A Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Joni Mitchell (pictured), the widely acclaimed Canadian-American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who is known for such songs as “Big Yellow Taxi,” “Both Sides, Now,” “Chelsea Morning,” “Help Me,” and “River.”

In the running for Contemporary Roots Album of the Year are Strange Trip Ahead (Mariel Buckley), The Hammer & The Rose (Matt Andersen), Purple Gas (Noeline Hofmann) These Dark Canyons (The Young Novelists), and Further From The Country (William Prince). Traditional Roots Music Album of the Year nominees include I Lost My Heart on Friday (Aerialists), Gold And Coal (Cassie and Maggie), The Moon’s Daughter (Heather MacIsaac), Heal The Divide (Morgan Toney), and Folk Signals (The Southern Residents).

Also of potential interest to AcousticMusicScene.com readers are the nominees for Blues Album of the Year. These include Sing Pretty Blues (Crystal Shawanda), Ooh Yeah! (Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne), The Medicine (Miss Emily), Answer The Call (Secondhand Dreamcar), and Hear My Heart (Steve Mariner).

In addition to her Contemporary Album of the Year nomination for Purple Gas, Noeline Hofmann is among the 10 nominees for Breakthrough Artist of the Year. . Among the five nominees for Adult Contemporary Album of the Year are Conditions of Love Vol. 1 (Rose Cousins) and Better Broken (Sarah McLachlan, while Children’s Album of the Year nominees include Little Leaf (Chris McKhool).

In total, there are 248 nominees in the running across 47 categories for Canada’s top music awards. Eight-time JUNO Award-winner Justin Bieber and Tate McRae lead the pack with six nominations each.

British Columbia-based folk duo Pharis & Jason Romero, who had topped the list of nominees with six nominations for their album, Bet On Love, won both Ensemble and Vocal Group of the Year, while Pharis was named Traditional Singer of the Year. William Prince, a storytelling country-folk singer-songwriter from Peguis First Nation, who had received five nods for Reliever, won Contemporary Album of the Year and was named English Songwriter of the Year. Beòlach– a band known for both its original compositions and innovative arrangements of traditional Cape Breton, Scottish and Irish tunes — was named the winner in both the categories for which it was nominated – Instrumental Group and Traditional Album of the Year. They were among 100 nominees from throughout Canada who vied for awards in 19 categories, plus the Unsung Hero Award.

[Here’s a link to view a CBC Music video of concert featuring the songs from William Prince’s Reliever album: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7rkKq6FoRw.]

Like last year, the awards celebration was to have taken place in-person in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, but was streamed online instead due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Observing social distancing protocols, Benoit Bourque and Jean Hewson co-hosted the bilingual event from 1,600 miles apart. Each of the award recipients shared short recorded acceptance remarks, while the awards extravaganza was punctuated by pre-recorded performances by some of the nominees.

A two-stage jury process featuring 100 jurors based across Canada and representing all official provinces, territories and languages determined the official recipients in each of 19 categories.

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. The annual presentation of awards caps a few days of artist showcases.

A complete list of 2021 CFMA nominees follows, while more information may be found online at https://folkawards.ca.

Contemporary Album of the Year: Reliever by William Prince

Contemporary Singer of the Year: Coco Love Alcorn for Rebirth

Traditional Album of the Year: All Hands by Beòlach

Traditional Singer of the Year: Pharis Romero for Bet On Love

Solo Artist of the Year: Julian Taylor for The Ridge

Single of the Year: “Some Kind of Hell” by Burnstick (Producers: Jason & Nadia Burnstick)

English Songwriter(s) of the Year: William Prince for Reliever

French Songwriter(s) of the Year: Marie-Ève Lapierre-Lemoyne for Onze

Indigenous Songwriter(s) of the Year: Leela Gilday for North Star Calling

Ensemble of the Year: Pharis & Jason Romero for Bet On Love

Instrumental Group of the Year: Beòlach for All Hands

Instrumental Solo Artist of the Year: Marc Atkinson for Solo

Vocal Group of the Year: Pharis & Jason Romero for Bet On Love

New/Emerging Artist(s) of the Year: Noah Derksen for America, Dreaming

Young Performer(s) of the Year: The Gilberts for The Gilberts: One

Children’s Album of the Year: Broccoli Farm by Claire Ness

World Album of the Year: Kora flamenca by Zal Sissokho

Producer(s) of the Year: Chris McKhool & John ‘Beetle’ Bailey for Refuge (Sultans of String)

Oliver Schroer Pushing the Boundaries Award:Aerialists for Dear Sienna

Buffy Sainte-Marie, a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and social activist, received the Allan Waters Humanitarian Award during the 2017 JUNO Awards ceremonies. Sainte Marie, whose musical career spans more than 50 years, and whose songs have also been covered by hundreds of other artists, is known for her thought-provoking lyrics and her passionate advocacy for indigenous people. Also an educator and philanthropist, Sainte-Marie has sought to protect indigenous intellectual property and championed indigenous artists and performers.

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

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. A complete list of 2018 Canadian Folk Music Awards nominees follows, while more information may be found online at www.folkawards.ca.

Traditional Album of the Year:
Matthew Byrne – Horizon Lines
The Fretless – Live from the Art Farm
Genticorum – Avant l’orage
Babineau/Charrand – Gigues a 2 faces
Buffy Sainte-Marie – Medicine Songs

Contemporary Album of the Year:
Gabrielle Papillon – Keep the Fire
Gunning & Cormier – Two
The LYNNeS – Heartbreak song For the Radio
The Wailin’ Jennys – Fifteen
Donovan Woods – Both Ways

Children’s Album of the Year:
Splash ‘N Boots – Love, Kisses, and Hugs
Jeremy Fisher Junior – Highway To Spell
Edgar, LeBlanc, Cool, Farmeur, Vishten, Savoie, Butler – Grand tintamarre! – Chansons et comptines acadiennes
The Oot n’ Oots – Electric Jellyfish Boogaloo
The Swinging Belles – The Superstar Sibling Detective Agency

Traditional Singer of the Year:
Matthew Byrne – Horizon Lines
Pharis Romero (of Pharis & Jason Romero) – Sweet Old Religion
Lenka Lichtenberg – Masaryk: Narodni pisne
Buffy Sainte-Marie – Medicine Songs
Diana Erb (of Twas Now) – Old Fashioned Way

Contemporary Singer of the Year:
Dana Wylie – The Earth That You’re Made Of
Rob Lutes – Walk in the Dark
Kellie Loder – Benefit of the Doubt
Catherine MacLellan – If It’s Alright With You: The Songs of Gene MacLellan
Dylan Menzie – As The Clock Rewinds

Instrumental Solo Artist of the Year:
Jean-Francois Belanger – Les enrailles de la montagne
Holly Blazina – Transcendencia
Justin Gray (of Justin Gray & Synthesis) – New Horizons
Dan MacDonald – Rural/Urban
Andrea Bettger – Snappy Day

Instrumental Group of the Year:
West of Mabou – The Bridge
Andrew Collins Trio – Groove
The Fretless – Live from the Art Farm
So Long Seven – Kala Kalo
Miller/MacDonald/Cormier – South Haven

English Songwriter(s) of the Year:
Noosa Al-Sarraj (of Winona Wilde) – Wasted Time
Bruce Cockburn – Bone On Bone
Lynne Hanson, Lynn Miles (of the LYNNeS) – Heartbreak Song For The Radio
Dana Sipos – Trick Of The Light
Donovan Woods – Both Ways

French Songwriter(s) of the Year:
Danny Boudreau – Mon ete
Kristine St-Pierre – La promesse
Anike Berube, Natalie Byrns (of Ancolie) – Le soleil en bulle
Benoit Pinette (of Tire le Coyote) – Desherbage
Etienne Fletcher – Face A

Indigenous Songwriter(s) of the Year:
Tiffany Ayalik, Greyson Gritt (of Quantum Tangle) – Shelter as we go…
Sandra Sutter – Cluster Stars
Dennis Shorty – Gucho Hin
Buffy Sainte-Marie – Medicine Songs
Shanit – Apu peikussiak

Vocal Group of the Year:
Good Lovelies – Shapeshifters
Gunning & Cormier – Two
Pharis & Jason Romero – Sweet Old Religion
The LYNNeS – Heartbreak Song For the Radio
The Fugitives – The Promise Of Strangers

Ensemble of the Year:
The Fretless – Live from the Art Farm
Genticorum – Avat l’orage
Pharis & Jason Romero – Sweet Old Religion
The LYNNeS – Heartbreak Song For the Radio
The East Pointers – What We Leave Behind

Solo Artist of the Year:
David Francey – The Broken Heart Of Everything
Jolene Higgins (of Little Miss Higgins) – My Home, My Heart
Bruce Cockburn – Bone On Bone
Catherine MacLellan – If It’s Alright With You: The Songs of Gene MacLellan
Buffy Sainte-Marie – Medicine Songs

World Solo Artist of the Year:
Jean-Francois Belanger – Les entrailles de la montagne
Elaiana Cnevas – Golpes & Flores
Lenka Lichtenberg – Masaryk: Narodni pisne
Daniel Bellegarde (of Bellegarde) – Anba Tonel
Buffy Sainte-Marie – Medicine Songs

World Group of the Year:
Autorickshaw – Meter
Near East – Near East
Oktopus – Hapax
Lemon Bucket Orkestra – If I Had The Strength
Minor Empire – Uprooted

New/Emerging Artist of the Year:
Annie Sumi – In the Unknown
The Lifers – Honey Suite
Raine Hamilton – Night Sky
Jack Pine and The Fire – Left To Our Own Devices
Mattie Leon – Signal Hill
Aerialists – Group manoeuvre

Producer(s) of the Year:
Lynne Hanson, Lynn Miles – Heartbreak Song for the Radio (The LYNNeS)
Chris McKhool and John ‘Beetle” Bailey – Christmas Caravan (Sultans of String)
Ozan Boz – Uprooted (Minor Empire)
Steve Dawson – Same As I Ever Have Been ((Matt Patershuk)
Suzie Vinnick/Mark Lalama – Shake The Love Around (Suzie Vinnick)

Pushing The Boundaries:
Jean-Francois Belanger – Les enrailles de la montagne
Quantum Tangle – Shelter as we go…
Cindy Doire – Panorama
La Suite – Inventions pour deux violoneux
Beatrice Deer – My All To You

Young Performer of the Year:
Nick Earle, Joseph Coffin (of Earle and Coffin) – A Day in July
Christine Howse – We Were
Markey Mullan – Fiddle Dance
Ben Heffernan – Home
Jessica Wedden – One More Time

A platform for luminaries and rising stars, the annual conference is the world’s largest gathering of the folk music industry and community. Folk Alliance International’s Official Showcases are jury-selected nightly mini-concerts featuring emerging artists and touring legends from around the world. The performances are 30 minutes in length and are held concurrently on ten full-production stages throughout the host hotel over three nights.

More than 800 artists/acts applied for the opportunity to perform for hundreds of festival and venue bookers, agents, managers, labels, media, and music industry representatives. The curated showcases feature artists representing a diverse array of folk genres including Appalachian, Americana, bluegrass, blues, Cajun, Celtic, global roots, Indie-folk, indigenous, Latin, old time, traditional, singer-songwriter, spoken word, and every imaginable fusion.

Breakthrough artists from previous conferences include The Carolina Chocolate Drops, Darlingside, David Francey, John Fullbright, Kaia Kater, Lake Street Dive, The Milk Carton Kids, Nickel Creek, The Stray Birds, Valerie June, The Waifs, and The Wailin’ Jennys. Past showcase performances have also included guest appearances by Judy Collins, Béla Fleck, Rita Coolidge, Ron Sexsmith, Archie Fisher, Peggy Seeger, and more.

Bringing together musicians, educators, and music industry professionals from around the world, the Folk Alliance International Conference is known for its community atmosphere, business and networking opportunities, and as a hotspot for discovering new talent.

The 2018 conference will feature presentations by Mary Chapin Carpenter and Richard Thompson, the Louis Jay Meyers Music Camp, the International Folk Music Awards, and the third annual Kansas City Folk Festival. Celebrating 30 years of community and song, the conference will YEARS OF COMMUNITY AND SONG, honor the first three decades of the organization’s growth and activity, as well as the broader story of folk music during that time.

Folk Alliance International (www.folk.org) is a Kansas City, MO-based nonprofit organization that seeks to nurture, engage and empower the international folk music community – traditional and contemporary, amateur and professional – through education, advocacy and performance.

Editor’s Note: This article is based on a news release issued by Folk Alliance International, on whose board of directors I serve. I’m also board president of the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA), one of its five regional affiliates, which holds it annual conference, Nov. 9-12, in Stamford, CT. I am not involved in the selection of Official Showcase artists.