312147_180751242087960_1150164934_nThe LYNNeS and Buffy Sainte-Marie top the list of nominees for the 2018 Canadian Folk Music Awards with five nods each. The duo of Lynn Miles & Lynne Hanson and the much-celebrated folksinger-songwriter are among the many artists and groups from throughout Canada vying for awards in 19 categories to be presented at The Gateway in Calgary, Alberta, Nov. 30 – Dec. 1.

Buffy Sainte-Marie, a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and social activist, received the Allan Waters Humanitarian Award during the 2017 JUNO Awards ceremonies. Sainte Marie, whose musical career spans more than 50 years, and whose songs have also been covered by hundreds of other artists, is known for her thought-provoking lyrics and her passionate advocacy for indigenous people. Also an educator and philanthropist, Sainte-Marie has sought to protect indigenous intellectual property and championed indigenous artists and performers.

The LYNNeS feature two award-winning songwriters and multi-instrumentalists who have been earning accolades and wining over audiences as a duo with their gritty lyrics and tight vocal harmonies. Lynn Miles has 14 albums to her credit and has won several Juno Awards as well as Canadian Folk Music Awards. Red Molly and Claire Lynch have recorded her song “Black Flowers.” Lynne Hanson has been playing her brand of “porch music with a little red dirt” for a decade, has released six albums, and was previously nominated for a Canadian Folk Music Award as a solo artist.

The Canadian Folk Music Awards were established in 2005 to bring greater exposure to the breadth and depth of Canadian folk music, celebrating and promoting it in all its forms. A complete list of 2018 Canadian Folk Music Awards nominees follows, while more information may be found online at www.folkawards.ca.

Traditional Album of the Year:
▪ Matthew Byrne – Horizon Lines
▪ The Fretless – Live from the Art Farm
▪ Genticorum – Avant l’orage
▪ Babineau/Charrand – Gigues a 2 faces
▪ Buffy Sainte-Marie – Medicine Songs

Contemporary Album of the Year:
▪ Gabrielle Papillon – Keep the Fire
▪ Gunning & Cormier – Two
▪ The LYNNeS – Heartbreak song For the Radio
▪ The Wailin’ Jennys – Fifteen
▪ Donovan Woods – Both Ways

Children’s Album of the Year:
▪ Splash ‘N Boots – Love, Kisses, and Hugs
▪ Jeremy Fisher Junior – Highway To Spell
▪ Edgar, LeBlanc, Cool, Farmeur, Vishten, Savoie, Butler – Grand tintamarre! – Chansons et comptines acadiennes
▪ The Oot n’ Oots – Electric Jellyfish Boogaloo
▪ The Swinging Belles – The Superstar Sibling Detective Agency

Traditional Singer of the Year:
▪ Matthew Byrne – Horizon Lines
▪ Pharis Romero (of Pharis & Jason Romero) – Sweet Old Religion
▪ Lenka Lichtenberg – Masaryk: Narodni pisne
▪ Buffy Sainte-Marie – Medicine Songs
▪ Diana Erb (of Twas Now) – Old Fashioned Way

Contemporary Singer of the Year:
▪ Dana Wylie – The Earth That You’re Made Of
▪ Rob Lutes – Walk in the Dark
▪ Kellie Loder – Benefit of the Doubt
▪ Catherine MacLellan – If It’s Alright With You: The Songs of Gene MacLellan
▪ Dylan Menzie – As The Clock Rewinds

Instrumental Solo Artist of the Year:
▪ Jean-Francois Belanger – Les enrailles de la montagne
▪ Holly Blazina – Transcendencia
▪ Justin Gray (of Justin Gray & Synthesis) – New Horizons
▪ Dan MacDonald – Rural/Urban
▪ Andrea Bettger – Snappy Day

Instrumental Group of the Year:
▪ West of Mabou – The Bridge
▪ Andrew Collins Trio – Groove
▪ The Fretless – Live from the Art Farm
▪ So Long Seven – Kala Kalo
▪ Miller/MacDonald/Cormier – South Haven

English Songwriter(s) of the Year:
▪ Noosa Al-Sarraj (of Winona Wilde) – Wasted Time
▪ Bruce Cockburn – Bone On Bone
▪ Lynne Hanson, Lynn Miles (of the LYNNeS) – Heartbreak Song For The Radio
▪ Dana Sipos – Trick Of The Light
▪ Donovan Woods – Both Ways

French Songwriter(s) of the Year:
▪ Danny Boudreau – Mon ete
▪ Kristine St-Pierre – La promesse
▪ Anike Berube, Natalie Byrns (of Ancolie) – Le soleil en bulle
▪ Benoit Pinette (of Tire le Coyote) – Desherbage
▪ Etienne Fletcher – Face A

Indigenous Songwriter(s) of the Year:
▪ Tiffany Ayalik, Greyson Gritt (of Quantum Tangle) – Shelter as we go…
▪ Sandra Sutter – Cluster Stars
▪ Dennis Shorty – Gucho Hin
▪ Buffy Sainte-Marie – Medicine Songs
▪ Shanit – Apu peikussiak

Vocal Group of the Year:
▪ Good Lovelies – Shapeshifters
▪ Gunning & Cormier – Two
▪ Pharis & Jason Romero – Sweet Old Religion
▪ The LYNNeS – Heartbreak Song For the Radio
▪ The Fugitives – The Promise Of Strangers

Ensemble of the Year:
▪ The Fretless – Live from the Art Farm
▪ Genticorum – Avat l’orage
▪ Pharis & Jason Romero – Sweet Old Religion
▪ The LYNNeS – Heartbreak Song For the Radio
▪ The East Pointers – What We Leave Behind

Solo Artist of the Year:
▪ David Francey – The Broken Heart Of Everything
▪ Jolene Higgins (of Little Miss Higgins) – My Home, My Heart
▪ Bruce Cockburn – Bone On Bone
▪ Catherine MacLellan – If It’s Alright With You: The Songs of Gene MacLellan
▪ Buffy Sainte-Marie – Medicine Songs

World Solo Artist of the Year:
▪ Jean-Francois Belanger – Les entrailles de la montagne
▪ Elaiana Cnevas – Golpes & Flores
▪ Lenka Lichtenberg – Masaryk: Narodni pisne
▪ Daniel Bellegarde (of Bellegarde) – Anba Tonel
▪ Buffy Sainte-Marie – Medicine Songs

World Group of the Year:
▪ Autorickshaw – Meter
▪ Near East – Near East
▪ Oktopus – Hapax
▪ Lemon Bucket Orkestra – If I Had The Strength
▪ Minor Empire – Uprooted

New/Emerging Artist of the Year:
▪ Annie Sumi – In the Unknown
▪ The Lifers – Honey Suite
▪ Raine Hamilton – Night Sky
▪ Jack Pine and The Fire – Left To Our Own Devices
▪ Mattie Leon – Signal Hill
▪ Aerialists – Group manoeuvre

Producer(s) of the Year:
▪ Lynne Hanson, Lynn Miles – Heartbreak Song for the Radio (The LYNNeS)
▪ Chris McKhool and John ‘Beetle” Bailey – Christmas Caravan (Sultans of String)
▪ Ozan Boz – Uprooted (Minor Empire)
▪ Steve Dawson – Same As I Ever Have Been ((Matt Patershuk)
▪ Suzie Vinnick/Mark Lalama – Shake The Love Around (Suzie Vinnick)

Pushing The Boundaries:
▪ Jean-Francois Belanger – Les enrailles de la montagne
▪ Quantum Tangle – Shelter as we go…
▪ Cindy Doire – Panorama
▪ La Suite – Inventions pour deux violoneux
▪ Beatrice Deer – My All To You

Young Performer of the Year:
▪ Nick Earle, Joseph Coffin (of Earle and Coffin) – A Day in July
▪ Christine Howse – We Were
▪ Markey Mullan – Fiddle Dance
▪ Ben Heffernan – Home
▪ Jessica Wedden – One More Time