Halifax knows it's a music hub. It's the east coast's magnet for rockstars-on-the-rise and is full of the quiet certainty that, at any given venue on any given night, you'll happen upon some serious local talent onstage–someone that's not just good for a small city, but fucking good, full stop.
So, really, who’s surprised that this year’s East Coast Music Awards short list is bursting with some of the finest talent our fair city has to offer? With Rose Cousins’s bright-as-marmalade Bravado and Classified’s fan favourite Time leading the pack of nominations–with six and eight nods, respectively–and shout-outs to local gems Keonté Beals (whose record KING was one of our picks for 2020’s top albums), the effervescent music of Zamani and Dinuk Wijeratne (who is proof that classical music can be cool), it’s been a good year for music in Halifax–despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
Still not convinced? One of Halifax’s biggest music exports, Neon Dreams, is in the running for four ECMAs, as is the city’s dance pop king, Rich Aucoin. Kim Harris, meanwhile, is up for Pop Recording of the Year for her flawless album Heirloom. Then there’s Braden Lam, the singer-songwriter best poised to follow Tim Baker’s footsteps, up for the Rising Star ECMA alongside the indie rock rawness of Beauts. Like A Motorcycle–another of our picks for best record of 2020–is going against both Beauts and hometown hero Nap Eyes for Rock Recording of the Year.
Click here to see the full list of nominations for the 2021 ECMAs, which will be broadcast on June 10 at 8pm via the ECMAs' Facebook and Youtube pages.