Artist and Songwriter of the Year honors went to the late Gord Downie, while Bruce Cockburn took home Contemporary Roots Album of the Year and The Dead South won Traditional Roots Album of the Year during the 2018 JUNO Awards ceremonies on March 25 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia. Award recipients in these and some three-dozen other categories were selected by members of the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS).
Cockburn, a prolific Canadian singer-songwriter and pioneering guitarist, received his 13th Juno Award for Bone On Bone. The Ottawa, Ontario native, who won his first Juno in 1971, has released 33 albums during a career spanning five decades.
Themes of social justice permeate many of Cockburn’s songs, while he also has championed environmental and indigenous people’s issues. Last year, he received the inaugural People’s Voice Award during the International Folk Music Awards Show held in conjunction with the 2017 Folk Alliance International Conference in Kansas City, Missouri. He also was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame last fall and was previously inducted into the Canadian Broadcast Hall of Fame (2002). Cockburn is the subject of a full-length feature documentary, Pacing the Cage, and penned a memoir, Rumours of Glory, that was published in 2014.
The Dead South was honored for its album, Illusion & Doubt. The Regina, Saskatchewan-based folk, bluegrass and alt. country ensemble has released three albums since forming in 2012. The group’s musical inspiration comes from an old-school feel that is combined with a punk influence, according to vocalist-guitarist Nate Hilts.
Medicine Songs by Buffy Sainte-Marie, a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist known for her thought-provoking lyrics and her passionate advocacy for aboriginal people, was named Indigenous Music Album of the Year. In addition to a music career spanning more than 50 years, Sainte-Marie has been a social activist, educator and philanthropist and has sought to protect indigenous intellectual property and championed indigenous artists and performers. In recognition of those efforts, she received the Allan Waters Humanitarian Award during last year’s JUNO Awards ceremonies. Medicine Songs also was among this year’s nominees for Contemporary Roots Album of the Year.
A complete list of JUNO Awards winners can be found, along with additional information, on line at www.junoawards.ca.
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