3 B.C. artists whose music you might not know, but should
Western Canadian Music Awards nominees announced last week; awards gala hits Regina Oct. 19
Every year, music industry group BreakOut West has celebrated the best in Western Canadian music with the Western Canadian Music Awards.
The nominations for the 2016 awards have just been released, and On The Coast music columnist Andrea Warner wanted to highlight some nominees who maybe haven't gotten as much press over the years.
"There are so many B.C. artists that are on this list, in so many categories, even I was only familiar with about half of them," Warner told On The Coast host Stephen Quinn. "These kind of award nominations can really be useful in helping us get to know independent or unknown artists, emerging artists [and] help them get a bit of recognition."
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Here are three artists on Warner's list for Western Canadian Music Awards nominees that you may not have heard of — yet.
Kristie McCracken — nominated for Urban Artist of the Year
"She's the singer, songwriter and guitarist for a local band called The Ponderosas. She's also a solo artist. Just a beautiful voice. I just think she's so talented, I'm just really glad I had a look at this list."
We Are The City — nominated for BreakOut Artist of the Year and Pop Artist of the Year
"They're doing a lot of really interesting, unconventional structures, a lot of weird stuff and I think it's still really fun and melodic. Totally cool drums, right?"
Pharis and Jason Romero — nominated for Recording of the Year for "A Wanderer I'll Stay"
"Pharis herself is nominated for songwriter of the year, [too]. They're this married couple from Horsefly, B.C. They do traditional music and bluegrass. So beautiful, right? Just amazing, amazing harmonies."
The 2016 Western Canadian Music Awards will be handed out Oct. 13 in Regina.
With files form CBC Radio One's On The Coast
To hear the full story, click the audio labelled: Meet 3 B.C. artists you might not know — but soon will