She’s not the only artist from Ottawa to be nominated for a 2023 Juno Award
Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page.
Ottawa blues sensation Angelique Francis was in the audience in Toronto when the Juno Award nominations were announced on Tuesday, the morning after she picked up a pair of Maple Blues Awards.
To her delight, Francis heard her name again. This time, her latest album, Long River, earns a shot at the Juno for best blues album of the year.
Sign up to receive daily headline news from Ottawa Citizen, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.
Thanks for signing up!
A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.
The next issue of Ottawa Citizen Headline News will soon be in your inbox.
“I was so excited,” the musician said, taking a break from the highway as she made her way back to Ottawa from Toronto. “I was trying not to scream out of politeness for the other nominees, but to have been nominated for a Juno in addition to the Maple Blues Awards in the last 24 hours has been mind-boggling.”
Since its release last year, the album has been nominated for a raft of awards, including a Folk Music Ontario award, a Canadian Folk Music award and four Maple Blues awards, of which Francis won best new artist and bassist of the year. After the challenges of making an album during COVID, the recognition is gratifying.
“I couldn’t be more happy with the incredible work that went into this album, and I’m so grateful for all the love from everyone who’s been supporting us,” Francis said.
The bass-playing singer-songwriter, who grew up in a musical family, fronts a band that includes two of her sisters on horns and their father on drums, with Ottawa musicians Ed Lister and Dave Williams on trumpet and guitar, respectively.
She’s not the only artist from Ottawa to be nominated for a 2023 Juno Award. This year’s crop also includes comedian Jon Dore, children’s performer Jeremy Fisher, pop star Tyler Shaw and the National Arts Centre Orchestra.
Brookfield High School grad Dore, who’s now based in Juneau, Alaska, got a nod in the comedy category for his album, A Person Who is Gingerbread. Singer-songwriter Fisher, who turned his creative lens to youngsters after he became a parent, is nominated in the children’s-album category for Say Hello, the soundtrack to his animated CBC Kids series, Jeremy and Jazzy.
Up for two awards is Shaw, the Chinese-Canadian singer-songwriter/heartthrob who recently settled in Ottawa with the intention of raising his family in the city. He and partner Alex Karolczyk were married in Ottawa in 2018, in what was described as a “romantic, relaxed yet sophisticated affair” by Wedding Bells magazine. Their first child, a daughter named Everly, was born in December 2020.
Shaw is in the running for this year’s TikTok fan-choice award, the only category determined by fan votes, while his seasonal recording, A Tyler Shaw Christmas, is included in the adult-contemporary album of the year category.
The NAC Orchestra, directed by maestro Alexander Shelley, is competing for the large-ensemble award in the classical album field. They are nominated for Lyrical Echoes: Clara – Robert – Johannes, the second of four albums in a recording cycle that explores the connections between Clara Schumann, Robert Schumann, and Johannes Brahms.
Not to be overlooked is Esmerine, the post-punk chamber music group co-founded by Wakefield drummer Bruce Cawdron. Their album, Everything Was Forever Until It Was No More, is facing off against the likes of Canadian Brass and Jean-Michel Blais in the instrumental album category, which Esmerine previously won in 2014.
The awards will be handed out during a ceremony in Edmonton on March 13 featuring performances by Alexisonfire, Aysanabee, Jessie Reyez, Tenille Townes and more, plus a tribute to Nickelback to mark the Alberta rockers’ induction into the Canadian Music Hall of fame. Actor Simu Liu will host the televised event for a second time.
Francis is looking forward to the festivities.
“I’m really excited to be able to represent Ottawa in Edmonton,” she said. “There is so much great music coming out of the city.”
lsaxberg@postmedia.com
-
Ottawa's Angelique Francis mines the power of blues
-
Ottawa-born prima ballerina Jennifer Fournier returns to audition students
