Country singer Dean Brody, who originally hails from Jaffray, has a big night coming up – he is nominated in seven categories in this year’s Canadian Country Music Association awards.
For a second straight year, Nova Scotia-based Brody will go toe-to-toe with Gord Bamford, from Lancombe, Alta.
Bamford has taken home hardware four of the last five years, so will be a tough contender to beat.
Bamford’s Leaning on a Lonesome Song is up against Brody’s It’s Friday for single of the year and songwriter of the year.
To confuse matters somewhat, Bamford’s album, Is It Friday Yet?, is nominated for album of the year. Brody’s Dirt, however, isn’t. Instead, he’s got a second single, Bob Marley, in the running for songwriter of the year.
Both white-hatted vocalists were two of the front-runners at 2012’s CCMAs, bested only by Johnny Reid and his eight nominations. This year, the Scottish-Canadian Reid has two.
Brody, who was born in Smithers, and Bamford are just a few of the 130 artists and groups up for the Canadian country music industry's most vaunted prizes, including veteran songbird Michelle Wright for female artist of the year, platinum recording artist Terri Clark for video of the year and Scotland-born Johnny Reid for fans' choice.
Autumn Hill were also announced as one of the performers for the show, which airs on Sunday. The pair will join Grammy-nominated Tennessee troupe the Band Perry and circuit veterans Emerson Drive, among other performers yet to be revealed.
The CCMAs, which will conclude Country Music Week, will be held at Rexall Place in Edmonton — not far from the floods that devastated huge swaths of the area around Calgary.
The ceremony will be broadcast on CBC-TV at 8 p.m. ET with encore performances later that night on Country Music Television.
Brody is nominated for Male Artist of the Year, Single of the Year ("It's Friday" featuring Great Big Sea), two nominations for Songwriter of the Year ("Bob Marley" and "It's Friday" featuring Great Big Sea), Country Music Program or Special of the Year (CMT Presents Dean Brody Live) and the CCMA Fans' Choice Award. Additionally, the video for his duet on Terri Clark's "I'm Movin' On" has been nominated for CMT Video of the Year.