CCMA Awards Nominees: Dean Brody, James Barker Band & Brett Kissel Lead The Way

The Canadian Country Music Association is pleased to announce the final nominees in 34 CCMA Award categories today, 8 of which will be presented during the 2017 CCMA Awards Show, to be broadcast from the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on Sunday, September 10 at 8 p.m. (8:30 p.m. NT) on CBC.

First-time nominees, the James Barker Band have an impressive five nominations: Album of the Year, Group or Duo of the Year, Rising Star, Single of the Year and Video of the Year. Lead singer, James Barker, is also nominated for Songwriters of the Year (presented by ole) alongside Gavin Slate, Travis Wood and Donovan Woods for the James Barker Band single, “Chills”. Dean Brody can celebrate five nominations in the categories of Apple Music Fans’ Choice, Album of the Year, Single of the Year, Video of the Year and Songwriter of the Year (presented by ole) for his single, “Time”. Brett Kissel also boasts five nods including Male Artist of the Year, Single of the Year, Video of the Year and Interactive Artist of the Year, as well as Songwriters of the Year (presented by ole) with Ted Hewitt and Phil O’Donnell for his single, “Cool With That”.

With four nominations is Dallas Smith, who heads into CCMA Awards season in the categories of Apple Music Fans’ Choice, Album of the Year, Male Artist of the Year and Single of the Year. And with three nominations each are High Valley: Apple Music Fans Choice, Album of the Year and Group or Duo of the Year and Meghan Patrick: Album of the Year, Female Artist of the Year and Rising Star.

See the list of nominees below:

ARTIST AWARDS

APPLE MUSIC FANS’ CHOICE AWARD
Gord Bamford
Dean Brody
Chad Brownlee
High Valley
Dallas Smith

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Dean Brody – Beautiful Freakshow
High Valley – Dear Life
Dallas Smith – Side Effects
Meghan Patrick – Grace & Grit
James Barker Band – Game On

FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Lindsay Ell
Madeline Merlo
Jess Moskaluke
Meghan Patrick
Alee

MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Gord Bamford
Brett Kissel
Aaron Pritchett
Tim Hicks
Chad Brownlee
Dallas Smith

GROUP OR DUO OF THE YEAR
Cold Creek County
High Valley
James Barker Band
The Road Hammers
Washboard Union

ROOTS ARTIST OR GROUP OF THE YEAR
The Lovelocks
Jessica Mitchell
Lindi Ortega
JJ Shiplett
The Washboard Union

RISING STAR
Dan Davidson
Aaron Goodvin
JoJo Mason
Meghan Patrick
James Barker Band

SINGLE OF THE YEAR
Autograph – Dallas Smith
Cool With That – Brett Kissel
Lawn Chair Lazy – James Barker Band
Take Me Home – Jess Moskaluke
Time – Dean Brody

VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Brett Kissel – I Didn’t Fall in Love With Your Hair
James Barker Band – Chills
Chris Buck Band feat. Kira Isabella – That’s When You Know
Dean Brody – Time
Aaron Pritchett – When A Momma’s Boy Meets A Daddy’s Girl

SONGWRITER(S) OF THE YEAR presented by ole
James Barker, Gavin Slate, Travis Wood, Donovan Woods
Song: Chills (Performed By: James Barker Band)
Ted Hewitt, Brett Kissel, Phil O’Donnell
Song: Cool With That (Performed By: Brett Kissel)
Clayton Bellamy, Dan Davidson
Song: Found (Performed By: Dan Davidson)
Dean Brody
Song: Time (Performed By: Dean Brody)
Patricia Conroy, Jessica Mitchell, David Thomson
Song: Workin’ On Whiskey (Performed By: Jessica Mitchell)

INTERACTIVE ARTIST OR GROUP OF THE YEAR
Shae Dupuy
Tim Hicks
Hunter Brothers
Brett Kissel
Wes Mac

MUSICIAN AWARDS
BASS PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Chris Byrne
Lisa Dodd
Justin Kudding
James Murdoch
Travis Switzer

DRUMMER OF THE YEAR
Jimmy Boudreau
Ben Bradley
Jayson Brinkworth
Rich DaSilva
Chad Melchert

FIDDLE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Denis Dufresne
Shane Guse
Julie Kennedy
Mike Sanyshyn
Tyler Vollrath

GUITAR PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARD
Derek Caven
Ryan Davidson
Matt McKay
Darren Savard
Brennan Wall

KEYBOARD PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Scott Galloway
Mike Little
Bart McKay
Carly McKillip

SPECIALTY INSTRUMENT PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Denis Dufresne – Banjo
Shane Guse – Mandolin
Tyler Vollrath – Mandolin

STEEL GUITAR PLAYER OF THE YEAR
John Ellis
Smokey Fennell
Mitch Jay
Doug Johnson
Scott Smith

RADIO AWARDS

MUSIC DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR- LARGE MARKET
Larry Donohue – CFCW – Edmonton, AB
Steph Hansen – CKRY-FM/CISN-FM – Calgary, AB/Edmonton, AB
Amanda Kingsland – CKBY-FM – Ottawa, ON
Brittany Thompson – CKKL-FM – Ottawa, ON
Peter Walker – CJKX-FM – Oshawa, ON

MUSIC DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR- MEDIUM OR SMALL MARKET
Shilo Bellis – CJXL-FM – Moncton, NB
Paul Ferguson – CHCQ-FM – Belleville, ON
Cal Gratton – CJVR-FM – Melfort, SK
Roo Phelps – CIGV-FM, Kelowna, BC
Brendan Seeley – CKGY-FM – Red Deer, AB

INDUSTRY AWARDS

BOOKING AGENCY OF THE YEAR
The Feldman Agency
Invictus Entertainment Group
Paquin Artists Agency
Sakamoto Agency
United Talent Agency

COUNTRY CLUB OF THE YEAR
Boots & Bourbon Saloon – Toronto, ON
Cook County Saloon – Edmonton, AB
Cowboys Dance Hall – Calgary, AB
Knoxville’s Tavern – Edmonton, AB
Ranchman’s Cookhouse and Dancehall – Calgary, AB

COUNTRY FESTIVAL, FAIR, OR EXHIBITION OF THE YEAR
Boots And Hearts Music Festival – Oro-Medonte, ON
Big Valley Jamboree – Camrose, AB
Calgary Stampede – Calgary, AB
Cavendish Beach Music Festival – Cavendish, PE
Rockin’ River Country MusicFest – Merritt, BC

COUNTRY MUSIC PROGRAM OR SPECIAL OF THE YEAR
Brett Kissel – Home Movie – Corus Entertainment
Canadian Coast To Coast – Fabmar Communications
Chevy Top 20 Countdown – Corus Entertainment
Coors Banquet One Horse Town – Corus Entertainment
The Casey Clarke Show With Roo Phelps – Casey Clarke Productions

MANAGEMENT COMPANY OF THE YEAR
Chief Music Management
Gold & Gold Productions Ltd.
Invictus Entertainment Group
MDM Recordings Inc.
RGK Entertainment Group Inc.

MUSIC PUBLISHING COMPANY OF THE YEAR
ole
Royalty Music Publishing Inc.
Sony/ATV Music Publishing Canada
Universal Music Publishing Canada
Warner/Chappell Music Canada

RECORD COMPANY OF THE YEAR
MDM Recordings Inc.
ole red dot
Open Road Recordings Inc.
Sony Music Entertainment (Canada) Inc.
Warner Music Canada

RECORDING PACKAGE OF THE YEAR
Design Team: Mitchell Nevins Photography: Phil Crozier
Album: Beautiful Freakshow (Artist: Dean Brody)
Design Team: Mitchell Nevins
Album: Echo Road: The Best of Doc Walker (Artist: Doc Walker)
Design Team: Mitchell Nevins Photography: Phil Crozier
Album: Shake These Walls (Artist: Tim Hicks)
Design Team: Janelle Shiplett Photography: Brent Mykytyshyn, Ari Heinikainen, Mike Peleshok
Album: Something To Believe In (Artist: JJ Shiplett)
Design Team: Mitchell Nevins, Madeline Merlo
Single: War Paint (Artist: Madeline Merlo)

RECORDING STUDIO OF THE YEAR
Bark McKay Productions – Saskatoon, SK
Barrytone Studios – St. Clements, ON
MCC Recording Studio – Calgary, AB
OCL Studios – Chestermere, AB
Revolution Recording – Toronto, ON

RECORD PRODUCER(S) OF THE YEAR
Chris Baseford, Vince Gill, Jeff Johnson, Chad Kroeger, Carly McKillip, Justin Niebank
Album: Grace & Grit (Artist: Meghan Patrick)
Scott Cooke
Album: The Score (Artist: Aaron Pritchett)
Scott Cooke, Ben Glover, Mitch Merrett
Album: Hearts On Fire (Artist: Chad Brownlee)
Joey Moi
Album: Side Effects (Artist: Dallas Smith)
Phil O’Donnell
Album: Tin Roof (Artist: Gord Bamford)

RETAILER OF THE YEAR
Apple Canada
Spotify Canada Inc.
Sunrise Records
Walmart Canada

RON SAKAMOTO TALENT BUYER OR PROMOTER OF THE YEAR
Kelly Berehulka – Casinos Of Winnipeg
Paul Biro – Sakamoto Agency
Jim Cressman – Invictus Entertainment Group
Adam Oppenheim – Stampede Entertainment Inc.
Emmanuel Patterson – Live Nation Entertainment

VIDEO DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR
Stephano Barberis
Video: I Hate You For It (Artist: Chad Brownlee), Video: One Little Kiss (Artist: Dallas Smith), Video: Red Dress, (Artist: JoJo Mason), Video: Somethin’ We Shouldn’t Do (Artist: Chad Brownlee), Video: Summer Girl (Artist: Bucko & Toad), Video: Time (Artist: Dean Brody)
Emma Higgins
Video: Still Loving You (Artist: Meghan Patrick)
Ben Knechtel
Video: Chills (Artist: James Barker Band), Video: Cool With That (Artist: Brett Kissel), Video: Drive Me Away (Artist: Jess Moskaluke), Video: Elevator (Artist: Jess Moskaluke), Video: Every Week’s Got A Friday (Artist: High Valley), Video: Starts With A Girl (Artist: David James)
Travis Nesbitt
Video: Found (Artist: Dan Davidson)
Joel Stewart
Video: I Didn’t Fall In Love With Your Hair (Artist: Brett Kissel)
Forty-two (42) CCMA Awards will be given out over three (3) awards ceremonies during PotashCorp Country Music Week in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, September 7-10. Ticket and event information regarding PotashCorp Country Music Week can be found at ccma.org. Performers for the 2017 CCMA Awards Show will be announced in the coming weeks. Already announced to perform are Dean Brody, Brett Kissel and Jess Moskaluke.

Tickets for the 2017 CCMA Awards Show are still available and can be purchased online HERE, by calling 1-800-970-7328, or by visiting the SaskTel Centre Box Office (3515 Thatcher Ave., Saskatoon, SK).

For more information on the 2017 CCMA Awards Show or PotashCorp Country Music Week, visit ccma.org.