The Canadian Folk Music Awards have been making the best of a bad situation. While festivals and live performances have been shut down for more than a year now, the CFMA has doubled down on its efforts to connect with audiences.
When the world first locked, they had just three weeks to pivot their annual Awards Show into a livestream. As early adopters of the digital way of life, they’ve put in the practice necessary to capture the vibrant energy of live showcases and an awards gala, without any of this silly business of getting out of our pyjamas. They’ve just announced a six-event CFMA Awards Week program featuring musicians from across the country and it’s entirely free to take in.
The Canadian Folk Music Awards are a travelling event. They move around the country, held in a different province each year… except for the years that coincide with pandemics. Two years ago, they happily announced the awards would be coming to Prince Edward Island for the first time. Then March of 2020 rolled around and dashed all of our social calendars.
And that, in a quasi-official capacity, is where it has stayed. The CFMA Awards Week, although a purely digital event, is still spiritually, and emotionally, in Charlottetown and will be for some time.
CFMA Co-President and Virtual Producer of the Canadian Folk Music Awards, Graham Lindsey, seems determined they’ll keep it that way until they get it right.
“They invested a lot of time and energy in planning last year‘s event, and we want to respect that,” says Lindsey. “Also, it’s PEI, and we’re all excited about our event heading to the province for the first time! I’ve been to the province regularly for the past eight or so years, and have seen amazing support for the arts, and there was a real buzz about the CFMAs there.”
And that means Lindsey expects to hold the next live version of the Award Show in Charlottetown — presumably in 2022.
Prince Edward Island has come away from the pandemic relatively unscathed. After all, it does have the advantage of being a literal island. While shows and events have been possible on the island, including the very recent Music PEI Awards Show and Conference, Lindsey notes that the CFMA is a national organization and wants to represent all of its nominees equally.
“Everyone is aware that regulations are changing in each province, and larger provinces have split into regions that can change their rules for gatherings, open businesses, and more based on a number of factors.
‘We decided back in September that we didn’t know how things would look in April, so the best way to create a program that everyone would put people on an even playing field. This way, all our artists can record in a local studio (where regulations permit) or with quality microphones from their homes.
“Also, I feel that it’s important that we create an event that acknowledges and embraces the fact that we’re all staying home… and that’s not only okay, but it’s actually helping our friends, family and neighbours. If we can encourage people to join us virtually, it gets us a week closer to the point where it’s safe for everyone to head out and enjoy life together again!”
Lindsey notes that I think that the success they’re seeing now is likely due to the early adoption of their virtual CFMA Awards in 2020, and it’s created more opportunities for musicians and fans alike. It has provided musicians with new platforms to build audiences, check-in with past fans, and target new markets, all while reaching out to people who might not have had the opportunity to catch them perform before due to any number of reasons.
“Streaming has helped many artists survive financially over the past year. It’s how many people were staying in touch before, so I think it’s a natural extension of that,” says Lindsey. “I am very proud of the CFMAs for being the first national event to happen under the national lockdown. It was only three weeks in, and we streamed to YouTube and Facebook. Our board gets full credit for believing in a digital solution, and I received a lot of support last year to push forward with a solution.
“We made the call very early to control the type of event we could host, and just as much work goes into the creation of an online event as an in-person one. The only difference is the type of work required.”
That work is going to result in 6 virtual shows that will include 33 nominee performances over the course of five days, plus the presentation of all 20 awards. All of the CFMA events will be presented online, and free of charge for audiences. Performing artists will receive honorariums, however, given the current state of the music industry, you’ll be pleased to know viewer donations will be accepted and divided evenly among all of the performing artists.
Performers for the 2021 Canadian Folk Music Awards include The Gilberts (NS), Marie-Ève Laure (QC), Joe Nolan (AB), Coco Love Alcorn (ON), Aerialists (BC), Benjamin Barrile (ON), Sarah Jane Scouten (BC), Beauséjour (MB/NB), Beòlach (NS), Sussex (QC), A.W Cardinal (Blue Moon Marquee) (BC), Crystal Shawanda (BC), Julian Taylor (ON), Burnstick (MB), William Prince (MB), Leela Gilday (NWT), Ginalina (BC), Claire Ness (YT), Spencer Burton (ON), Henri Godon (QC), Charlie Hope (ON). Mélisande [électrotrad] (QC), Leela Gilday (NWT), OKAN (ON), The East Pointers (PEI), Pharis & Jason Romero (BC), Julian Taylor (ON), Sultans of String (ON), Guillaume Arsenault (QC), Big Little Lions (BC), Catherine MacLellan (PEI), and Zal Sissokho (QC).
The event will be hosted by a rotating cast of industry folks, musicians, and journalists, including Vic Close, April O’Donoughue, Graham Lindsey, Shaneen Robinson-Desjarlais, MJ Dandeneau, Jocelyne Baribeau, Jean Hewson, Benoit Bourque.
To make it feel all the more like a proper conference, CFMA and Music PEI have also partnered to coordinate a new Export Buyers Program to the event, designed to bring top international and domestic presenters and industry professionals to the CFMAs to see performances by the award nominees during the showcases and Awards concerts.
The 16th edition of the Canadian Folk Music Awards takes place from Wednesday, April 7 through to Sunday, April 11, with two gala Awards Shows being presented on Saturday and Sunday evening at 9:00 p.m. (AST). All six shows will be streamed via the CFMA website, folkawards.ca / prixfolk.ca on Facebook and on YouTube where you can also find more details on the events exact schedule.