The City of Calgary is known for its affinity for cosplaying as cowboys, but it’s Edmontonians who’ll be donning their Smithbilts and spurs this weekend as the Country Music Alberta (CMA) brings its annual award show to the capital city for the first time this year.
The Edmonton Convention Centre will host a whole lot of root-tootin’ and hollerin’ on March 9 and 10, as the association hosts its award show featuring two days of seminars, roundtable discussions, industry keynote speeches, red carpet appearances and, of course, a swath of performances from rising Albertan country-and-western artists like The Prairie States, Hailey Benedict and Ashley Ghostkeeper. Former Miss Universe winner Ashley Callingbull will host the show.
With 12 previous award shows under their belts, Kami Van Halst, the executive director of CMA, says the association chose to bring the 13th awards to Edmonton as a way to share the economic benefits of the awards and to show love to all areas of the province’s country music community.
“It’s a provincial organization,” Van Halst says. “We have artists from across the province, so it makes sense. We’re trying to make sure the award show moves around between Calgary, Edmonton and Red Deer, so that every host city gets a piece of the benefits of the awards show.”
Trying to celebrate all areas of Alberta’s country music industry has been an intentional focal point for CMA, but that’s not always been the case in years past, according to CMA secretary treasurer, Chard Morrison.
“This is actually not the first iteration of CMA in Alberta. It’s tried to start up a few times but there’s always been a clear division between Edmonton and Calgary, based on wherever the headquarters were based,” Morrison says, adding that with the most recent iteration of the association, which has been around for about 16 years, organizers chose to locate themselves in Red Deer to avoid the rivalry between the province’s two major cities.
“We were really able to build a concrete foundation in that neutral ground with more of a provincial based identity. It’s no longer 403 or 780, it’s Alberta,” he says.
And that’s important because, as Morrison points out, the intent of the awards is to help bridge the gap between Alberta’s emerging artists and the larger, more national and international spotlights.
“As the association grew … it kind of helped legitimize this incarnation [of the CMA] as more of a provincial proving ground. Over the years, the association and the board recognized [these awards] as a key stepping stone,” Morrison says. “What we’ve done with these awards is incorporated a lot of the requirements of the national level, but toned them down to a more attainable level.
“Because, let’s be honest here, Paul Brandt doesn’t need an award as much as a Hailey Benedict when they’re coming up in their career. That award will have much more press, leverage and clout for them to keep their music moving in a forward direction.”
That type of exposure is more invaluable now than ever, as country music’s popularity surges in North America. That’s something that’s led to a lot of renewed interest in the genre, and a lot of musical experimentation, says Van Halst.
“There’s so much synergy and mixture of genre,” Van Halst says. “We’re having artists that are experimenting with new sounds and styles that aren’t typical of the genre. Hip-hop flavour, country-pop, it’s being done in a such a different way where people are bringing in really unique beats and instrumentation. It’s experimenting with more lyrical storylines that are on the periphery of the country music that we traditionally know.”
Still, if you’re a sucker for the ol’ honky tonk, you’ve got nothing to fear. Van Halst says Edmonton’s award show will be a blend of both the eclectic and the traditions that first inspired it.
