|
February 28, 2006
Mays, El Torpedo rock ECMAs
By STEPHEN COOKE
- Halifax herald
Monday was
Mays Day at the East Coast Music Awards in Charlottetown, as
Dartmouth rocker Matt Mays and his band El Torpedo took home
four pewter trophies.
Mays & El
Torpedo earned honours for album and rock recording of the
year for their self-titled CD, plus group and single of the
year for Cocaine Cowgirl, at the 3 1/2-hour awards gala at
the Charlottetown Civic Centre.
"It’s
great. We like it any time we can get any kind of
recognition for all the miles we put on our van, the Night
Owl," Mays said backstage after the win for group of the
year.
"It
started out as just me and a backup band but it evolved into
a group, and we really are a group. We’ve been working hard
to establish a real fan base, not an overnight fan base, and
putting in the miles is what’s worked for us. Now we’re
filling rooms across Canada, which is better than playing
empty rooms, which sometimes happened starting out four
years ago."
The
evening’s other multiple-award winners were also Nova Scotia
artists. Joel Plaskett was named male artist and SOCAN
songwriter of the year for his song Happen Now, beating out
perennial favourite Gordie Sampson from Big Pond, who had
three nominations in the category.
"My band
is important. I guess I was a little selfish for going off
and making a solo album," Plaskett said of his recent effort
La De Da. "But this award is for the work we put in
collectively, it’s really a three-male artist award.
"Coming
from the indie rock world, it feels like the scene is really
galvanizing, and the ECMAs are really tapping into it, and
that’s a good thing."
Cape
Breton Gaelic singer Mary Jane Lamond was pegged as
the female artist of the year with her CD Storas picked as
the roots/traditional solo recording of the year.
"I have a
real passion for this culture," Lamond told reporters
backstage. "Lots of minority languages are in danger of
disappearing. I’m very happy that I can bring some attention
to Gaelic music, language and culture."
 Cape
Breton culture was also recognized when the Dr. Helen
Creighton Lifetime Achievement Award was bestowed on Judique
fiddling icon Buddy MacMaster, with a loving tribute
from his internationally known niece Natalie MacMaster.
The
coveted entertainer of the year prize went to Pictou County
country singer George Canyon, his second straight win in the
only ECMA category voted on by the public.
Leading
nominees the Trews, who tied Matt Mays & El Torpedo for the
most nods with five each, picked up their sole ECMA in the
video of the year category for So She’s Leaving.
In all, 21
awards went to Nova Scotia performers, with seven of those
going to Cape Breton artists. Newfoundland and Labrador acts
earned five trophies, while artists from host province
Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick picked up one apiece.
Cheticamp’s J.P. Cormier picked up yet another shiny
treble clef on Monday, this time in the folk recording of
the year category for The Long River: A Personal Tribute to
Gordon Lightfoot. The recording bears the personal stamp of
approval of the master Canadian songwriter, who granted
Cormier 18 licences to cover his songs.
"Gord is
the bar by which I measure my own work, which is why I
gravitate towards his music," Cormier said backstage. "I
still haven’t written anything as good as his, but I’m
trying."
When asked
what Lightfoot song best summed up Monday’s win, Cormier
quickly responded: "That’s What You Get for Loving Me,"
earning hearty laughs from the media.
Cape
Breton native Jonathan Andrews was recognized for aboriginal
recording of the year for his CD Halifax Indie Rock, and
thanked "everyone who got the joke" from the podium. Later,
backstage, he noted he was "told by the band where my
family’s from, Chapel Island, that not only am I the only
person from there who’s been nominated for an award, I’m the
only person who’s made an album."
"Hopefully
this will inspire some of the young people to work on their
music."
Other
Island wins included Slowcoaster for alternative recording
of the year for Where Are They Going?, Matt Minglewood for
blues album of the year for The Story, and Celtic and
Traditional Lullabies of Cape Breton for children’s
recording of the year.
Nova
Scotia also cleaned up when it came to hip hop and R&B, with
Halifax Juno Award nominee Classified earning the
rap/hip-hop single track recording of the year, Canadian
Idol star Gary Beals winning African-Canadian recording of
the year and Jamie Sparks of Cherry Brook earning urban
single track recording of the year for Gonna Get Down.
"I took a
bit of a break from the music business to clear my head — it
can get a bit stressful," Sparks said of his recent hiatus
from recording and performing after a few years of working
in the United States. "I wanted to get back into it, but I
never expected this."
Other Nova
Scotia winners included cellist Denise Djokic for classical
recording of the year for Folklore, Sons of Maxwell for
country recording of the year with Sunday Morning and Tom
Roach’s Piano Trios for jazz recording of the year.
Hosted by
the Trailer Park Boys, with performances by acts like Matt
Mays & El Torpedo, the Novaks, Wintersleep and Lennie
Gallant, the East Coast Music Awards on Monday capped five
days of seminars, showcases and shmoozing in Charlottetown,
extended by a day because the closing ceremony of the Winter
Olympics bumped the broadcast. Next year, the ECMAs return
to Halifax, the city where it all began.
BACK TO
HOME PAGE
.........................................................................................
Above photo:
Margaree
Poto by: Victor Maurice Faubert
 |
