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ECMW 2015 Begins with Gala Awards Show

East Coast Music Week is in full swing in St. John’s, Newfoundland, and the order of things has been flipped around a bit this year. Rather than ending the celebrations with the Gala Awards Show on Sunday night, the winners in many of the key categories were announced at the show on Thursday night, to get the ECMW ball rolling.

The Town Heroes were the big winners of the evening, taking home three awards, including both Fans’ Choice categories. The fellas from Cape Breton were named Entertainer(s) of the Year, and also won Video of the Year for “Holdin’ Up Grants”, both decided by fan vote. Additionally, their album Sunday Movies earned them Group Recording of the Year honours. It was another clean sweep for The Town Heroes, who won all three categories they were nominated in, after going 5-for-5 at the Music Nova Scotia Awards in November. They also won a pair of ECMAs in 2014.

In-Flight Safety took home Album of the Year for Conversationalist, while Kim Harris won Rising Star Recording of the Year before bringing the house down with a performance of “The Weight of it All” near the end of the gala, hosted by Newfoundland actor/comedian Jonny Harris. Hometown heroes Hey Rosetta! and The Once picked up awards for Song of the Year and Folk Recording of the Year, respectively. Carleton Stone’s album Draws Blood was named Solo Recording of the Year. Fred’s Records from St. John’s were recognized with the Industry Builder Award, while the late Marc Chouinard was honoured with the Director’s Special Achievement Award.

To cap things off, Sydney, NS was confirmed as the host for East Coast Music Week 2016. Several other awards will be handed out in the coming days as ECMW 2015 is off and running.

2015 ECMA Winners:

Album of the Year – In-Flight Safety – Conversationalist

Folk Recording of the Year – The Once – Departures

Group Recording of the Year – The Town Heroes – Sunday Movies

Rising Star Recording of the Year – Kim Harris – Only the Mighty

Solo Recording of the Year – Carleton Stone – Draws Blood

Song of the Year – Hey Rosetta! – “Kintsukuroi “

Fans’ Choice Video of the Year – The Town Heroes – “Holdin’ Up Grants”

Fans’ Choice Entertainer of the Year – The Town Heroes

Industry Builder Award – Fred’s Records

Director’s Special Achievement Award – Marc Chouinard