All 22 Black nominees at this year’s Maple Blues Awards left empty handed, emphasizing a long-standing issue in Canada
At last month’s annual Canadian blues music gala held in Toronto, the Blackburn Brothers were up for a whopping nine Maple Blues Awards and were one of the night’s headlining performers. The Toronto family band composed of Black musicians left the ceremony empty-handed, though, failing to cash in on a single nomination.
Most of the awards are chosen by public vote. “The nominating committee put Black artists on the ballot, but the public didn’t reward them this year,” Andrews said. “The popularity contest makes the process vulnerable, and it is a concern.” Similarly, some Black Canadian musicians have moved on from Maple Blues. Hamilton’s Harrison Kennedy, a veteran star of the genre, said he wasn’t even aware of this year’s awards ceremony. He declined to comment further for this article.
Artists and bands who tour regularly tend to do better in the voting, which is cross-country – the industrious New Brunswick singer-songwriter/guitarist Matt Andersen claimed four awards last month, including entertainer of the year. The society was criticized when it failed to immediately support Black Lives Matter after the murder of George Floyd by policemen in Minneapolis, Minn., on May 25, 2020. Twelve days later, the TBS addressed the issue with athat included this apology: “Regrettably we didn’t make a statement of support of the tidal wave of awakening taking place around the world addressing systemic racism and the need for change.
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