Ella and Talel, the winners of the Best Roots Song award at this year’s Kootenay Music Awards, are 17 years old.
“It as awesome to see them nominated,” says Stephanie Myers of Kootenay Co-op Radio, which sponsors the event which had its annual award event on Friday. “You would have no idea listening to that song that they are still in high school.”
Myers also announced that the Lifetime Achievement Award, which went to Mike Paine (Hoola) and Sara Spicer Paine, who have been curators at Shambhala for 20 years.
“Mike said the very first time he ever DJed was at Bloom, but it was not Bloom then,” Myers said. “Now 20 years later he is accepting this award.”
Other winners are:
Best Electronic Song – Dekker from Nelson
Best Blues Song — The Burn Ins from Elkford
Best Pop Song — Emma Kade (featuring Terrance Richmond) from Creston
Best Reggae Song — The Hillties from Nelson
Best Roots Song — Ella and Talel from Nelson
Best Rock Song — Rainboard from Salmo
Best Cover Band — Heavy Airship from Nelson
Best Music Video — Sexton Blake from Rossland
Best Music Venue — Spiritbar at The Hume Hotel
Lifetime Achievement – The Pride: Mike (Hoola ) Paine & Sara Spicer Paine
Artist of the Year — Dawson Rutledge from Cranbrook
In a departure from previous years, most of the awards were chosen by a panel of people from festivals and music venues. Online voting was scrapped because it tended to favour performers with large social media followings.
The only exceptions were Artist of the Year and Best Music Video, which were chosen by online voting.
“People liked the new voting system,” says Myers. “They thought it was fair. We had over 170 submissions from 36 distinct areas across the Kootenays.”
Winners will receive a variety of prizes which may include recording and mixing time at Twisted Cable Studios or Becoming Sound Studio, a professional photo shoot with Louis Bockner Photography, exposure of their winning music video at the Civic Theatre and Vogue Theatre, time on Kootenay Co-op Radio, instrument rental from Mountain Fruit Folklore Centre, or passes to the Calgary Folk Festival.
“The awards have definitely got lots of life in them,” Myers says. “This event is well on its way to becoming a career benchmark for musicians in the area. It’s put on by a very small community radio station but we could not do it without our sponsors, listeners and members.”
To listen to this year’s winners and nominees, visit http://kootenaymusicawards.ca/