Alessia Cara to host Junos in Saskatoon; performers, nominees announced

We now know who to expect to see during March’s Juno Awards in Saskatoon.

On Tuesday morning at Saskatoon’s PrairieLand Park, a simulcast of the nominee announcement was shown. The event also included the reveal of the host of this years Junos, Alessia Cara, along with some performers for the show at SaskTel Centre on March 15.

Cara is a two-time Juno Award winner, and in 2018 became the first Canadian to win the Grammy Award for Best New Artist.

Performers for the Junos are to include The Glorious Sons, Lennon Stella, Jann Arden and Daniel Caesar. More are expected to be announced in the future.

Nominations handed out Tuesday also had a strong Saskatchewan flavour. Five nominations were given to artists born in the province.

Shaunavon’s Hunter Brothers led the pack with two nominations for breakthrough group of the year and country album of the year. Two Regina bands also got the nod in The Dead South and Foxwarren, nominated for traditional roots album of the year and alternative album of the year, respectively.

The album artwork of the year category featured two Saskatchewanians, with Regina’s Terri Fidelak and Saskatoon’s Carey Shaw nominated for the award. The two collaborated on Fosston-born artist Belle Plaine’s latest album package “Malice, Mercy, Grief & Wrath.”

SaskMusic president Kurt Dahl was the emcee of Tuesday’s announcement and boasted about the talent the province possesses.

“It’s pretty amazing,” he said. “For the number of people we have in this province … we’ve got around a million people (in Saskatchewan); that’s like a little suburb in Toronto in terms of population. We do really amazing work.”

He said the nominations showed just how strong and hard-working artists from the province are.

“You don’t get the same breaks that you might get if you’re starting out in Toronto or Vancouver,” Dahl said. “There’s just not as much music industry there … It’s that Sask. work ethic.”

Tourism Saskatoon also unveiled the branding linked to the week-long festival in the Bridge City. “Saskatooning the Junos” will be synonymous with events throughout Juno week from March 9-15.

Todd Brandt, Tourism Saskatoon’s host committee consultant, said the goal is to encourage everyone to show what they’re doing during Juno week.

“When people come here, that’s what they’re going to be doing. They’re going to go to the JunoFest, Juno Fan Fair (and) Juno Cup,” he said. “It’s all these different elements of things to go out and do and discover when people are in Saskatoon.”