A handful of Langley artists are in the running for a Fraser Valley Music Award, with the award show taking place this Saturday in Abbotsford.
Locals JD Miner, Jeremy Allingham, and Jason Sylvester (stagename Hrdwtr) have all been nominated for the folk/roots award category.
We Hunt Buffalo, which includes Ryan Forsythe, Brendan Simpson, and Brandon Carter is in line for a loud award.
Pop nominee’s The Kwerks will be hitting the stage mid-awards show, which is being held at Abbotsford Arts Centre.
Leading up to the show, Laura Koch – one half of the pair that makes up the pop band – reflected on the life moments that brought her to this point in her music career.
Koch was a birth doula for seven years before risking it all for music.
“That shiver that runs through you, or that welling of tears - a connection between artist and audience where the singer is expressing something that touches you to the core,” explains Koch. ““That feeling, that indescribable feeling, is what I want to give.”
She added her passion for music stems from her interest in relating with the audience, and making them feel emotions.
“To make them laugh, cry, shiver, or glaze over, but all the while they’re connecting with something deeper and more real than the guarded lives we live. It’s a good thing. It’s a rich, full, and voluminous thing. It’s brutally hard, horrendously vulnerable, and beautifully life-giving.”
During Saturday’s show, prizes for nominees who win one of 12 awards include:
- Free music business education session with The Drive’s Glen Singerland.
- Three opportunities to play for $200 on the Agrifair Main Stage on Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the 2016 event, plus additional opportunities to sing the national anthems at this well-attended event.
- An opportunity to play at the MNET Arts Club Theater for a featured performance, to be recorded, as well as an opportunity to perform at the first annual “MNET Radio Music Festival” at Centennial Park on August 27, 2016.
- A feature article on the artist in this regional music publication.
- Funds of $250 and more to go towards recording and/or instrument/equipment purchase.
- A bye to the International Blues Challenge Finale being held Sunday, Sept. 11th, with the winner going on to Memphis in January of 2017.
- Long and McQuade gift card of $500.
- A live performance during an upcoming Fraser Valley Art Battle.
- An opportunity to perform at this year’s event.
- Performance at first home game of University of Fraser Valley’s weekend of basketball season with $500 honorarium to a hip-hop artist.
- A feature article on the artist in the local events and arts publication What’s On.
Saturday’s show begins at 8 p.m. For more details visit: civl.ca/fvma