I missed Friday night of Nova Scotia Music Week, but here’s a summation of what I’ve heard: pillow fights, rug burns, hallway bowling, water slides, fuzzy mouth. And some amazing showcases, including Rich Aucoin, i see rowboats, Alright Already, Erin Costelo, Ghost Bees, Share, Don Brownrigg and Tanya Davis. I wasn’t sure how this weekend was going work because the hotels are a bit isolated—there have been two car accidents involving deer so far–but there are incredibly convenient volunteer-run shuttles that will take you wherever you want to go. The fine Pictou folks should consider hiring themselves out to Lindsay Lohan and Shia LeBeouf. And as a bonus, my hotel room faces the Swiss Chalet festive special. (I just realized that I probably grossed out Dave & Mat from Let’s Get Baked when I bumped into them on my way to pick up the chicken.)
I also wasn’t sure if I was going to make it through the night, especially after watching Burn After Reading. Sure, we all want to see Brad Pitt get punched in the face, but I’m apologizing now to those of us in the room who were voting for Traveling Pants 2. I also got a sneak peek at Halifax’s hottest new cover band, Fuck yeah ( I forgot to ask if there’s a comma or exclamation mark), before they made their late-night showcase. If you’ve been wondering when someone’s going to fill the Matt Mays-Tegan and Sara-Concrete Blonde covers niche, look no further. Looking around the Holiday Inn room crowd at about 3:00am, it might as well been the Marquee. Minus the pizza.
found on a Holiday Inn hotel room door. At least it’s not “rawk.”
Everyone looked crunchy and cranky this morning at the Industry Awards Brunch. A lot of winners were missing–many of them were in soundcheck and weren’t there to pick up their fancy blue glass tubes—but no one looked as sad as the people who got to the food line and realized there was nothing left but scones and bananas, which don’t really do a good job soaking up the night before. But food and coffee was replenished before the riots, moods lightened and some great people picked up awards. There was five at our table, at one count.
I have lots of photos but I’m having technical issues so until Monday, here are a couple of photos I salvaged (don’t hate on the quality), plus the award winners.
Jill Barber, joined by Gillian Boucher, makes a detour off her busy tour to play one song, “Old Flame,” at the brunch. That’s a classy lady.
Dan Ledwell is not as out of focus as he appears here. The nominee for musician of the year sounded great–much better than my bad photo.
And here are the nominees and winners:Alternative Artist/Group Recording Rich Aucoin, Personal Publication Great Plains, Home of the New Totem Mardeen, Read Less Minds The Sleepless Nights, Turn Into Vapour Tomcat Combat, I’m Okay You’re Okay
Blues Artist/Group Recording The Hupman Brothers, The Hupman Brothers Frank MacKay, Believe it or Not Thom Swift, Into the Dirt Ken Ward, Love Happens
Classical Recording Christopher Bowman & David Chafe, Over Hill and ValleyThe Ernst Family, Give Me Jesus Nova Brilliante, Melodies of Love: Vol. 1
Country/Bluegrass Artist/Group Recording Dave Carroll, Perfect Blue Ryan Cook and Sunny Acres, Hot TimesJeanne (Doucet) Currie, Serrons-nous la main Grassmarket, Waiting SouthWind, The Sun Always Rises
DJ of the Year DJ IV Count Sockula Esq. JoRun DJ T-Woo Uncle Fester
Folk Recording Steven Bowers, Homing Don Brownrigg, Wander Songs Dave Gunning, House For Sale Old Man Luedecke, Proof of Love David Myles, On the Line
Francophone Artist/Group Recording Bette & Wallet, Voici…Bette & Wallet Ronald Bourgeois, J’ai trouvé dans une chanson Jeanne (Doucet) Currie, Serrons-nous la main
Hip-Hop Recording Blinxamillion, The Re-Birth Mic Boyd, Lost in the Woods The Chronicles, Bundle Up The Extremities, The New TonicGhettosocks, I Can Make Your Dog Famous
Inspirational Artist/Group Recording Dave Carroll, Perfect BlueThe Ernst Family, Give Me Jesus Mary-Grace Koile, Labour of Love Life Support, Roar of Heaven SouthWind, The Sun Always Rises
Jazz/Electro Acoustic Artist/Group Recording Shan Arsenault, Below Sea Level Swingology, SwingologyTonic, Tonic
Loud Artist Recording Myles Deck and the Fuzz, Beware the Fuzz Diminished Fifth Records, The Music of Artisanship and War: Vol 1 Shelter With Thieves, A Dark ChapterTomcat Combat, I’m Okay You’re Okay
Musician of the Year Jordi Comstock Kev Corbett Daniel Ledwell Ian Sherwood Thom Swift
Pop/Rock Artist/Group Recording The Contact, Canvas Tears Chad Hatcher, Tunnels and Pathways Christina Martin, Two HeartsJon McKiel, The Nature of Things Shobha, Work in Progress
Traditional/Roots Recording Bette & Wallet, Voici…Bette & Wallet Ronald Bourgeois, J’ai trouvé dans une chanson Dwayne Cote, A Compilation Chrissy Crowley, Chrissy Crowley Troy MacGillivray, Live at the Music RoomJason Roach, Jason Roach
Urban Artist/Group Recording Andru Branch and Halfway Tree, The Only Constant Shobha, Work in Progress Jamie Sparks, It’s the Music
In addition, a bunch of industry awards were presented too: Booking Agent of the Year: Troy ArseneaultCompany of the Year: Sonic Entertainment GroupCorporate Sponsor of the Year: Delta HotelsEducator of the Year: Waye MasonEvent of the Year: Halifax Pop ExplosionIndustry Professional of the Year: Heather GibsonManager of the Year: Lynn HorneMedia Professional of the Year: Stephen Cooke – The Chronicle HeraldProducer of the Year: ClassifiedProduction Company of the Year: Sound Systems PlusPromoter of the Year: Sonic ConcertsPublicist of the Year: Matt CharltonRadio Program of the Year: Let’s Get Baked – CKDURecording Studio of the Year: The Sonic TempleStudio Engineer of the Year: Dave GunningTechnician of the Year: Sean MacGillivrayVenue of the Year: The Seahorse TavernVisual Artist of the Year: Chr!s Sm!thVolunteer of the Year: Debbie Rockola
The rest will be blue-tubed this evening at the Awards Gala.
This article appears in Nov 6-12, 2008.
