Manitoba’s Al Simmons, William Prince, Super Duty Tough Work among Western Canadian Music Awards winners

BreakOut West — a four-day music industry conference, three-night music festival and home of the Western Canadian Music Awards — was held in Saskatoon over the weekend, with Rooky Kamiz and Jake Vaadeland among the big winners from the home province.

Other top winners of the awards presented Friday night include modern country legend Corb Lund and the splashy, high-energy Miesha and the Spanks of Alberta. 

BreakOut West, which has celebrated western Canadian music for more than two decades, is hosted by a different western Canadian city each year. The 2024 event began on Wednesday and wraps up Sunday. CBC was a sponsor and co-presenter of the CBC Saskatoon Showcase. 

Among the Western Canadian Music Awards announced were the 2024 specialty award recipients.

This year’s Heritage Award went to acclaimed concert presenter Zandra Kaszas. Trailblazing Saskatoon venue Amigos Cantina received this year’s Kevin Walters Industry Builder Award, and the 2024 Western Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductee is groundbreaking Saskatoon rock/blues group Wide Mouth Mason. 

Read below to find out who won this year’s music awards, with the winners marked in bold. 

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Blues artist of the year

• Blue Moon Marquee (B.C.)
• Brandon Isaak (B.C.)
• Garret T. Willie (B.C.)
• Kinjo & Young (Alberta)
• Paul Black  (B.C.)

BreakOut artist of the year

• Boy Golden (Manitoba)
• Field Guide (Manitoba)
• Miesha and the Spanks (Alberta)
• Slow Leaves (Manitoba)
• William Prince (Manitoba)

WATCH | So Mad by BreakOut artist of the year Miesha and the Spanks:

Children’s artist of the year

• Al Simmons (Manitoba)
• Micah! (Manitoba)
• Mom Bop (B.C.)
• Seeka Sings (Alberta)
• The Zing Zangs (B.C.)

Classical artist or ensemble of the year

• Allegra Chamber Orchestra (B.C.)
• Emily Carr String Quartet (B.C.)
• Suzie LeBlanc (B.C.)
• UltraViolet (Alberta)
• Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (B.C.)

Classical composer of the year

• Dorothy Chang: Fifteen Feet Closer to the Sky (All That Glitters) (B.C.)
• Emilie Cecilia LeBel: field studies (…and the higher leaves of the trees seemed to shimmer in the last of the sunlight’s lingering touch of them…) (Alberta)
• Farshid Samandari: Light of Lights (Light of Lights) (B.C.)
• Jeffrey Ryan: A Left Coast (Everything Already Lost) (B.C.)
• Vincent Ho: Cheng² Duo (Horizon Images) (Alberta)

Country artist of the year

• Corb Lund (Alberta)
• Don Amero (Manitoba)
• Kalsey Kulyk (Alberta)
• Nice Horse (Alberta)
• The Prairie States (Alberta)

Electronic and dance artist of the year

• Kelland (B.C.)
• Rose Motion (B.C.)
• Ruby Singh (B.C.)
• Rumpus (B.C.)
• Talltale (Alberta)

Francophone artist of the year

• Alexis Normand (Saskatchewan)
• Beau Nectar (Saskatchewan)
• Fire & Smoke (Manitoba)
• Missy D (B.C.)
• Suzie LeBlanc (B.C.)

Global artist of the year 

• Jocelyn Pettit (B.C.)
• Notas de 4 (Alberta)
• Rooky Kamiz (Saskatchewan)
• Rubim de Toledo (Alberta)
• Rumba Calzada (B.C.)

WATCH | Magic by global artist of the year Rooky Kamiz:

Indigenous artist of the year

• Celeigh Cardinal (Alberta)
• Fontine (Manitoba)
• Garret T. Willie (B.C.)
• Logan Staats (B.C.)
• Piqsiq (B.C.)

Instrumental artist of the year

• Apollo Suns (Manitoba)
• Jocelyn Pettit and Ellen Gira (B.C.)
• Merrie Klazek (B.C.)
• Rubim de Toledo (Alberta)
• West of Mabou (Saskatchewan)

Jazz artist of the year

• Angela Verbrugge (B.C.)
• Aretha Tillotson (Alberta)
• Audrey Ochoa (Alberta)
• Daniel Hersog Jazz Orchestra (B.C.)
• Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra (Manitoba)

Metal and hard music artist of the year

• Fall of Earth (Alberta)
• FKA Rayne (B.C.)
• KEN mode (Manitoba)
• Look Alive (Alberta)
• Red Cain (Alberta)

Pop artist of the year 

• Haley Blais (B.C.)
• Josh Sahunta (Alberta)
• Kayla Williams (Alberta)
• Kuzi Cee (Alberta)
• Michaela Slinger (B.C.)

Producer of the year

• Andy Schichter — Park Sound Studio (B.C.)
• Lana Winterhalt (Manitoba)
• Liam Moes and Shane Stephenson (B.C.)
• Ryan Dahle (B.C.)
• Ryan Worsley — Echoplant Sound (B.C.)

R&B artist of the year 

• Emerald Osagie (B.C.)
• JJ Adrian (B.C.)
• Naduh (B.C.)
• Sadé Awele (B.C.)
• Zada (B.C.)

Rap and hip-hop artist of the year

• Arlo Maverick (Alberta)
• Junk & Massiah (B.C.)
• Mouraine (Alberta)
• Super Duty Tough Work (Manitoba)
• Terell Safadi (B.C.)

Recording of the year

• Ariel Posen (Manitoba)
• Begonia (Manitoba)
• Boy Golden (Manitoba)
• Michael Kaeshammer (B.C.)
• William Prince (Manitoba)

WATCH | When You Miss Someone by recording of the year winner William Prince:

Rock artist of the year

• Ariel Posen (Manitoba)
• Kris Ulrich (Manitoba)
• Miesha and The Spanks (Alberta)
• Shred Kelly (B.C.)
• Whale and the Wolf (Alberta)

Roots artist of the year

• Celeigh Cardinal (Alberta)
• Fontine (Manitoba)
• Jake Vaadeland (Saskatchewan)
• The Dead South (Saskatchewan)
• William Prince (Manitoba)

WATCH | More and More by roots artist of the year Jake Vaadeland:

Songwriter(s) of the year

• Alexa Dirks, Matt Peters and Matthew Schellenberg: Begonia (Butterfly) (Manitoba)
• Liam Duncan: Boy Golden (For Jimmy) (Manitoba)
• Celeigh Cardinal, Dave and Joey Landreth (Light of the Moon) (Manitoba)
• Logan Staats (A Light In The Attic) (B.C.)
• William Prince (Stand In The Joy) (Manitoba)

Spiritual artist of the year

• Anastasya Lea (B.C.)
• Brian Doerksen (B.C.)
• Cynthia Lok (B.C.)
• Marika Siewert (B.C.)
• Stirling John (Alberta)

Video director of the year

• Amy Mantyka: Beau Nectar (Two Lips) (Saskatchewan)
• Jay Lawrance: Miesha and The Spanks (Unconditional Love In Hi-Fi) (Alberta)
• Peter Kominek: Vissia (Doorway) (Alberta)
• Sandy Rossignol: Blue Moon Marquee (Hound Dog On a Chain)
• Steve Bays: The Matinee (Cut to Pieces) (B.C.)