With four nominations each, Bruce Cockburn and Dave Gunning are the top nominees vying for awards during the seventh annual Canadian Folk Music Awards slated to be presented during a gala event at the Isabel Bader Theatre in Toronto, Dec. 4. The awards were established to bring greater exposure to the breadth and depth of Canadian folk music, celebrating and promoting it in all its forms. Outstanding achievements will be recognized in 19 categories, while a new “Unsung Hero” award also will be bestowed.

Bruce Cockburn's latest album

Cockburn, a prolific singer-songwriter and recipient of 13 Juno Awards, received nods for Contemporary Album of the Year for his 31st release (Small Source of Comfort), Contemporary Singer, Solo Artist and English Songwriter of the Year. Gunning, a Nova Scotia-bred singer-songwriter, garnered nominations for Traditional Album of the Year (A Tribute to John Allen Cameron), Traditional Singer, New/Emerging Artist and Producer of the Year. Genticorum, a foot-stomping Quebecois musical trio, secured three nominations as did world music francophone group Maz and Juno Award-winning Western Canadian trio The Wailin’ Jennys, whose Winnipeg-born songstress Ruth Moody also captured two nominations of her own for Solo Artist of the Year and Pushing the Boundaries. Also scoring two nods were the harmonic Finest Kind, The Good Lovelies and Twilight Hotel; instrumentalists Creaking Tree String Quartet; fiddler Jaron Freeman-Fox; and veteran folk artists David Francey, Ron Hynes, Lynn Miles and Mae Moore (all four of whom received nominations in the English Songwriter of the Year category).

A complete list of 2011 Canadian Folk Music Awards nominees follows.

Traditional Album of the Year

Dave Gunning – A Tribute to John Allan Cameron
Finest Kind – For Honour & For Gain
De Temps Antan – Les Habits de Papier
La Volée d’Castors – Le Retour
Genticorum – Nagez Rameurs

Contemporary Album of the Year

Twilight Hotel – When the Wolves Go Blind
Les Charbonniers de l’Enfer – Nouvelles fréquentations
Lynn Miles – Fall for Beauty
Bruce Cockburn – Small Source of Comfort
Good Lovelies – Let The Rain Fall

Children’s Album of the Year

Kathy Reid-Naiman – I Love to Hear the Sounds
Benoît Archambault – Les pourquoi
Marky Weinstock – Songs For Dreamers
Colleen Power with Crooked Stovepipe – For Little Ones
Will Stroet – Walk & Roll

Traditional Singer of the Year

Enoch Kent – Take a Trip with Me
Dave Gunning – a tribute to John Allan Cameron
Lizzy Hoyt – Home
Eileen McGann – Pocketful of Rhymes
Joel Fafard – Cluck Old Hen

Contemporary Singer of the Year

David Myles – Live at the Carleton
Suzie Vinnick – Me ‘n’ Mabel
Cat Jahnke – The Stories are Taking Their Toll
Bruce Cockburn – Small Source of Comfort
Matthew Barber – Matthew Barber

Instrumental Solo Artist of the Year

Jayme Stone – Room of Wonders
Jaron Freeman-Fox – Manic Almanac: Slow Möbius
Anne Lindsay – Hurry On Home
April Verch – That’s How We Run
Don Ross – Breakfast for Dogs

Instrumental Group of the Year

The Creaking Tree String Quartet – Sundogs
Qristina & Quinn Bachand – Family
MAZ – Télescope
Eh?! – Eh?!
RAZ-DE-MARÉE/TIDAL WAVE – Marche du St-Laurent

Vocal Group of the Year

Finest Kind – For Honour & For Gain
Les Charbonniers de l’Enfer – Nouvelles fréquentations
The Wailin’ Jennys – Bright Morning Stars
Good Lovelies – Let The Rain Fall
Genticorum – Nagez Rameurs

Ensemble of the Year

The Creaking Tree String Quartet – Sundogs
MAZ – Télescope
The Wailin’ Jennys – Bright Morning Stars
Harry Manx & Kevin Breit – Strictly Whatever
Genticorum – Nagez Rameurs

Solo Artist of the Year

Ken Whiteley – Another Day’s Journey
Mae Moore – Folklore
David Francey – Late Edition
Bruce Cockburn – Small Source of Comfort
Ruth Moody – The Garden

English Songwriter of the Year

Ron Hynes – Stealing Genius
David Francey – Late Edition
Mae Moore – Folklore
Lynn Miles – Fall for Beauty
Bruce Cockburn – Small Source of Comfort

French Songwriter of the Year

Jean-François Lessard – Jean-François Lessard
Alexandre Poulin – Une lumière allumée
Claude Cormier – Acoustique
Les Surveillantes – La racine carrée du coeur

Aboriginal Songwriter of the Year

Vince Fontaine – Songs for Turtle Island
Robert Davidson & Terri-Lynn Williams-Davidson – New Journeys
janet panic – Samples
Don Amero – The Long Way Home
Kristi Lane Sinclair – I Love You

World Artist of the Year – Solo

Lenka Lichtenberg – Fray
Massiel Yanira – Una Voz
Terri-Lynn Williams-Davidson – New Journeys
Zekuhl – I BOLO
Kiran Ahluwalia – aam zameen : common ground

World Artist of the Year – Group

Ouzo Power – Greatest Hits (Volume 1)
Nizar Tabcharani & The Backstrings – Bayati Ana
Trio Bembe – Oh My Soul
MAZ – Télescope
Minor Empire – Second Nature

New/Emerging Artist of the Year

Dave Gunning – a tribute to John Allan Cameron
Andrea Ramolo – The Shadows and the Cracks
Ruth Moody – The Garden
Ashley Condon – Come In From the Cold
Joe Nolan – Goodbye Cinderella

Producer of the Year

Dave Gunning w/ Allie Bennett & John Meir – a tribute to John Allan Cameron
(Dave Gunning)
Paul Mills – Stealing Genius (Ron Hynes)
Steve Bell, Dave Zeglinski, Murray Pulver – Kindness (Steve Bell)
David Travers-Smith – Soon The Birds (Oh Susanna)
Mark Howard – Bright Morning Stars (The Wailin’ Jennys)

Pushing the Boundaries

New Country Rehab – New Country Rehab
Twilight Hotel – When the Wolves Go Blind
Jaron Freeman-Fox – Manic Almanac: Slow Möbius
Ruth Moody – The Garden
Evalyn Parry – SPIN
Geoff Berner – Victory Party

Young Performer of the Year

Qristina & Quinn Bachand – Family
Olivia Korkola – Playing in Traffic
Rebecca Lappa – Not in Neverland
Molly Thomason – Beauty Queen
The Doll Sisters – The Road – EP

More information on the awards, tickets for the gala and reception, workshops, nominee showcase performances and special events that extend from Dec. 2-4 may be found at www.folkawards.ca.