Sultans of String — an award-winning, genre-bending global roots music instrumental group — tops the list of nominees for the 2023 Canadian Folk Music Awards with four nods for its album Sanctuary. Digging Roots (Zhawenim), John Wort Hannam (Long Haul), Madison Violet (eleven), The McDades (The Empress), and Kyle McKearney (Down- Home) snagged three nominations each. They are among the 104 nominees from throughout Canada vying for awards in 19 categories to be presented during the CFMA Awards Weekend, March 31-April 2, 2023, in Vancouver, British Columbia.

CFMA-LOGO-REDThe 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. This year’s nominees span the country from Leader, Saskatchewan to Papineauville, Quebec, and from Salt Spring Island, British Columbia to Fredericton, New Brunswick. They were chosen for each category via two-stage jury process. More than 100 jurors, located across Canada and representing all of its official provinces, territories and languages determine the recipients in each category.

A complete list of 2023 Canadian Folk Music Awards nominees follows, while here’s a link to a CFMA nominees Spotify playlist. More information may be found online at folkawards.ca.

Children’s Album of the Year / Album jeunesse de l’année:

• Ça suffit pour s’amuser (Hannah Shira Naiman)
• Folk For Little Folk Volume 1 (Gordie Crazylegs MacKeeman)
• Ponderosa Bunchgrass and the Golden Rule (The Oot n’ Oots)
• The Full Circle (The Relative Minors)
• Tuba Blues (My Friend Christopher)

Contemporary Album of the Year / Album contemporain de l’année:

• Cerulean (Ken Yates)
• Down-Home (Kyle McKearney)
• eleven (Madison Violet)
• Hurricane Coming (Shawna Caspi)
• Long Haul (John Wort Hannam)
• Sanctuary (Sultans of String)
• Tongues (Tanya Tagaq)
• Zhawenim (Digging Roots)

Contemporary Singer of the Year / Chanteur contemporain de l’année:

• Angelique Francis (Long River)
• Barney Bentall (Cosmic Dreamer)
• Boy Golden (Church of Better Daze)
• Ken Yates (Cerulean)
• Kyle McKearney (Down-Home)

English Songwriter(s) / Auteur compositeur(s) anglophone:

• Abigail Lapell (Stolen Time)
• Andrew McClelland aka Li’l Andy (The Complete Recordings of Hezekiah Procter (1925-1930))
• John Wort Hannam (Long Haul)
• Matt Patershuk (An Honest Effort)
• Tim Buckley (Frame by Frame)
• Yael Wand (Saltwater Heartwood)

Ensemble of the Year / Groupe de l’année:

• Over The Moon (Chinook Waltz)
• The Dead South (Easy Listening For Jerks – Part 1)
• The Fretless (Open House)
• The McDades (The Empress)
• The Slocan Ramblers (Up the Hill and Through the Fog)

French Songwriter(s) of the Year / Auteur-compositeur(s) francophone de l’année:

• Anik Bérubé & Natalie Byrns (Les ébranlements)
• Geneviève Roberge-Bouchard & Alain Barbeau (J’attends encore)
• Héra Ménard & Guylaine Saint-Pierre (Fleurs)
• Matt Stern (Rien qu’un animal)
• Sébastien Lacombe (Le chemin des possibles)

Global Roots Album of the Year / Album traditions du monde de l’année:

• III (Ayrad)
• Sanctuary (Sultans of String)
• Thieves of Dreams / Zloději snů (Lenka Lichtenberg)
• Tradisyon (Wesli Louissaint)
• Until When (Jaffa Road)

Indigenous Songwriter(s) of the Year / Auteur compositeur(s) autochtone de l’année:

• Adrian Sutherland (When The Magic Hits)
• Amanda Rheaume (The Spaces In Between)
• Berk Jodoin (Half Breed)
• Kyle McKearney (Down-Home)
• ShoShona Kish & Raven Kanatakta Polson-Lahache (Zhawenim)

Instrumental Group of the Year / Groupe instrumental de l’année:

• Allison de Groot & Tatiana Hargreaves (Hurricane Clarice)
• Proulx-Demers (Il fera beau demain)
• RanchWriters (RanchWriters)
• Shannon Quinn & Tony Quinn (20 Summers)
• The McDades (The Empress)

Instrumental Solo Artist of the Year / Instrumentiste solo de l’année:

• Ellen Gibling (The Bend in the Light)
• John Reischman (New Time & Old Acoustic)
• Kerry Fitzgerald (Bitz & Beatz)
• Mike Stevens (Breathe In The World Breathe Out Music)
• Waymzy (Inchoate)

New/Emerging Artist(s) of the Year / Artiste(s) de la relève de l’année:

• Alex Krawczyk (Le Olam)
• Andrew Waite (Andrew Waite)
• Camie (troubadour)
• Cheval (Singer Songwrecker)
• RedFox (Stranger Love)
• Tennyson King (Good Company)

Oliver Schroer Pushing the Boundaries Award / Prix Innovation musicale Oliver Schroer:

• Flash de mémoire (Mélisande [électrotrad])
• Sanctuary (Sultans of String)
• Thieves of Dreams / Zloději snů (Lenka Lichtenberg)
• Transcestral (Oktoécho)
• Zhawenim (Digging Roots)

Producer(s) of the Year / Réalisateur(s) de l’année:

• Brenley MacEachern & Lisa MacIsaac (eleven – Madison Violet)
• Chris McKhool & John ‘Beetle’ Bailey (Sanctuary – Sultans of String)
• Corwin Fox & Yael Wand (Saltwater Heartwood – Yael Wand)
• Katia Makdissi-Warren (Transcestral – Oktoécho)
• The Fretless & Joby Baker (Open House – The Fretless)

Single of the Year / Monoplage de l’année:

• 100 Proof (Julian Taylor)
• À travers mes yeux (Geneviève et Alain)
• Familiar Feeling (Pretty Archie)
• Heavy Heart (Fortunate Ones)
• Hey Boys Sing Us A Song (The Irish Rovers)
• Love you the Best (Quote the Raven)
• Sing Me A Song (William Prince and Serena Ryder)
• Sweet Desperado (Madison Violet)
• Teeth Agape (Tanya Tagaq)

Solo Artist of the Year / Artiste solo de l’année:

• Barney Bentall (Cosmic Dreamer)
• James Keelaghan (Second-Hand)
• Jocelyn Pettit (Wind Rose)
• John Wort Hannam (Long Haul)
• Suzie Ungerleider (My Name Is Suzie Ungerleider)

Traditional Album of the Year/ Album traditionnel de l’année:

• 20 printemps (Le Vent Du Nord)
• 20 Summers (Shannon Quinn & Tony Quinn)
• Hurricane Clarice (Allison de Groot & Tatiana Hargreaves)
• Long Time Travelling (Ken Whiteley)
• Up the Hill and Through the Fog (The Slocan Ramblers)

Traditional Singer of the Year / Chanteur traditionnel de l’année:

• Kim Beggs (Steel and Wool)
• Li’l Andy (The Complete Recordings of Hezekiah Procter (1925-1930))
• Lizzy Hoyt (The Parting Glass)
• Michael Darcy (Down to the Roots)
• Mike Bravener (Have You Ever Heard The Story?)

Vocal Group of the Year / Groupe vocal de l’année:

• Le Vent Du Nord (20 printemps)
• Les Rats d’Swompe (Elixir)
• Mama’s Broke (Narrow Line)
• Quote the Raven (Can’t Hold the Light)
• The McDades (The Empress)

Young Performer(s) of the Year / Jeune artiste(s) de l’année:

• Fiddelium (Fiddelium)
• Paige Penney (Fingers Crossed)
• The Fiddlaires (Fiddletainment)
• The Oot n’ Oots (Ponderosa Bunchgrass and the Golden Rule)
• The Receivers (The Receivers)