Family group Digging Roots take the 2023 Juno Award for Contemporary Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year
GEMS IN THE JUNO AWARDS
Why so overlooked and underrated?
My big surprise about the 52nd edition of the JunoAwards is the sheer amount of great work up for recognition. The music includes hundreds of musical gems from the more than 150 groups and solo artists represented across 46 categories.Who knew? Certainly not the average listener.
Ask anyone who tuned into all or some of the 2-hour broadcast a couple of weeks ago – or those who heard about it on the news – and you’ll know that two items made headlines: 1) a topless environmental protester sporting felt-penned slogans who caused a short onstage ruckus with 38 year-old “skater girl” star Avril Lavigne and 2) the induction of the band everyone, everywhere loves to hate – Nickelback – into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. It was all very, um, Canadian. But the Juno Awards are more than a made-for-TV, 2-hour show that features a mere six award presentations and a handful of acts.
I had a good lookat who garnered the Juno nominations. Thanks to a lingering seasonal bug that kept me on the couch, I had quite a few hours to sample songs and albums from the diverse and intriguing selection. I’m glad I did.
Many of the artists and their songs were new to me. Others were only somewhat familiar. There are a range of reasons for this. We are living in a time of accessible musical abundance. And the Canadian component – as vital and alive as it may be – has a lot of competition on the air waves and streaming services. That said, if you’re so inclined, you can stay tuned to our national broadcaster, CBC Radio, which has a lot of different programs with well informed hosts on its two services. And you can subscribe online to Exclaim! which lives up to its billing as “Canada’s Authority on Music, Film and Entertainment”.
My musical meanderings revealed a number of wonderful artists and songs. Do have a listen to the 32-song Kurated playlist and browse the extensive Juno Awards winners and nominee list below.
Kuratedis a music sharing project. Listen in!
25 March 2023
Manitoba’s Bros. Landreth won the Juno for Contemporary Roots Album
A few standouts include Ottawa blues woman Angelique Francis, Ontario R&B player Dax and Alberta duo Altameda.
Then there’s new classical composer Stephan Moccio who plays some mysterious and sublime instrumentals and has also worked with Canada’s The Weeknd and penned tunes for Celine Dion. Quebecers Les Louanges are intriguing as is Jean-Michel Blais‘ neo-classical piano play.
Vocals from Ontario’s Shakura S’Aida, Savannah Ré and Daniel Caesar (with BadBadNotGood) are pretty sweet too. And there’s more such as winning indigenous family band Digging Roots and the jazz of Florian Hoefner Trio and… Enjoy.
THE TRACKLIST
SS Radiant Pharis & Jason Romero
I’ve Never Angelique Francis
flâneur Jean-Michel Blais
Ramona Retreat Altameda
Tall Grass Digging Roots
Dear Alcohol Dax
Reggae Party Finn and Kirk Diamond
Makambo Ya Gaga (Skit) Pierre Kwenders
Imparfait (feat. Songe) Pierre Kwenders
Dooodun Shakira S’Aida
Just Know It Dan Mangan
Shame The Bros. Landreth
Pigeons Les Louanges
(Interlude) You Must Crazy Angelique Francis
Last One Savannah Ré
Please Do Not Lean Daniel Caesar (BadBadNotGood)
Goodbye Old Friend Carn Davidson 9
Stars The Weather Station
Foxtails and Fireflies Esmerine
nina Jean-Michel Blais
Neptune Florian Hoefner Trio
ouessant Jean-Michel Blais
My Beloved Twin Flame Stephan Moccio
Esmé’s Waltz Stephan Moccio
Encore Les Louanges
Déziel Les Louanges
Ispiciwin Andrew Balfour and Musica Intima
Chanson des Amants Marie Nadeau-Tremblay + Sylvain Bergeron
The Loneliest Time Carly Rae Jepsen + Rufus Wainwright
Twin Flame KAYTRANADA + Anderson.Paak
The Time Is (Now) Fred Everything
CTRL+ALT+DEL Réve
JUNO AWARD WINNERS AND NOMINEES
Winners are in bold
TikTok Juno fan choice
Avril Lavigne
Lauren Spencer-Smith
MacKenzie Porter
Preston Pablo
Rêve
Shawn Mendes
Tate McRae
The Reklaws
The Weeknd
Tyler Shaw
Single of the year
“Bite Me,” Avril Lavigne
“Flowers Need Rain,” Preston Pablo and Banx & Ranx
“When You’re Gone,” Shawn Mendes
“She’s all I Wanna Be,” Tate McRae
“Sacrifice,” the Weeknd
International album of the year
Ed Sheeran
Harry’s House, Harry Styles
Montero, Lil Nas X
Midnights, Taylor Swift
Red (Taylor’s Version), Taylor Swift
Album of the year
Who Hurt You?,Ali Gatie
Love Sux, Avril Lavigne
Demons Protected By Angels, Nav
I Used to Think I Could Fly, Tate McRae
Dawn FM, the Weeknd
Artist of the year
Avril Lavigne
Lauren Spencer-Smith
Michael Bublé
Shawn Mendes
The Weeknd
Group of the year
Arcade Fire
Arkells
Billy Talent
Metric
The Reklaws
Breakthrough artist of the year
Dax
Devon Cole
Preston Pablo
RealestK
Rêve
Breakthrough group of the year
Banx & Ranx
Harm & Ease
Rare Americans
Tommy Lefroy
Wild Rivers
Songwriter of the year
Abel Tesfaye: “Less Than Zero” (co-songwriters Tomoko Yamaguch, Hamada Tetsuro, Daniel Lopatin, the Weeknd); “Out of Time” (co-songwriters Max Martin, Fragogian Josefsson, Axel Hedfors, Oscar Holter, Sebastian Ingrosso, Carl Nordstrom, Kevin Duane McCord); “Sacrifice” (co-songwriters Max Martin, Fragogian Josefsson, Axel Hedfors, Oscar Holter, Sebastian Ingrosso, Carl Nordstrom, Kevin Duane McCord).
Faouzia: “Anybody Else” (co-songwriters Andre Davidson, Michelle Buzz, Sean Davidson);
“Puppet” (co-songwriters Andre Davidson, Johnny Goldstein, Sean Davidson); “RIP, Love” (co-songwriters Fran Hall, Jakke Erixson).
Tate McRae:”Chaotic” (co-songwriter Victoria Zaro); “Feel Like Shit” (co-songwriters Victoria Zaro, Jacob Hindlin, Russell J Chell); “She’s all I Wanna Be” (co-songwriter Greogry Kurstin).
Tenille Townes: “The Last Time” (co-songwriters Gordon Sampson, Benjamin Goldsmith); “When you Need It” (co-songwriter Stephen Wrabel); “When’s it Gonna Happen” (co-songwriters Stephenie Jones, Stephen Wrabel).
Tobi: “Before we Panic” (co-songwriters Alex Goose, Eric Hagstrom, John Stephen Sudduth, Kevin Martin, Tony Martin, Stephenie Jones, Stephen Wrabel); “Flowers” (co-songwriters Alex Goose, Daniele Luppi, Homer Steinweiss, Nick Movshon, Nicole Wray, Leon Michels, Paul Spring); “Move” (co-songwriters Alex Goose, Jessica Lee Hansell, Jon Bap, Robin Hannibal, Tavon Thompson, Tyler Demorest).
Country album of the year
Way Back, High Valley
Honkytonk Revival, Jade Eagleson
Bronco, Orville Peck
Masquerades, Tenille Townes
Good Ol’ Days, the Reklaws
Adult alternative album of the year
Born Losers, Altameda
The Garden, Basia Bulat
Being Somewhere, Dan Mangan
Colder Streams, the Sadies
How is it That I Should Look at the Stars, the Weather Station
Alternative album of the year
Blue Rev, Alvvays
Duality, Luna Li
Sewn Back Together, Ombiigizi
The Unraveling of PupTheBand, Pup
Tongues, Tanya Tagaq
Pop album of the year
In the Meantime, Alessia Cara
Love Sux, Avril Lavigne
The Loneliest Time, Carly Rae Jepsen
I Used to Think I Could Fly, Tate McRae
Dawn FM, the Weeknd
Rock album of the year
Otherness, Alexisonfire
Crisis of Faith, Billy Talent
Get Rollin’, Nickelback
Outta Sight, the Sheepdogs
Explosions, Three Days Grace
Vocal jazz album of the year
Featuring, Caity Gyorgy
Blue, Diana Panton
Venez donc chez moi, Laura Anglade and Sam Kirmayer
Nikki by Starlight, Nikki Yanofsky
The Ostara Project, the Ostara Project
Jazz album of the year
Joy, Ernesto Cervini
A Little Louder Now, Lauren Falls
El Tinajon, Luis Deniz
Rumba, Rafael Zaldivar
Kinds of Love, Renee Rosnes
Jazz album of the year
Semantics, Andrew Rathbun Quintet
Talk Memory, BadBadNotGood
The History of Us, Carn Davidson 9
Desert Bloom, Florian Hoefner Trio
The Dragon’s Tail, Mark Kelso & the Jazz Exiles
Instrumental album of the year
Canadiana, Canadian Brass
Everything was Forever Until it was no More, Esmerine
Iguana, Hard Rubber Orchestra
Aubades, Jean-Michel Blais
Lionheart, Stephan Moccio
Album francophone de l’année
Medium plaisir, Ariane Roy
Mercure en mai, Daniel Bélanger
Pictura de ipse: Musique directe, Hubert Lenoir
Crash, Les Louanges
Chiac Disco, Lisa LeBlanc
Children’s album of the year
Nice to Meet You, Beppie
Say Hello, Jeremy and Jazzy
I am Love, Splash’N Boots
Walk off the Earth & Romeo Eats, Vol. 2, Walk off the Earth and Romeo Eats
Maestro Fresh Wes Presents: Julia the Great, Young Maestro and Keysha Freshh
Classical album of the year (solo artist)
Winner of the 18th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition Warsaw 2021, Bruce Liu
Prokofiev: Piano Sonatas, Vol. 1, David Jalbert
La Zingarella: Through Romany Songland, Isabel Bayrakdarian
Bach: Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin, James Ehnes
Fables, Philip Chiu
Classical album of the year (large ensemble)
Clara – Robert – Johannes: Lyrical Echoes, Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, conducted by Alexander Shelley
Richard Strauss: Metamorphosen – Arvo Pärt: Symphonie No. 4, ‘Los Angeles,’ I Musici de Montréal, conducted by Jean-Marie Zeitouni
Viola Borealis, Orchestre de l’Agora, conducted by Nicolas Ellis, featuring Marina Thibeault
Radiant Dawn: Music for Advent and Christmas, The Elora Singers, conducted by Mark Vuorinen
Classical album of the year (small ensemble)
Nagamo, Andrew Balfour and musica intima
Hemsi: Chamber Works, ARC Ensemble
Vagues et ombres, collectif9
Early Italian Cello Concertos, Elinor Frey and Rosa Barocca, conducted by Claude Lapalme
De la cour de Louis XIV à Shippagan! Chants traditionnels acadiens et airs de cour du XVIIe siècle, Suzie LeBlanc, Marie Nadeau-Tremblay, Vincent Lauzer, and Sylvain Bergeron
Classical composition of the year
An Overall Augmented Sense of Well-being, Anthony Tan
Bestiary I & II, Bekah Simms
The Black Fish, Keyan Emami
Prayers for Ruins, Nicole Lizée
Supervillain Études, Vincent Ho
Rap album/EP of the year
Gonzo, Boslen
Retrospected (Acoustic), Classified
The Fleur Print Vol. 2, Jazz Cartier
Demons Protected by Angels, Nav
Shall I Continue?, Tobi
Dance recording of the year
“Afterglow,” Bob Moses and Kasablanca
“Shinigami Eyes,” Grimes
“These Nights,” Loud Luxury feat. Kiddo
“Ctrl + Alt + Del,” Rêve
Spiral, Rezz
Contemporary R&B recording of the year
When Flowers Bloom, Adria Kain
“If I get Caught,” dvsn
No Longer in the Suburbs,Dylan Sinclair
Yessie, Jessie Reyez
“WTF,”Savannah Ré
Reggae recording of the year
Water, Ammoye
“Like a Star,”Celena
“Jah Love,”Exco Levi
“In the Streets,”Kairo McLean
“Reggae Party,” Kirk Diamond, Kairo McLean and Finn feat. Kairo McLean
Contemporary Indigenous artist or group of the year
Watin, Aysanabee
Zhawenim, Digging Roots
Code Red, Indian City
Beyond the Reservoir, Julian Taylor
The Crossing, Susan Aglukark
Contemporary roots album of the year
O Glory, Blackie and the Rodeo Kings
That was you and Me, Fortunate Ones
Hold on to Love, Shakura S’Aida
Come Morning, the Bros. Landreth
House of Dreams, the East Pointers
Traditional roots album of the year
Hurricane Clarice, Allison de Groot & Tatiana Hargreaves
20 printemps, Le Vent du Nord
Narrow Line, Mama’s Broke
Tell ‘Em You Were Gold, Pharis & Jason Romero
The Empress, the McDades
Blues album of the year
Long River, Angelique Francis
Midnight Blues, Crystal Shawanda
Thanks for Tomorrow, Harrison Kennedy
Preach to my Soul, Spencer Mackenzie
Live at the King Eddy, the Harpoonist & the Axe Murderer
Contemporary Christian/gospel album of the year
Into the Wild, Dan Bremnes
Trust, Daniel Ojo
Jordan St. Cyr, Jordan St. Cyr
Only Ever Always, Love & the Outcome
The Church Will Rise, Tehillah Worship
Global music album of the year
In the Footsteps of Rumi, Ghalia Benali, Constantinople, Kiya Tabassian
Thieves of Dreams, Lenka Lichtenberg
José Louis and the Paradox of Love, Pierre Kwenders
Vox.Infold, Ruby Singh
Tradisyon, Wesli
Jack Richardson producer of the year
Akeel Henry: “For Tonight,” Giveon (co-producers Sevn Thomas, Jahaan Sweet); “Splash,” John Legend (co-producer Tone, Kevin Ekofo).
Banx & Ranx: “Ctrl + Alt + Del,” Rêve; “Dynamite feat. Sia,” Sean Paul (co-producers Greg Kurstin, Jason Jigzagula Henriques).
Kaytranada: “dog food,” IDK; “Iced Tea,” Joyce Wrice and Kaytranada.
Mike Wise: “10 Things I Hate About You,” Leah Kate; “Yuck,” Charli XCX.
Murda Beatz: “California Breeze,” Lil Baby (co-producer Marcel Korkutata); “Have Mercy,” Chlöe (co-producers Chlöe, BoogzDaBeast, Fnz, Joseph L’Etranger).
Recording engineer of the year
Derek Hoffman: “My Body,” Lili-Ann De Francesco; “Stronger Than you Know,” the East Pointers.
George Seara: “Hell/Heaven,” Keshi; “It’ll be Okay,” Shawn Mendes.
Gus van Go: “Grow up Tomorrow,” the Beaches; “What Feels Like Eternity,” Metric.
Jason Dufour: “She Don’t Know,” Jade Eagleson; “The old Me,” Ria Mae.
Serban Ghenea: “That’s What I Want,” Lil Nas X; “Unholy,” Sam Smith feat. Kim Petras.
Album artwork of the year
Emy Storey (art director, designer, photographer), Becca McFarlane and Pamela Littky (photographers): Crybaby, Tegan and Sara.
Ian Ilavsky (art director and designer), Maciek Szczerbowski (illustrator): Everything was Forever Until it was no More, Esmerine.
Kris Klaasen started writing music reviews in Calgary for college and university papers as well as the Calgary Herald. He also wrote occasional record reviews for the Georgia Straight in the 80s.
A lifelong communicator and music enthusiast, Kris has been involved with the Vancouver Folk Music Festival in various capacities for more than 35 years and has recently been studying African hand drumming. He's also a pretty good whistler.
The photo shows Kris and his daughter at VFMF.
