Manitoba Acts and Locally Produced Programs Net 26 Nominations at the Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards

Manitoba acts and locally produced program have netted 26 nominations for the Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards this year. The winners will be announced at one of two award shows in downtown Winnipeg on November 4 and 5.
Fans cast votes on the APCMA website to determine who wins in each category, but industry stakeholders were involved in the selection of nominees in the non-genre or “industry” categories during the first round of online voting this year.
Winnipeg’s Most leads the charge with four nominations, while Eagle & Hawk and Don Amero are close behind with three each. Streetz FM favorite, Young Kidd and blues legend Billy Joe Green have two chances to win this year, while 10 other acts and two locally produced radio programs have individual nominations for their work.
The Best Country CD category is chalked full of Manitoba releases this year. Darrelyne Bickel’s M.I.A., Desiree Dorion’s Soul Back Jack, Jerry Sereda’s Campground Cowboy, and Kimberley Dawn’s Built That Way are in the running alongside Shane Yellowbird’s latest disc, meaning that four of the five nominations are for work from the keystone province.
The Best Rap/Hip Hop category worked out the same way, with Filthy Animals, Skelpa Squad, Winnipeg’s Most, and Young Kidd nabbing the lion’s share of the nominations.
The CBC’s Ab-Originals and the NCI FM-produced National Aboriginal Music Countdown make up two of the three nominations in the Best Aboriginal Music Radio Station/Program category, while two of the five nominations in the Best Duo or Group, Best Fiddle CD, and Single of the Year categories go to Manitoba acts as well.
MANITOBA NOMINEES – ABORIGINAL PEOPLES CHOICE MUSIC AWARDS
ABORIGINAL MALE ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
Billy Joe Green
ABORIGINAL SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR
Don Amero
BEST ABORIGINAL MUSIC RADIO STATION / PROGRAM
Ab-Originals
National Aboriginal Music Countdown (NCI FM)
BEST ALBUM COVER DESIGN
Don Amero – Deepening
BEST COUNTRY CD
Darrelyne Bickel – M.I.A.
Desiree Dorion – Soul Back Jack
Jerry Sereda – Campground Cowboy
Kimberley Dawn – Built That Way
BEST DUO OR GROUP
Eagle & Hawk
Winnipeg’s Most
BEST FIDDLE CD
JJ Lavallee – A Fiddle Bit of This & A Fiddle Bit of That
The Gaudry Boys – The Acadian Jig
BEST GOSPEL CD
Philip Flett – Prophets of Old
BEST NEW ARTIST
Winnipeg’s Most
BEST POP CD
Don Amero – Deepening
BEST PRODUCER / ENGINEER
Billy Joe Green
Eagle & Hawk
Wab Kinew
BEST RAP / HIP HOP CD
Filthy Animals – Sound of Nature
Skelpa Squad – The Thief & Council
Winnipeg’s Most – Winnipeg’s Most
Young Kidd – 10x10
BEST ROCK CD
Eagle & Hawk – The Great Unknown
SINGLE OF THE YEAR
Winnipeg’s Most – All That I Know
Young Kidd – Hometown