar in the hotel hallway almost all the time. Kris McCann tried to poach a pizza from the delivery person while they were bringing it up in the elevator. Be on your guard.