Juno Awards: Nominees for the 2021 JUNO Awards will be announced at 11 AM on Tuesday March 9. Winners will be revealed on the 50th Annual JUNO Awards Broadcast (CBC) on Sunday, May 16.

Songwriting Competition semi-finalists: Congratulations to Sunday Wilde who was recently listed as a semi-finalist in the International Songwriting Competition for two of her songs in the blues category (“Storm Is Raging” and “Love Bender”). She is the only Canadian with two songs in the semi-finals. Other Canadian blues contenders include Debra Power for “Takin’ The High Road”, Gary Kendall for “Take A Piece Of My Heart”, Mark LeClerc (Fuel Junkie) for “Kiss In The Moonlight” and Victor Nesrallah for “Isolation Blues.” Good luck in the Finals! More info at www.songwritingcompetition.

Cootes Paradise release single for kids of all ages: While the members of the band Cootes Paradise from Dundas, Ontario have not been in the same room together since their last live performance in March 2020,they have been occupying their time in ways they can do safely and their latest venture is the release of a new single and accompanying video for children of all ages called “Little Evie”- a song based on a real little girl who lives in Chatham, Kent, U.K. She is the great-niece of Cootes Paradise bass player Ian Taylor and his wife Josephine, who co-wrote the lyrics. The song was written by Wayne Krawchuk, who was profoundly inspired by Evie’s unwavering enthusiasm for all things Cootes Paradise. At one point, their self-described biggest fan Evie drew a picture of the band, which was unanimously decided to be the perfect artwork to represent the song. Originally, “Little Evie” was intended as little more than a small gift to share with close friends and family, but the reaction has been so positive, that they’ve been encouraged to distribute it a little more widely so they created a video and put a single up on Bandcamp

Celebrating World Water Day: March 22 is World Water Day, and across the planet there will be many events to raise awareness to the water crisis including the release of the United Nations World Water Development Report recommending policy direction to decision makers. Locally, Brian Blain will do his part with his (2nd) Annual World Water Day streaming event on his Facebook Page to feature the “Water Song”, the first single from his CD “I’m Not Fifty Anymore” which was first released last March but didn’t get much attention due to the pandemic. Brian also released a moving video for the song which you can view on his YouTube channel.

In the Doghouse: Faced with travel restrictions, venue closures and other limitations due to the global pandemic, blues artist Harpdog Brown has been displaced from his touring life and is temporarily riding out the pandemic in Alberta. Harpdog and his team had planned to film more music videos for the 2019 release of For Love & Money. Unfortunately, those plans were thwarted along with all the tour cancellations. Now Harpdog has reunited with former bandmates from The Bloodhounds to create a ‘Daryl’s House’ type program and invited some of the best blues players and media personalities in the country (and beyond). Upcoming episodes will feature John Nemeth (March 7). Holger Petersen (March 14) and Tim Williams (March 21). Check it out on Harpdog Brown’s YouTube channel where all the shows are archived.

Fundraising for Blues Friends: Three-time Maple Blues Award-nominee Chris Antonik has just launched a crowdfunding campaign to help complete his highly anticipated, fourth studio album. The CD is being co-produced by Juno Award-winner Derek Downham and Chris Antonik himself, and is a progressive blues-rock record about the power of community. You will access a variety of perks, such as song writing journals, guitar lessons, or even become an Executive Sponsor of the record if you support the campaign and purchase the record! Find him on indiegogo.com.

Another friend of the blues, legendary photographer John Rowlands needs support with daily living and with cataloguing his millions of unique images as national cultural heritage. He has suffered several strokes, which have weakened him, impaired his mobility, and at least for the time being cost him the use of one hand. As a result, he is more than ever in need of help. But today, because of Mr. Rowlands’ fragile health the future of this unique Canadian cultural heritage is imperiled. His assets and merchandising manager, Sandra Mendez Rosenbaum, has begun a Facebook fundraiser for him and to draw the attention of the provincial and national governments, libraries and archives to Mr. Rowlands and his extraordinary legacy. John Rowlands is a national treasure, and his photographs are an irreplaceable treasure trove. To contribute, go to rocknrowlands.com and click on the guitar pick. You can also contribute via Facebook.

No Blues at ECMA’s? This is the time when we’d be congratulating the blues nominees in the East Coast Music Awards. Sadly, they eliminated the blues category due to lack of submissions. Hopefully, Maritime bluesicians will make sure there’s enough submissions next year from the most musical corner in the country.