MusicNL today announced the nominees for their 2018 MusicNL Awards, to be held in Twillingate on October 14th.

Leading the way are The Swinging Belles, Mark Bragg and Fortunate Ones with five nominations apiece. Other multiple award nominees include Ouroboros, The Ennis Sisters and LeRiche (4 each) followed by Rum Ragged, Mallory Johnson, Property, Kellie Loder, Carolina East, Glen Collins and Paul Brace (3 each).

“The MusicNL Awards are an opportunity for the province’s finest artists and music industry professionals to be recognized for excellence in their craft,” Glenda Tulk, Executive Director of MusicNL, said. “We’ve had some world-class applicants again this year and we are pleased to honour them. In particular, there were an unprecedented number of applications for industry awards, which we hope marks a growth in the infrastructure of the music industry in this province.”

This year, The Newfoundland Herald is honoured to have been nominated for a pair of awards – Outstanding Company of the Year and Media Person of the Year (Dillon Collins).

MusicNL Week is the provincial music industry association’s annual conference and festival, a week-long series of educational sessions, showcase performances and networking events culminating in the annual awards show.

MusicNL Week 2018 will take place in Twillingate, NL, from October 10-14, 2018. As part of its new export strategy, MusicNL will offer an export buyers program, which will give local artists an opportunity to connect with guest delegates from across Canada, the US and the UK.

This announcement of nominated acts signals the beginning of MusicNL member voting, which will decide the winner in each respective category. Paid members of MusicNL can log into their

accounts at ?http://www.musicnl.ca? to vote. For more general information about MusicNL membership, see our website or contact us at [email protected]?.

The full list of awards and nominees include:

Alternative Artist of the Year

Adam Baxter, Mark Bragg, Paul Brace, Property, The Combine, Weary

Celtic/Traditional Artist of the Year:

Brad Tuck, Jordan Harnum, Mike Sixonate, Rosemary Lawton, Rum Ragged

Country Artist of the Year

Carolina East, Mallory Johnson, Shanda Hopkins, Sherry Ryan, Spare Time

Electronic Artist of the Year

Alex Byrne, Game Boy

Event of the Year

41st Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festival, Feile Seamus Creagh (Irish Newfoundland Traditional Music Foundation), Labrador Creative Arts Festival, Lawnya Vawnya 8, Trails, Tales and Tunes

FACTOR Album of the Year

Fortunate Ones – “Hold Fast”, Mark Bragg – “Winter”, Mick Davis & Thin Love – “Touch The Moon”, Ouroboros – “Kitchuses”, The Ennis Sisters – “Keeping Time”, The Swinging Belles – “Superstar Sibling Detective Agency”

The Telegram/Central Voice Fan’s Choice Entertainer of the Year

Chessclub, LeRiche, Mark Bragg, Ouroboros, The Kubasonics, The Swinging Belles

The Anchor Inn Female Artist of the Year

Carolina East, Kellie Loder, Mallory Johnson, Rosemary Lawton, Rozalind MacPhail, Sherry Ryan

Folk/Roots Artist of the Year

Dave Whitty, LeRiche,Quote the Raven, Rube & Rake, Rum Ragged, The Ennis Sisters

Graphic Artist of the Year

Aaron Bishop, Kevin Tobin, Kyle McDavid

Group of the Year

Fortunate Ones,  Ouroboros, Property, Rum Ragged, The Ennis Sisters, The Swinging Belles

Industry Professional of the Year

Dean Stairs, Mary Beth Waldram, Michelle Robertson, Robert Buck, Roger Lockyer, Tom Cochrane

Instrumental Artist/Group of the Year

Ouroboros, Rozalind MacPhail, Wade Tarling

Classic Hits Coast 101.1 FM Jazz/Blues Artist of the Year

Dave Mundy and the Best Kind, Earle and Coffin, Florian Hoefner, Glen Collins, The Swinging Belles

DC Design House Male Artist of the Year

Dave Whitty, Florian Hoefner, Glen Collins, Mark Bragg, Michael Hanrahan, Paul Brace

Media Person of the Year

Andrew Boyd, Dillon Collins, Greg Smith, Jason Richard Lacour (J-Lac), Tom Cochrane, Wendy Rose

Long & McQuade Music Educator of the Year

Adam Baxter, Kyle McDavid, Melanie O’Brien, Rozalind MacPhail, Brett Vey, Wade Tarling

The Nickel Music Video of the Year

Fortunate Ones – “Northern Star” dir. Jason Levangie, Ian Foster – ” New Rush For An Old Town” dir. Jerry Stamp, Land of the Lakes – “Zamboni” dir. Danielle Hamel, LeRiche – “Under Covers” dir. Charlotte Rabate, The Combine – “Victory Road” dir. James Kean, Waterfront Fire – “Head Full Of Fumes” – dir. Andrew Boyd, Ben Thistle and Jordan Coaker

Outstanding Company of the Year

Atlantic Disc & DVD, Bakeapple Productions, Canadian AV, Kilbride Music, The Citadel House, The Newfoundland Herald

Pop Artist of the Year

Fairgale, Fortunate Ones, Kellie Loder,  Olivia Jones, Streel

Rap/Hip-Hop Artist of the Year

ChessClub, JYAY, Lee Fitz, Reggie Morales

Rising Star of the Year

Carolina East, LeRiche, Mallory Johnson, Property, Rube & Rake, Weary

Molson/Coors Rock Artist of the Year

Gene Phillips, Joel Thomas Hynes, Mick Davis and Thin Love, Newspaper Fashion Show, Silver Wolf Band, Waterfront Fire

Ron Hynes SOCAN Songwriter of the Year

Kellie Loder, Mark Bragg, The Ennis Sisters, Fortunate Ones, The Swinging Belles

Side Musician of the Year

Glen Collins, JYAY, Maria Cherwick, Paul Brace, Rozalind MacPhail, Wade Tarling

Venue Of the Year

Garrick Theatre, Corner Brook Rotary Arts Centre, The Black Sheep, The Ship, Woody Point Heritage Theatre, Captain’s Pub

Volunteer of the Year

Arlene Churchill, Dee Dee Lannon