Music to My Ears
I watched the East Coast Music Awards Gala last night. It made me more than a little homesick, but it also offered me a hopeful glimpse of my musical future in New Brunswick.
For years I’ve been involved in the music scene, though I can guarantee you I possess no talents you’ll see on stage aside from being a reasonable MC. Usually I’m behind the scenes, stage managing productions at Celtic Colours, organizing shows for Feis an Eilein or even taking part in the ECMA nomination process.
I have to admit, I wasn’t overwhelmed by the music scene in Moncton when I lived there before. It was one of the biggest hurdles for me to try to tackle, and while I wasn’t as proactive as I plan to be this time around, I have to admit to being a little worried that I’ll be using any vacation time I have to head home to Cape Breton concerts and dances.
But New Brunswick made an impressive showing at last night’s ECMA gala. And it’s not just the amount of hardware – though I do have my suspicions this was one of the best, if not THE best year for NB artists bringing home awards. It was the diversity.
Matt Anderson is a fantastic blues player. He took honours for Male Solo Recording of the Year, and Blues Recording of the Year.
Jasper Wood once again snagged the Classical Recording of the Year trophy.
David Myles received the award for Folk Recording of the Year.
Ryan LeBlanc picked up the ECMA for World Recording of the Year.
Moncton-based Hotbox picked up the Rap/Hip-Hop Single Track Recording of the Year.
And – making ECMA history as the first band ever to win this category – Iron Giant took home the award for Loud Recording of the Year.
Oh, and New Brunswick native – although in terms of the ECMA she’s considered a NS artist – Christina Martin took home Pop Recording of the Year.
Now, there are still some downsides. Myles, Martin and Anderson are all Halifax-based these days. And I’m not personally a fan of Loud, Rap or Hip-Hop styles, or really Classical for that matter. So my music opportunities might still be fairly limited in the Moncton area. But knowing there is such a diverse base to the New Brunswick scene does make me feel proud to be adopting this culture – and ready to support it any way I can.
Speaking of which, New Brunswickers also grabbed two of the industry awards handed out earlier in the weekend. The Fredericton Playhouse picked up the ECMA for Venue of the Year and the Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival won Event of the Year. Again, not in my soon-to-be-backyard of Moncton. But the communications manager for the Festival told CBC Radio he thinks having Fredericton host the Awards last year helped them garner industry attention, and thus the votes for the award.
Moncton only welcomed the ECMA once, back in 1997. The event brought 1,500 delegates to the area and injected $3 million into the economy; 7,000 people came to the Gala. Maybe it’s time for Moncton to invite the crowds again. I know Summerside, PEI is looking into a bid for 2011 (Cape Breton has the event for 2010).
Whaddya say, Moncton – February 2012 sounds like a great time for a party to me!
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If you are looking for musical talent, I'd also suggest attending going to Shediac in the summer, most every weekend they have someone preforming in the park, and the Blues festival was good last year too, I'm really looking forward to this summer and spending some time taking in some local talent.