BRETT KISSEL, DEAN BRODY, JAMES EHNES, JOHNNY REID, SERENA RYDER, AND TEGAN AND SARA, AMONG BIG WINNERS
Winnipeg was a place for musical magic Saturday night as the Canadian music industry gathered to toast 35 JUNO Award winners at the 2014 JUNO Gala Dinner & Awards. This is the event where most of the winning hardware is handed out off-camera the night before the television broadcast.
Two of Sunday’s JUNO Awards Broadcast co-hosts took home early awards, with Johnny Reid winning Adult Contemporary Album of the Year, and Serena Ryder earning Artist of the Year honours. Ryder will open the Sunday, March 30 broadcast with a world premiere performance alongside Classified, the broadcast’s third co-host. They will join forces on a mash-up of Classified’s song “Three Foot Tall,” and Ryder’s “What I Wouldn’t Do.”
Five other JUNO Awards Broadcast performers garnered statuettes: Brett Kissel for Breakthrough Artist of the Year (Sponsored by FACTOR and Radio Starmaker Fund); Dean Brody for Country Album of the Year; Matt Mays for Rock Album of the Year (Sponsored by Musicians’ Rights Organization Canada); The Sheepdogs for Video of the Year (Sponsored by MuchFact, Exclusively Funded by Bell Media); and Tegan and Sara for Pop Album of the Year (Sponsored by TD).
James Ehnes was the only double JUNO Award winner of the evening, for Classical Album of the Year: Solo or Chamber Ensemble, and Classical Album of the Year: Large Ensemble or Soloist(s) with Large Ensemble Accompaniment.
Held at the RBC Convention Centre Winnipeg, and hosted by Jian Ghomeshi, The JUNO Gala Dinner & Awards featured performances by A Tribe Called Red, The Devin Cuddy Band, Erin Propp with Larry Roy and Mike Downes, JRDN ft. Kardinal Offishall, and July Talk. The gala’s special award recipients included Chantal Kreviazuk and Raine Maida, who received the Allan Waters Humanitarian Award, and music executive Frank Davies, recipient of the 2014 Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award.
The Juno Awards themselves turned out to be an entertaining tribute showcasing the best of the best Canada has to offer. Unfortunately, many of the big names such as Drake, Justin Bieber, Bryan Adams, Arcade Fire and others were in other parts of the world and could not be in attendance.
The highlight of the evening was the presentation of the Hall of Fame award to Bachman-Turner Overdrive, 20 years after their disbanding. The tribute performance by The Sheepdog was a fitting homage to the group that rocked the mid-seventies. Other great performances were by Serena Ryder, Walk The Earth, Sarah McLauchlan and Tegan and Sara. Three different choirs accompanied some of the performers on the large hi-tech stages, turning performances into memorable moments.
Serena Ryder, Johnny Reid and Classified as hosts, played it safe throughout the night with only a few bleeps between them.
Low on televised award presentations and heavy on performances, it made for the show to come in on time. I guess the format of not taking chances on long acceptance speeches worked.
And the 2014 JUNO AWARDS went to:
ARTIST OF THE YEAR: Serena Ryder.
POP ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Tegan & Sara, Heartthrob.
ROCK ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Matt Mays, Coyote.
DANCE RECORDING OF THE YEAR: Armin van Buuren & Trevor Guthrie, “This Is What It Feels Like.”
ELECTRONIC ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Ryan Hemsworth, Guilt Trips.
METAL/HARD MUSIC ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Protest the Hero,Volition.
ADULT CONTEMPORARY ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Johnny Reid, A Christmas Gift to You.
COUNTRY ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Dean Brody, Crop Circles.
JACK RICHARDSON PRODUCER OF THE YEAR AWARD: Henry “Cirkut” Walter (co-producer Luke Gottwald), “Wrecking Ball” from Miley Cyrus’ Bangerz and “Give It 2 U” from Robin Thicke’s Blurred Lines.
RECORDING ENGINEER OF THE YEAR: Eric Ratz, for Monster Trucks’ “Sweet Mountain River” and “The Lion” from Furiosity.
RECORDING PACKAGE OF THE YEAR: Robyn Kotyk (art director/designer/illustrator) and Petra Cuschieri and Justin Peroff (designers), Arts & Crafts 2003-2013.
VIDEO OF THE YEAR: The Sheepdogs, “Feeling Good” (Matt Barnes, director).
ROOTS AND TRADITIONAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR, SOLO: Justin Rutledge, Valleyheart.
ROOTS AND TRADITIONAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR, GROUP: The Strumbellas, We Still Move on Dance Floors.
INTERNATIONAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Bruno Mars, Unorthodox Jukebox.
BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST OF THE YEAR: Brett Kissel.
ADULT ALTERNATIVE ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Ron Sexsmith, Forever Endeavour.
ALTERNATIVE ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Arcade Fire, Reflektor.
VOCAL JAZZ ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Mike Rud (featuring Sienna Dahlen), Notes on Montréal.
CONTEMPORARY JAZZ ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Christine Jensen Jazz Orchestra, Habitat.
TRADITIONAL JAZZ ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Mike Downes, Ripple Effect.
INSTRUMENTAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Esmerine, Dalmak.
FRANCOPHONE ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Karim Ouellet, Fox.
CHILDREN’S ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Helen Austin, Colour It.
CLASSICAL ALBUM, SOLO OR CHAMBER ENSEMBLE: James Ehnes, Prokofiev: Complete Works for Violin.
CLASSICAL ALBUM, LARGE ENSEMBLE OR SOLOIST(S) WITH LARGE ENSEMBLE: James Ehnes, Britten and Shostakovich: Violin Concerti.
CLASSICAL ALBUM, VOCAL OR CHORAL PERFORMANCE: Marie-Nicole Lemieux and André Gagnon, Lettres de Madame Roy a sa fille Gabrielle.
CLASSICAL COMPOSITION: Allan Gordon Bell, “Field Notes,” Gravity and Grace.
RAP RECORDING OF THE YEAR: Drake, Nothing Was the Same.
R&B/SOUL RECORDING OF THE YEAR: JRDN feat. Kardinal Offishall, “Can’t Choose.”
REGGAE RECORDING OF THE YEAR: Exco Levi and Kabaka Pyramid,Strive.
ABORIGINAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR: George Leach, Surrender.
BLUES ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Downchild, Can You Hear the Music.
CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN/GOSPEL ALBUM: Tim Neufeld, Trees.
WORLD MUSIC ALBUM OF THE YEAR: David Buchbinder and Odessa/Havana, Walk to the Sea.
Photos Courtesy of CARAS
Report by Violet D’Saint
