MuchMusic.com

The Juno nominations came out this morning and I don’t know about you but I feel like this year’s awards ceremony will probably be the best yet and I’m well aware that Justin Bieber was nominated for only three awards! This year Feist, Nickelback, City and Colour, Dan Mangan, Drake,and Hedley all tied for top nominations with four each. All well deserved.

However it must be said that there are a few new acts on the scene that I’m so proud of for getting nominated. The Rural Alberta Advantage (above) is an amazing group out of Toronto (the lead singer and guitarist is from rural Fort McMurray, Alberta) and their sound only makes me want to hop on a motorcycle and do a tour of the Prairies. And alternatively I’m so proud of Diamond Rings who is nominated for New Artist of the Year, which makes me want to dance in a rainfall of glitter. This only highlights the variety of talent pouring out of Canada right now.

While we’re talking about variety, the most exciting part of the 41st Juno Awards will be the Metal/Hard Music Album of the Year category which is a Juno first. This means that even though this genre was marginalized in the past, we can finally celebrate the wide spectrum of Canadian music, including death metal or hard core. You can bet that Anvil or Ken Mode will be stoked to get recognized.

I’ll definitely be watching this year and with Deadmau5 performing, It’ll surely be a party.

- Aimee
New.Music.Live. Team
@nml