Winners Named in 2018 Canadian Folk Music Awards

Winners in the 2018 Canadian Folk Music Awards were recognized during a bilingual, two-night celebratory and music-filled event co-hosted by Benoit Bourque and James Keelaghan, Nov. 30-Dec. 1, at The Gateway in Calgary, Alberta.

Lynne Hanson and Lynn Miles of The LYNNeS picked up two awards (English Songwriters of the Year and Ensemble of the Year for their debut album Heartbreak Song for the Radio), as did Pharis & Jason Romero (Pharis for Traditional Singer of the Year and he duo as Vocal Group of the Year for their album, Sweet Old Religion). A number of other artists received awards as well.

The LYNNeS feature two award winning Ottawa-based songwriters and multi-instrumentalists who have been earning accolades and wining over audiences 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.

Here’s a link to the official video for The LYNNeS’ song “Recipe for Disaster,” a single off their debut album, Sweet Old Religion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pc53Ee4AezE

Pharis & Jason Romero are a British Columbia-based husband-and-wife duo who initially met at an old-time fiddle jam. Prior to receiving this year’s awards for their work on Sweet Old Religion – an album that incorporates jazz, blues and country sounds – the duo and Pharis had received numerous other awards. The duo received a Juno Award for Traditional album of the Year for A Wanderer I’ll Stay in 2016 and was named New/Emerging Artist of the Year in the 2012 Canadian Folk Music Awards for its album, A Passing Glimpse. Pharis Romero also received a CFMA in 2013 for Traditional Singer of the Year. Pharis is also artistic director for Voice Works, a workshop for singers, while Jason teaches all styles of banjo playing – with a penchant for old-time three-finger playing. The couple makes instruments as well.

Here’s a link to a video of Pharis & Jason Romero performing “Sweet Old Religion” at the 2017 NimbleFingers Bluegrass & Old-Time Music Workshop and Festival in Sorrento, BC:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfKa20I4DF4

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.

Here’s a list of the award winners. More information may be found online at www.folkawards.ca.

Traditional Album of the Year:
Matthew Byrne – Horizon Lines

Contemporary Album of the Year:
Donovan Woods – Both Ways

Children’s Album of the Year:
Edgar, LeBlanc, Cool, Farmeur, Vishten, Savoie, Butler – Grand tintamarre! – Chansons et comptines acadiennes

Traditional Singer of the Year:
Pharis Romero (of Pharis & Jason Romero) – Sweet Old Religion

Contemporary Singer of the Year:
Rob Lutes – Walk in the Dark

Instrumental Solo Artist of the Year:
Jean-Francois Belanger – Les enrailles de la montagne

Instrumental Group of the Year:
The Fretless – Live from the Art Farm

English Songwriter(s) of the Year:
Lynne Hanson and Lynn Miles (of the LYNNeS) – Heartbreak Song For The Radio

French Songwriter(s) of the Year:
Anike Berube, Natalie Byrns (of Ancolie) – Le soleil en bulle (CHECK ON THIS)

Indigenous Songwriter(s) of the Year:
Shanit – Apu peikussiak

Vocal Group of the Year:
Pharis & Jason Romero – Sweet Old Religion

Ensemble of the Year:
The LYNNeS – Heartbreak Song For the Radio

Solo Artist of the Year:
Bruce Cockburn – Bone On Bone

World Solo Artist of the Year:
Elaiana Cnevas – Golpes & Flores

World Group of the Year:
Autorickshaw – Meter

New/Emerging Artist of the Year:
Raine Hamilton – Night Sky

Producer(s) of the Year:
Steve Dawson – Same As I Ever Have Been ((Matt Patershuk)

Young Performer of the Year:
Nick Earle, Joseph Coffin (of Earle and Coffin) – A Day in July

The Oliver Schroer Pushing the Boundaries Award celebrating innovation in creating new folk sounds went to Beatrice Deer for My All To You, while the Slaight Music Unsung Hero Award was presented to Terry Wickham, now in his 28th year as artistic director of the Edmonton Folk Festival, in recognition of his tireless, multi-decade support and hard work on behalf of folk music and Canadian culture.