Dressed in oh so cool Saskatchewan rock star garb (a parka, toque, gloves, boots and whatnot) I trudged over to Artesian on 13th this morning for a press conference to reveal a pile more details about the Juno Awards which are being held in Regina and Moose Jaw April 15-21. Among the dignitaries in attendance were Melanie Berry, President of CARAS (Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences) which produces the Junos, provincial Minister of Parks, Culture & Sport Kevin Docherty and Mayors Michael Fougere of Regina and Deb Higgins of Moose Jaw. Between all the announcements and speeches the Regina band Fly Points also played a couple of tunes.
First off, it was announced that Hannah Georgas and Serena Ryder have been added to the line-up for the Juno Gala that goes Sunday April 21 at Brandt Centre. In addition to the gala, which will be hosted by Michael Buble, there will be a ton of other stuff happening in the week leading up to the awards. Included is a Songwriters’ Circle at Casino Regina on Sunday afternoon from noon to 2 p.m. that will feature Tom Cochrane, Danny Michel, Kathleen Edwards, Colin James, Bahamas and more.
Saturday afternoon from noon to 3 p.m. at Cornwall Centre there’s a free event called Juno Fan Fare that serves as a meet-and-greet for music fans with musicians from bands like Dragonette, The Sheepdogs, Marianas Trench, Down With Webster and more. Friday, the Juno Cup goes at Mosaic Place in Moose Jaw at 7:30 p.m. It’s a celebrity hockey game that will pit musicians from bands like Blue Rodeo, Ten Second Epic and the Wooden Sky against NHL old-timers like Mike Sillinger, Mark Napier, Gary Roberts, and Jamie Heward.
Finally, on April 19-20 Juno Fest will be taking place in both Regina and Moose Jaw. What’s involved there is dozens of bands from Saskatchewan and other locales across Canada playing showcase gigs at 17 venues (13 in Regina and four in Moose Jaw). Bands that have been confirmed so far include Rah Rah, Great Lake Swimmers, Hey Ocean!, The Pack AD, Two Hours Traffic, The Lonesome Weekends and many more. Included in the list of venues is a large tent that will be set up on City Plaza in downtown Regina. That’s an idea that will likely be resurrected during Grey Cup week next November.
We’re producing the official Juno Fest guide which will run in our April 18 issue. So we’ll be bringing you much more on the line-up in the weeks to come. For the cost of a $30 wrist band which grants you access to all the venues it’s a pretty sweet deal. You can find out more on the Junos by visiting the website.
To play us out, here’s the video for Serena Ryder’s single “Stompa” off her 2012 album Harmony: