Classified leads the pack for the 2021 East Coast Music Awards (ECMAs) with eight nominations, while Rose Cousins follows closely with six, and Beòlach, Catherine MacLellan, David Myles, Neon Dreams, and Rich Aucoin have each earned four.
The nominees include:
Songwriter of the Year
Catherine MacLellan
Classified
David Myles
Joel Plaskett
Rose Cousins
Song of the Year
Classified – “Good News” featuring Breagh Isabel
Like A Motorcycle – “Wide Awake”
Neon Dreams – “Sick of Feeling Useless”
Rachel Beck – “Warrior”
Rich Aucoin – “Walls”
Classical Composition of the Year
Andrew Staniland – Peter Quince at the Clavier
Bekah Simms – Granitic
Derek Charke – Tree Rings
Dinuk Wijeratne – The Spirit and the Dust
Emily Doolittle – Doolittle: Minute Études Excerpts (Live)
Peter-Anthony Togni – Sea Dreams
Francophone Recording of the Year
Émilie Landry – Arroser les Fleurs
Joey Robin Haché – TRENTE
Les Hay Babies – Boîte aux lettres
Matt Boudreau – Armageddon
Menoncle Jason – La grosse piastre
This year’s awards lineup features a new category – African Canadian Artist of the Year – with Joe Bowden, Keonte Beals, Miokal, Owen O’Sound Lee, Shelley Hamilton, and Zamani all vying for the honour.
The 2021 East Coast Music Awards will take place May 5-9 in Sydney, Nova Scotia, though what that festival and show will look like is still being determined by COVID-19 restrictions. Last year’s show migrated online, and was postponed from May to July 11, with pre-recorded performances and no audience.