Aboriginal music front and centre in November

November will be a big month for Aboriginal music in Canada, as two separate award shows celebrate and promote the best the country has to offer.

First up will be the Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards, the new kid on the block in the world of music award shows.

The first ever Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards will be handed out at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg on Nov. 3. What makes the awards show unique is that all the winners will be selected by music fans who cast their votes through online voting.

The shortlist of award nominees was announced on Sept. 13. The following day, fans were invited to begin taking part in a second round of voting that would determine the winner in each of the 17 award categories, with voting wrapped up on Oct. 13.

The nominees for Best New Artist include Alberta's Shane Yellowbird, Tracy Bone, M'Girl, Tagaq and Angela Hovak Johnston.

The nominees for Single of the Year include Games by Tracy Bone, Beautiful Concept by Shane Yellowbird, The Way by Eagle & Hawk, Rez Sister by Edmonton's Asani and My Song by Angela Hovak Johnston.

Bone and Johnston also made the list of nominees for Best Songwriter, joining Art Napolean for the song Miyoskamin, Hank Norton for I've Told You Leona, Derek Miller for Stormy Eyes and Andrea Menard for 100 Years.

Best Group or Duo nominees include Asani, M'Girl, Eagle & Hawk, New Horizon, REDDNATION and DLO.

The nominees for Best Producer or Engineer are Derek Miller for his album The Dirty Looks, Dezmond Mentuck and D.J. St. Germain for C-Weed, Darren Brule and REDDNATION for Now or Never, Vince Fontaine for Life Is ... and Wayne Lavallee for Green Dress.

Nominees for Best Album Cover Design include Tracy Bone for No Lies, Tagaq for Sinaa, Jesse Green for War Path, Angela Hovak Johnston for Nipiga (My Voice) and J.C. Campbell for Lazy James.

The Best Music Video nominees are Shane Yellowbird for Beautiful Concept, Kimberly Dawn for One by One and Forever for Free.

Nominated in the Best Powwow CD-Traditional category are Red Bull for Enter the Circle, Grey Buffalo for Straight from the Beginning and Rock Hill for their self-titled album.

The nominees in the Best Powwow CD-Contemporary category are Grey Buffalo for Just Trying to Get There, Eya-Hey for Singings From Tha Mountains, Dakota Hotain for Voice of the Dakota and Northern Wind, nominated for two albums-Medicine Dress and Whispering Winds.

Nominees in the Best Rock CD category include Eagle and Hawk for Life Is ..., Derek Miller for The Dirty Looks, J.C. Campbell for Lazy James, X-Status for War Path and Weaselhead for Refugees of Romance.

Best Blues CD nominees include Billy Joe Green for Muskrat Blues and Rock and Roll, The Wolfpack for Family Thang, Digging Roots for Seeds, South Thunderbird for Tough Go and Intellifunk for I Never Promised You Tomorrow.

Nominated in the Best Rap or Hip Hop CD category are REDDNATION for Now or Never, Dead Indians for Indian Affairs, Eekwol for Apprentice to the Mystery, Team Rezofficial for The Foundation and Da Skelpa Squad for No Limits.

The Best Country CD nominees are Tracy Bone for No Lies, Hank Norton for Honky Tonk Heartache Blues, Edmonton's Mike Gouchie for Bad Boys and Angels, Edward Gamblin for Cree Road and Highway 373 for No Limits.

Nominated in the Best Folk/Acoustic Category are J.C. Campbell for Life Up Til Now, Asani for Rattle and Drum, Andrea Menard for Simple Steps, Keith Secola for Native America and Art Napoleon for Miyoskamin.

Best Fiddle CD nominees include J.J. Lavallee & the Freebird Band for Jimmy's Breakdown, Ryan D'Aoust for South Side of the Strings, Cliff Maytwayashing for Skiffle Fiddle and Harv Settee Jr. for Nanny's Dream.

Nominees in the Best Instrumental CD category are J.J. Lavallee & the Freebird Band for Jimmy's Breakdown, David R. Maracle for Sacred Healing, Urban Surf Kings for Live in Hell, Sakoieta Windrick for Return to the Waters and Jeari Czapla for Dolce.

In the Best Aboriginal Music by a Non-Aboriginal Artist, the nominees are Sierra Noble for Orange Blossom Special, Little Hawk for Custer Rubbed Out, Fresh I.E. for World Vision and Longhouse for Enchanted.

The Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Award are being held as part of the Manito Ahbee Music Festival, which runs from Nov. 2 to 5. Other highlights of the festival will include an international competition powwow, an education day, a music festival and an Indigenous marketplace and trade show.
In Toronto

The scene shifts to Toronto later in the month when the eighth annual Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards will be handed out on Nov. 24. Awards will be given out in 19 categories during the awards show, held as part of the Canadian Aboriginal Festival that runs from Nov. 22 to 26. Saskatchewan songstress Andrea Menard, who is nominated for four Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards, will host the awards show.

The Best Male Artist nominees include Stephen Kakfwi, Jared Sowan and Randy Wood, while Donna Kay, Andrea Menard and Tamara Podemski are nominated in the Best Female Artist category. Eagle & Hawk, Intellifunk and Weaselhead are nominated in the Best Group or Duo category.

Nominees in the Best Blues Album include I Never Promised You Tomorrow (LIVE) by
Intellifunk, Old Friends by Gerry McIvor and Eclectically Yours by Jared Sowan.

Best Country Album nominees include Cree Road by Edward Gamlin, Bad Boys & Angels by Mike Gouchie and Give Me a Sign by W.T. Goodspirit.

Slide Away by Northern Cree & Friends, Round Dance Rhythm by Young Scouts and Doing What We Love by Big River Cree are nominated for Best Hand Drum Album, while Skiffle Fiddle by Cliff Maytwayashing, Nanny's Dream by Harv Settee Jr. and Northern Fiddle by Corny Michel are nominated in the Best Fiddle Album category.

Simple Steps by Andrea Menard, Miyoskamin by Art Napoleon and Songs from the Stones: PAYUK by Percy Trapper are nominated for Best Folk Album and No Limits by Highway 373, Images by Myrage and Life Is ... by Eagle & Hawk are nominated for Best Rock Album.

Nipiga (My Voice_ by Angela Hovak Johnston, The Journey by Donna Kay and Fusion of Two Worlds by M'Girl are nominated in the Best Female Traditional Cultural Roots Album category.

Enter the Circle by Red Bull, Rock Hill by Rock Hill and Straight from the Beginning by Grey Buffalo are nominated in the Best Powwow Album-Traditional category, with Dances by Warscout, Walking Buffalo: Drum Speaker by Walking Buffalo and Nikamo-Sing! by Northern Cree Singers nominated in the Best Powwow Album-Contemporary category.

The nominees for Best Rap or Hip Hop Album include Wabs Whitebird for Success is the Best Revenge, REDDNATION's Now or Never and Rezofficial Music Presents: Lakes Aqui-The Preview by Rezofficial.

Susan Aglukark's Blood Red Earth, Life Is ... by Eagle & Hawk and Simple Steps by Andrea Menard are nominated for Best Album of the Year. Aglukark's Citizens of the World and Menard's 100 Years are nominated for Best Song, along with Tamara Podemski's Meegwetch.
Nominated for Best Music Video are I Will Return by Susan Aglukark, Meegwetch by Tamra Podemski and Man That Sits Alone by Ray Villebrun and Red Blaze.

Susan Aglukark, Chad Irschick and Jack Grunsky are nominated in the Best Songwriter category for Citizens of the Word, while Aglukark and Irschick are also nominated for the song Circle of the Old. Other nominees in the category include Donna Kay for Round Round Round and I Am, and Tamara Podemski and Karen Kosowki for So Damn Beautiful and She Knows Better.

Nominees for Best Producer/Engineer are Wayne Restoule for Refugees of Romance by Weaselhead, Chris Burke-Gaffney and Vince Fontaine for Life Is ... by Eagle & Hawk and Peter Bacsalmasi for The Journey by Donna Kay.

The nominees for Best Album Cover Design are Tania Oosting and Tessa MacIntosh for Stephen Kakfwi's In the Walls of His Mind, David R. Maracle for Sacred Healing and James Kinistino for the Project One Generation Compilation CD.

More information about the Manito Ahbee Music Festival can be found online at www.manitoahbee.com. For more information about the Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards, go to www.aboriginalpeopleschoice.com. More information about the Canadian Aboriginal Festival can be found at www.canab.com.