Joel Plaskett Cleans Up At East Coast Music Awards

02/11/08 7:00pm

by Matt Carter (CHARTattack)

Joel Plaskett and his band The Emergency will take six East Coast Music Awards from Fredericton back home to Halifax this week.

Plaskett received seven nominations and was named songwriter of the year for "Fashionable People," which also took the prize for best group single and video. The Ashtray Rock album that it came from swept the rock recording, group recording and overall recording categories. The only prize Plaskett was eligible for and didn't win was entertainer of the year, which went to country singer George Canyon for the fourth consecutive year.

"The momentum behind every record has been building," said Plaskett on Sunday evening. "This record is one we set out to make as ambitious and ridiculous as possible, so I'm glad that it paid off creatively for us.

"I like to write about where I'm from. I think that's kind of a Halifax tradition. The songs are basically about growing up there."

Fellow Nova Scotians The Rankin Family, Dave Gunning and Jamie Sparks each won two awards. The home province did OK, too, as Fredericton blues legend in the making Thom Swift was victorious in the best blues recording sweepstakes and country rockers The Divorcees snatched the country recording prize.

Stephanie Hardy picked up $5,000 for winning the CBC Galaxie Rising Star Recording award for Brand New Skin, while Vishten's 11:11 took another $5,000 for collecting the CBC Galaxie Francophone Recording prize.

Mark Critch from This Hour Has 22 Minutes hosted and kept the crowd in stitches throughout the show. Early on, there was speculation that this year's show would be somewhat lacklustre in comparison to previous efforts as a result of CBC's decision to forego a live television broadcast. This wasn't the case however, and the show went ahead with all the impressive staging, lights and multimedia expected from this prestigious event.

Next year's ECMA festivities will take place in Corner Brook, Newfoundland.

Here are the winners:

Entertainer: George Canyon
Recording: Joel Plaskett Emergency — Ashtray Rock
Female Solo Recording: Rose Cousins — If You Were For Me
Group Recording: Joel Plaskett Emergency — Ashtray Rock Male
Solo Recording: Dave Gunning — House For Sale
CBC Galaxie Rising Star Recording: Stephanie Hardy — Brand New Skin
Group Single: Joel Plaskett Emergency — "Fashionable People"
Songwriter: Joel Plaskett for "Fashionable People" (performed by Joel Plaskett Emergency)
Video: Joel Plaskett Emergency — "Fashionable People" (director: Randall Thorne)
DVD: The Rankin Family — Back Stage Pass
African-Canadian Recording: Jamie Sparks — It's The Music
Alternative Recording: Nathan Wiley — The City Destroyed Me
Bluegrass Recording: Saddle River String Band — Saddle River String Band
Blues Recording: Thom Swift — Into The Dirt
Classical Recording: New Brunswick Youth Orchestra — Forbidden City Tour
Country Recording: The Divorcees — You Ain't Gettin' My Country
CBC Galaxie Francophone Recording: Vishten — 11:11
Folk Recording: Dave Gunning — Looking Back — Volume 2: House For Sale
Gospel Recording: Chelsea Nisbett — New Beginnings
Instrumental Recording: Troy MacGillivray — Live From The Music Room
Jazz Recording: Bill Stevenson and Tom Easley — For The Record
Pop Recording: Two Hours Traffic — Little Jabs
Rap/Hip-Hop Single Track Recording: Classified — "Hard To Be Hip Hop"
Rock Recording: Joel Plaskett Emergency — Ashtray Rock
Roots/Traditional Group Recording: The Rankin Family — Reunion
Roots/Traditional Solo Recording: Kimberly Fraser — Falling On New Ground
Urban Single Track Recording: Jamie Sparks — "If You Were"