Manitoba musicians are nominated in a whopping 20 categories at this year’s Western Canadian Music Awards, but for one local artist, it’s not a surprise the province is so well-represented.
“Manitoba puts out some really good artists,” Winnipeg guitarist and bandleader Ed Durocher told 680 CJOB on Wednesday.
“What else is there to do? You either play hockey or you make music.”
Durocher’s group, Apollo Suns, is up for the Instrumental Artist of the Year prize for its new Dawn Offerings EP.
It’s a cateogry Durocher knows well, as Apollo Suns picked up the same award at the 2018 WCMAs, held in Kelowna, and hopes to repeat this year in Whitehorse.
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“We’re a 10-piece. We call it psychedelic jazz. We’re jazz-adjacent, I guess,” he said.
“Being instrumental, we usually get lumped into the jazz genre because we have a five-piece horn section. It’s really groovy, it’s really sweaty, it’s really energetic. It’s a lot of fun.”
The group, currently on tour in Alberta and British Columbia, recorded its EP with producer Lloyd Peterson – who’s up for a WCMA of his own in the Producer of the Year category.
“(Recording) was a great experience,” said Durocher.
“We’re just really excited and really proud of it. The response and enthusiasm has been really good.”
The annual WCMA awards show, along with the BreakOutWest music conference, rotates through different cities in western Canada each year, and recognizes artists from British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and the three territories.
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