The nominees for the 2012 JUNO Awards were announced by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences in Toronto Feb. 7th.

Among the other nominees were Newfoundland’s rising stars the Once, nominated for Roots & Traditional Album of the Year : Group, for their Borealis/Universal album ‘Row Upon Row of the People They Know’.

An unprecedented rise has seen the group go in just three years from playing at a dinner theatre in Trinity to national and international tours. In the past year they have headlined shows right across Canada, Britain, Ireland, Denmark and most recently Australia.

Produced by Mark Neary, the CD has been well received by media and fans nation-wide and today’s announcement is proof that the Once have captured the country’s attention with their heartfelt delivery of both original and traditional Newfoundland songs.

“This nomination feels like nothing we’ve felt before. We’ve always been humbled and delighted by any recognition, but this is extra-special,” said Andrew Dale, who along with Geraldine Hollett and Phil Churchill makes up the trio known as the Once.

“We wanted people to recognize more of ourselves, all three of us in this record. It’s a much better representation of us, and how we want to progress as a band. We felt this was an important next step, and we are delighted that people have connected with that. We hope this will be the start of something that will last for a while.”

The Once are currently performing in Saskatchewan, and will be touring throughout North America for the rest of the year. They are managed by Bob Hallett, a frequent Juno nominee in his own right with Great Big Sea and Shelley Chase of Garrison Hill Entertainment in St. John’s.

The 2012 JUNO Awards Broadcast will air live on CTV the evening of Sunday, April 1 from Scotiabank Place in Ottawa.

What: Two acclaimed young Vancouver singer-songwriters perform their charming modern folk tunes
Where: Minstrel Cafe
When: Thursday March 15, 2012 – 8PM
Price: $5 entertainment charge
Contact: The Minstrel Cafe 4638 Lakeshore Road (250) 764-2301
Artist site: www.zaacpick.com or www.joshuahyslop.com

Hot on the heels of a hit single and viral video, singer-songwriters James Struthers will team up with Lilith Fair artist Kate Morgan for a western Canada tour, reaching British Columbia just in time for Reading Week February 18-24, 2012.

 Sat. Feb. 18 @ 7 pm    Java Jive, Salmon Arm, BC                                         $7 cover charge
Sun. Feb. 19 @ TBA     Globe Café & Tapas, Big White, Kelowna, BC           $8 cover
Mon. Feb. 20 @ 6 pm The Den Bar & Bistro, Silver Star Mountain, BC      Free
Tue. Feb. 21 @ 8 pm   The Minstrel Café, Kelowna, BC                                $5 cover
Wed. Feb. 22 @ 8 pm The Art We Are, Kamloops, BC                                  $7 Cover
Thu. Feb. 23 @ TBA    Globe Café & Tapas, Sun Peaks, Kamloops, BC         $8 Cover
Fri. Feb. 24 @ 9 pm    Joe’s Apartment, Vancouver, BC (Tall Poppy Showcase) $10 adv., $12 @ door 

British Columbia music fans may be familiar with James Struthers work, following the success of his recent single, Blue Christmas, which hit the Top Ten in the national Adult Contemporary radio charts.  Struthers’ cover version of the song popularized by Elvis Presley, peaked at #8 in December, putting the 23-year-old Winnipeg musician in the radio charting ranks of Michael Buble and Justin Bieber.

In the meantime, Struthers’ video for his Transformers-inspired, self-written song You, Me and Optimus Prime has reached more than 177,000 YouTube views. The video was also recently featured by famed radio host Alan Cross, and gadget news site, Gizmodo (one of the Top 50 most visited websites in the world).

Songwriter Kate Morgan, who resides in Vancouver and grew up in Kamloops, has already accomplished many feats in her 18 years. Kate has opened for high profile acts like The Sheepdogs, K’naan and Fefe Dobson; performed at the 2011 Grey Cup Festival and 2010 Olympic Games; and is the youngest headline performer to ever play Lilith Fair; where she shared the stage with her heroes Sarah McLachlan and Sheryl Crow.

“I was really, really lucky getting to play Lilith Fair. I had an in. One of the girls who sang backup vocals on my single at the time, Lovin’ You, worked at Nettwerk Records. She ended up playing the song for Lilith Fair co-founder Terry McBride and he called me in for a meeting,” says Kate.

Opportunities keep popping up for Kate, who will showcase at Canadian Music Week in Toronto this March, then travel to New York and LA to work with some high-profile writing/production teams.

This is the second major tour for James and Kate, who met while performing at the same Kamloops concert in August 2011. Kate then joined James for the remainder of his summer Coast-to-Coast tour. “We definitely took a risk having Kate jump in the station wagon with me. There are a lot of variables at play when you’re on the road, but we got along famously, especially considering the fact we shared as small a space as that for a month. I think I can speak for both of us when I say it was an incredible experience,” says James.

Touring together led to the discovery of joint interests: James and Kate share an undeniable passion for music and songwriting, childish things like Smurfs and Transformers, neither has a favorite colour, and they both have chicken pox scars in the same place (above the left eye).

While James and Kate play their own independent sets during each concert, they also join each other for some duets – and have recently started their own side project, called James And Kate. They will be showcasing some of their joint tunes during their BC tour stops.

To learn more about James Struthers and Kate Morgan, please visit:

http://www.jamesstruthers.com

http://www.katemorgan.ca

http://www.jamesandkate.net