The 50 nominees for 5th annual Fraser Valley Music Awards honouring the best artists of 2020 have been announced, which include two Aldergrove and eight Langley artists.
From 71 applicants this year – the most since the inaugural 2016 FVMA’s – 50 artists ultimately received nominations, with 29 of them being first time nominees.
Up for Best Gospel Group are The Springmans, an Aldergrove family who features ukulele-strumming, djembe-drumming, and guitar-picking in their music.
Their newest album, Upside Down, is scheduled to be released this fall.
The group previously won a Fraser Valley Music Award for their album Happy Beach in 2019.
Aldergrove’s Shamir Virgo is also nominated ina category that highlights artists who identify as a person of colour.
The 19-years-old is a first-time nominee who summed up his RnB/Folk sound folk as “positive vibes,” that he hopes to express himself through.
He said his family moved to Aldergrove a few years ago, which has given him clarity.
“Aldergrove is a very nice, quiet town. I spend a lot of time going out and walking around because it’s very natural and green,” Virgo said.
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He added that though not much is happening right now performance-wise, he does have another project in the works with CIVL radio and is busy making new music.
People can listen to Virgo’s music on all streaming platforms and find out more about the artist at https://www.facebook.com/shamirvirgo.
From Langley, bathtowel, Mount Mike, Dance Alfred, West My Friend, J.D. Miner, Dale Sawatzky, DerbyTown, and The Kwerks are all up for awards.
All nominees are eligible for the Dakota Leslie Memorial Fan Vote, open to the public to decide at https://fvma.civl.ca.
A grand prize of $2,500 will be given, as well as two consolation prizes, and category winners will receive $350 each in 10 competitive genres and 5 bestowed awards recognizing Youth, Queer, Indigenous, bImPOC and Female identifying artists.
CIVL Radio, a campus and community radio station that serves the University of the Fraser Valley, hosts and facilitates the annual awards.
People can tune in to CIVL 101.7 on Nov. 19 at 7 p.m. for a live reading of the winners.
A full list of nominees can be found at https://cc.dtsandbox.com/cv001.00.
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Email: ryan.uytdewilligen@langleyadvancetimes.com
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