With four nominations, rural British Columbia folk duo Pharis and Jason Romero, known for their duets and handmade banjos, is the top contender vying for 2015 Canadian Folk Music Awards that will be presented during a gala event at the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton, Alberta on November 8. Amelia Curran (St. John’s, NL), Fortunate Ones (St. John’s, NL), Jenn Grant (Lake Echo, NS), Catherine MacLellan (Charlottetown, PEI), and Whitehorse (Toronto, ON) were close behind with three nods apiece.

This year’s nominees were announced Sept. 9 during a first-ever National Strum at Edmonton City Hall. The city’s folk community gathered together there to perform East Coast singer-songwriter Dave Gunning’s “These Hands,” a song of celebration and of recognition that everyone can be a hero of the human kind.

cfmaThe Canadian Folk Music Awards were established 12 years ago 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 Unsung Hero and Folk Music Canada’s Innovator Award recipients will also be honored. 73 artists and groups from nine provinces and three territories in Canada received nominations.

Musicians Benoit Bourque and Connie Kaldor host the bilingual gala awards presentation that marks the culmination of a CFMA weekend that begins on Nov. 6 and will feature two nights of showcase events prior to the Nov. 8 gala. Tickets for the gala show are $48, while the showcase events are $25 each evening. Links to purchase tickets, along with more information on the awards and showcases, may be found online at www.folkawards.ca.

A complete list of 2015 Canadian Folk Music Awards nominees follows.

Young Performer of the Year:

Robbie Bankes – Through February Snow
Coastline – Coastline
Rebecca Lappa – Tattered Rose
Mira Meikle – MIRA
Benjamin Dakota Rogers – Strong Man’s Address to the Circus Crowd

New/Emerging Artist of the Year:

Crooked Brothers – Thank You I’m Sorry
Fortunate Ones – The Bliss
The Harpoonist & the Axe Murderer – A Real Fine Mess
The River and the Road – Headlights
The Young Novelists – made us strangers

Oliver Schroer Pushing the Boundaries Award:

Kevin Breit – Ernesto and Delilah
The Jerry Cans- Aakuluk
The Shoeless – The Shoeless
Dana Sipos – Roll Up the Night Sky
Whitehorse – Leave No Bridge Unburned

English Songwriter of the Year:

Catherine Allan and Andrew James O’Brien – The Bliss (Fortunate Ones)
Jon Brooks – The Smiling and Beautiful Countryside (Jon Brooks)
Amelia Curran – They Promised You Mercy (Amelia Curran)
Luke Doucet and Melissa McClelland – Leave No Bridge Unburned (Whitehorse)
Jenn Grant – Compostela (Jenn Grant)

French Songwriter of the Year:

Jocelyne Baribeau – Entre toi et moi (Jocelyne Baribeau)
Louis-Jean Cormier – Les grandes artères (Louis-Jean Cormier)
Benoit Pinette – Panorama (Tire le Coyote)
Dany Placard – Santa Maria (Dany Placard)
Geneviève Toupin – Willows (Willows)

The Aboriginal Songwriter of the Year:

Miranda Currie – Up in the Air (Miranda Currie)
The Jerry Cans – Aakuluk (The Jerry Cans)
Raven Kanatakta and ShoShona Kish – For the Light (Digging Roots)
Buffy Sainte-Marie – Power in the Blood (Buffy Sainte-Marie)
Laura Vinson and Free Spirit – Warrior (Laura Vinson and Free Spirit)

World Group of the Year:

Ayrad – Ayrad
Alex Cuba – Healer
Lemon Bucket Orkestra – Moorka
Monsoon – Mandala
Ventanas- Arrelumbre

World Solo Artist of the Year:

Kiran Ahluwalia – Sanata: Stillness
Jean-François Bélanger – Les vents orfèvres
Elage – Diame
Emmanuel Jal – The Key
Wagner Petrilli – Confissão

Traditional Album of the Year:

Matthew Byrne – Hearts & Heroes
Le Vent du Nord – Têtu
Natalie MacMaster & Donnell Leahy – ONE
Pharis & Jason Romero – A Wanderer I’ll Stay
Jayme Stone – Jayme Stone’s Lomax Project

Traditional Singer of the Year:

Michael Jerome Browne – Sliding Delta
Matthew Byrne – Hearts & Heroes
Tamar Ilana – Arrelumbre by Ventanas
Annie Lou – Tried and True
Pharis Romero – A Wanderer I’ll Stay (Pharis and Jason Romero)

Contemporary Album of the Year:

Jon Brooks – The Smiling and Beautiful Countryside
Jenn Grant – Compostela
Catherine MacLellan – The Raven’s Sun
The Once – Departures
Gabrielle Papillon – The Tempest of Old

Contemporary Singer of the Year:

Amelia Curran – They Promised You Mercy
Peter Katz – We Are the Reckoning
Sarah MacDougall – Grand Canyon
Catherine MacLellan – The Raven’s Sun
Jory Nash – The Many Hats of Jory Nash

Instrumental Group of the Year:

Coastline – Coastline
Shane Cook and Jake Charron – Head to Head
Lemon Bucket Orkestra – Moorka
Natalie MacMaster & Donnell Leahy – ONE
Monsoon – Mandala

Instrumental Solo Artist of the Year:

Jean-François Bélanger – Les vents orfèvres
Adrianna Ciccone – The Back of Winter
Nick Hornbuckle – 12×2(+/-1)
Patti Kusturok – Milestone
Wendy MacIsaac – Off the Floor

Vocal Group of the Year:

Fortunate Ones – The Bliss
Good Lovelies – Burn The Plan
The Lucky Sisters – So Lucky
Pharis & Jason Romero – A Wanderer I’ll Stay
The Young Novelists – made us strangers

Ensemble of the Year:

Big Little Lions – A Little Frayed, a Little Torn
The Once – Departures
Jayme Stone – Jayme Stone’s Lomax Project
The Sweet Lowdown – Chasing the Sun
Whitehorse – Leave No Bridge Unburned

Solo Artist of the Year:

Michael Jerome Browne – Sliding Delta
Amelia Curran – They Promised You Mercy
Lizzy Hoyt – New Lady on the Prairie
Catherine MacLellan – The Raven’s Sun
Oh Susanna – Namedropper

Children’s Album of the Year:

Ginalina – Forest Friends’ Nature Club Album
Henri Godon – La vie rêvée!
Hilary Grist – Tomorrow is a Chance to Start Over
Stella Swanson – I’m Not a Bunny
The Swinging Belles – More Sheep, Less Sleep

Producer of the Year:

Daniel Ledwell – Compostela (Jenn Grant)
Jory Nash, Chris Stringer – The Many Hats of Jory Nash (Jory Nash)
Les Cooper – Burn The Plan (Good Lovelies)
Murray Pulver, Dave Zeglinski, Steve Bell – Pilgrimage (Steve Bell)
Pharis & Jason Romero, David Travers-Smith – A Wanderer I’ll Stay (Pharis & Jason Romero)