Country-roots star Jimmy Rankin, currently on tour with his sisters in The Rankin Family, leads all contenders with eight music award nominations for the 2012 East Coast Music Awards. Artist and Industry award nominations were announced at Casino New Brunswick for East Coast Music Week 2012 to be held April 11–15, 2012 in Moncton, NB. Rankin’s album Forget About The World earned him a bunch of nominations including Album of the Year, Country Recording of the Year, Solo Recording of the Year, Songwriter of the Year (for ‘Here In My Heart,’ co-written with Patricia Conroy), Song of the Year (‘Here In My Heart), Entertainer of the Year, and Video of the Year (both ‘Here In My Heart’ and ‘I’m Just Saying’ were nominated). Here’s one of the nominated videos, ‘Here In My Heart.’
Other artists nominated for Country Recording of the Year are George Canyon (Better Be Home Soon), Gordie Sampson (Almost Beautiful), Ryan Cook (Peaks & Valleys), and Tara Oram (Revival). Additionally, Canyon was nominated for Songwriter of the Year (‘Sacrifice,’ co-written with Dean Brody), Video of the Year (‘Better Be Home Soon’), and Entertainer of the Year, Cook for Rising Star Recording of the Year (Peaks & Valleys), and Sampson for Solo Recording of the Year (Almost Beautiful).
Several other artists followed closely behind Jimmy including Nova Scotia rapper Classified with six nominations and folk-roots artist David Myles, rockers The Trews and blues singer/songwriter Matt Andersen each walking away with five. “Celebrating the incredible talent in Atlantic Canada and supporting the hard work of our artists is our primary focus,” said Su Hutchinson, executive director of the East Coast Music Association. “Preparations are underway for an ECMA Week that will present our artists and industry in exciting new ways.”
The presentation of music and industry awards will be distributed throughout the event at various times on showcasing stages, at the Industry Awards Brunch, and at the Music Awards Gala on Sunday, April 15 at Casino New Brunswick in Moncton.
Voting for music and industry awards begins on January 27th and closes March 1st. This year, there are two awards for the fans to vote on – Bell Aliant Fan’s Choice Entertainer of the Year and Bell Aliant Fan’s Choice Video of the Year. Fan’s Choice voting opens March 1 and closes April 5, 2012. Go to the ECMA website for the full list of nominees and more info.
