Variety of styles represented in Juno nominees

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Whether your taste in music leans towards rock, blues, folk, traditional or alternative, chances are you'll find something to your liking among this year's lineup of Juno nominees in the Best Music of Aboriginal Canada Recording category.

Although this year's Juno awards are heading East-the ceremonies will be held in St. John's, Nfld. on April 14-all of the nominees in this category are based in the West.

This year's nominated albums include Riel's Road, by Vancouver-based singer songwriter Sandy Scofield, and Crazy Maker, by Marcel Gagnon, who calls Fort Fraser, B.C. home. Edmonton-based Billy Joe Green is also nominated for a Juno for his album My Ojibway Experience, Strength and Hope, as is Nakoda Lodge, who are based in Morley, Alta. and nominated for their album Dark Realm. Rounding out this year's list of nominees is Eagle & Hawk from Winnipeg, Man., nominated for their album On and On.

The Best Music of Aboriginal Canada category was introduced at the Junos in 1994. Brian Wright-McLeod is chair of the Best Music of Aboriginal Canada committee, which is responsible for promoting the Best Music of Aboriginal Canada Recording category to try to get more submissions into the category, as well as for promoting Aboriginal music within the mainstream music industry.

"We are excited over this year's line-up of nominees making this a competitive roster of talented performers. They represent an expression of strength and beauty that only hints at the wealth of talent that exists in our communities," Wright-McLeod said.

"It's an exciting list. It's diverse," he said, but added that the number of traditional and powwow groups submitting entries for the award was less than the committee had hoped it would be, which he attributed in part to a lack of understanding of powwow music in the mainstream market.

"I think there was some initial excitement in the beginning, but I think [that the current lack of participation is] because the mainstream market didn't respond in the way that everybody had expected it would. There's a real lack of understanding of what powwow music is in the mainstream. I think there's probably a very marginal market in the mainstream for powwow music outside of casual interest. But as Indian people, it's the foundation of who we are musically and culturally," Wright-McLeod said.

To qualify for nomination in the Best Music of Aboriginal Canada Recording category, a recording "has to contain elements that reflect the unique identity and contribution of Aboriginal culture, whether its within the lyrical framework of the song, the instrumentalization, or the presentation in a music traditional/quasi-traditional form, that it has to be identified with as being distinctly Aboriginal."

While some of the past award recipients in this category already had well established careers when they received the honor, other winners have been less well known, and received a much deserved career boost from the recognition.

"I think [receiving the award] means that you have to realize that it takes a lot of dedication and a lot of hard work to make a career happen," said Wright-McLeod. "I know a couple of winners, especially Florent Vollant last year, his agent's phone was ringing off the hook after he won the award. So even though he was already a part of Kashtin, trying to revive a career as a solo artist outside of a group or duo can be pretty difficult at the best of times. So that helped him a lot. And past winners who weren't so known, such as Mishi Donovan, they got a lot of mileage out of the prestige and the profile of winning an award," he said.

"I think the beginnings of a really healthy music industry is starting to take place. I think categories and awards like the Junos inspires music makers to come forward and put out quality recordings and try and meet industry standards and to begin to understand what that is, and the dedication and hard work that it takes to get there."