By Tyler Marr

Video tops long list of P.A. SCMA nominees

Mar 27, 2018 | 2:00 PM

LJ Tyson grew up in the punk scene playing music in friends’ basements. 

So when he first dipped his toes into the country music world last year with a cultural video for the City of Prince Albert and learned it was up for a nomination at the Saskatchewan Country Music Association (SCMA) Awards this year, he was in disbelief.

“For me to be nominated at this big fancy country music awards show is something else,” he said. “I know lots of people say they are shocked when they receive the nomination but I promise you I did not expect this at all,” Tyson said.

The song and music video for Locals was pitched and produced in conjunction with the city to visually represent and showcase the cultural core. Tyson was selected from a casting call for musicians. After a meeting with the city, he rewrote the song to better fit the project. With the song centred around the residents of Prince Albert and the city acting as host for SCMA awards on April 27 to 29, this made the nomination that much more special for Tyson.

Judy MacLeod Campbell, the city’s arts and cultural coordinator, said while the primary purpose was to produce a cultural video for the city to showcase Prince Albert’s cultural assets and local talent, tourism and profiling the community in a positive light were also part of the project.

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“It is a very prestigious award and being up for it is fantastic and will have more people view the video,” she said. “LJ put so much into the song and into the video that it is so nice for him to have that recognition.”

Alongside Tyson is a long list of Prince Albert and area nominees. Both McLeod Campbell and Tyson said there is a plethora of talent in the area that deserves to be recognized, not only provincially, but nationally, too. 

“There is some world class talent here,” Tyson said. “From the musicians to the broadcasters …  they are genuinely good people. I am so happy to see all the nominations.”

The video is up against Pretty Good Guy by Blake Berglund, Justin LaBrash’s Front Row Sea, Fireproof by Samara Young and Tenille Arts’ Cold Feet.

Shayne Morley, local SCMA chapter president and a nominee for drummer and country music person of the year, said he was quite honoured and surprised to be shortlisted. He said the events will be a boon for artists and the industry and give youth a better understanding of the scene and what it takes to be nominated to win an award.

“This city, this province, I don’t know if it is in the water or the air, but the amount of talent in this city is remarkable, from little kids to us old guys, it is really cool,” he said. “[The event] will play well for the youth, the up and coming and passing things on.”

Area nominees:

Female artist of the year – Stephanie Rose (Debden)

Male artist of the year – Brody Siebert (Spiritwood)

Songwriter of the year – Brody Siebert 

Emerging artist of the year – Stephanie Rose (Debden)

Roots artist of the year – Jay & Jo (Honeymoon)

Bass player – Boyd Falconer (Prince Albert), Mick Gratis (Prince Albert)

Drummer – Dean Kushneryk (Prince Albert)

Keyboard player –  Mick Gratis (Prince Albert), Mike Langlois (Prince Albert)

Fiddle player – Dean Bernier, Janaya Trudel, Kerri English (All Prince Albert)

Guitar player – Dennis Adams, Shawn Blackman, Terry Lasko (All Prince Albert)

Radio station – 900 CKBI (Major Market), CJVR Melfort (Secondary Market)

Music Director – Ken Landers (Major Market)

Record Producer – Rich McFarlane (Prince Albert)

Recording studio – Mosaic Music (Prince Albert)

tyler.marr@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @JournoMarr