The 2021 Canadian Folk Music Awards were presented virtually during a pair of 90-minute evening livestreams via the CFMA website and Facebook page, April 10-11.
British Columbia-based folk duo Pharis & Jason Romero, who had topped the list of nominees with six nominations for their album, Bet On Love, won both Ensemble and Vocal Group of the Year, while Pharis was named Traditional Singer of the Year. William Prince, a storytelling country-folk singer-songwriter from Peguis First Nation, who had received five nods for Reliever, won Contemporary Album of the Year and was named English Songwriter of the Year. Beòlach– a band known for both its original compositions and innovative arrangements of traditional Cape Breton, Scottish and Irish tunes — was named the winner in both the categories for which it was nominated – Instrumental Group and Traditional Album of the Year. They were among 100 nominees from throughout Canada who vied for awards in 19 categories, plus the Unsung Hero Award.
[Here’s a link to view a CBC Music video of concert featuring the songs from William Prince’s Reliever album: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7rkKq6FoRw.]
Like last year, the awards celebration was to have taken place in-person in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, but was streamed online instead due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Observing social distancing protocols, Benoit Bourque and Jean Hewson co-hosted the bilingual event from 1,600 miles apart. Each of the award recipients shared short recorded acceptance remarks, while the awards extravaganza was punctuated by pre-recorded performances by some of the nominees.
A two-stage jury process featuring 100 jurors based across Canada and representing all official provinces, territories and languages determined the official recipients in each of 19 categories.
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. The annual presentation of awards caps a few days of artist showcases.
A complete list of 2021 CFMA nominees follows, while more information may be found online at https://folkawards.ca.
Contemporary Album of the Year: Reliever by William Prince
Contemporary Singer of the Year: Coco Love Alcorn for Rebirth
Traditional Album of the Year: All Hands by Beòlach
Traditional Singer of the Year: Pharis Romero for Bet On Love
Solo Artist of the Year: Julian Taylor for The Ridge
Single of the Year: “Some Kind of Hell” by Burnstick (Producers: Jason & Nadia Burnstick)
English Songwriter(s) of the Year: William Prince for Reliever
French Songwriter(s) of the Year: Marie-Ève Lapierre-Lemoyne for Onze
Indigenous Songwriter(s) of the Year: Leela Gilday for North Star Calling
Ensemble of the Year: Pharis & Jason Romero for Bet On Love
Instrumental Group of the Year: Beòlach for All Hands
Instrumental Solo Artist of the Year: Marc Atkinson for Solo
Vocal Group of the Year: Pharis & Jason Romero for Bet On Love
New/Emerging Artist(s) of the Year: Noah Derksen for America, Dreaming
Young Performer(s) of the Year: The Gilberts for The Gilberts: One
Children’s Album of the Year: Broccoli Farm by Claire Ness
World Album of the Year: Kora flamenca by Zal Sissokho
Producer(s) of the Year: Chris McKhool & John ‘Beetle’ Bailey for Refuge (Sultans of String)
Oliver Schroer Pushing the Boundaries Award:Aerialists for Dear Sienna
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