The night belonged to Moontricks, and they weren’t even there.
During the Kootenay Music Awards hosted at Spiritbar on Friday evening, the Argenta-based electronic duo took home three awards: Artist of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Electronic Producer.
“Thanks everyone who voted and all you beautiful people who have been supporting our music so far!” the duo posted on social media, while on tour on the coast.
“Lets make 2017 even bigger!!”
Moontricks consists of Sean Rodman and Nog Osirus, and their track “Home” is their most popular hit yet. Having performed at multiple venues and festivals around the Kootenays, as well as hosting a food bank fundraiser over the Christmas holidays, they’re quickly becoming a household name for Nelson music fans.
Meanwhile, solo artist Dawson Rutledge took home two awards: Best Folk/Roots/Country Act and Best Breakthrough Artist—that latter of which earned him a spot at the upcoming Tiny Lights Festival in Ymir.
He was one of two country acts that took home awards, with the second being Clayton Parsons. Originally from Montana, Parsons performs in a number of bands. His album “Little Things” was named Album of the Year.
The best music video went to local filmmaker Jonathan Robinson, for his Mooves track “Baby I Know” starring Nadia Abdella. Robinson has made videos for artists such as Brian Rosen and Sofiella Watt and the Huckleberry Bandits, as well as a book trailer for local author Leesa Dean.
“When Ness Benamran (Mooves) and Nadia Abdella and I got together to film, it was our vision to win this award and to create something we are proud of,” posted Robinson after the event.
“Whether we won this award or not I realize we received the biggest awards ever: friendship and community!”
The Best Rock/Punk/Metal Act went to Alpine Conspiracy, a funky quintet fronted by Josh Murray and backed by Steve Cleary, Raj Levinson, Lee Campese and Andy Parks. The song that earned them the spot was “The Ride”, an upbeat number that encourages listeners to live life to the fullest.
The CRFC Golden KMA Industry Award was given to Chad Hansen, a Kaslo Jazz Etc Festival board member and the founder of the awards. Hansen is a long-time advocate for local music and was being recognized for his contribution to the local scene.
Organizer Evie Lavers was thrilled with how the night went down.
“We witnessed an absolute pearler of a showcase on Friday,” she said.
“Cam Penner left the entire venue gobsmacked with his honest, captivatingly raw performance. And Intersect really turned up the heat in Spiritbar when their two radical dancers joined the stage.”
She thanked all the participants.
“Producing this unique event for Kootenay Co-op Radio was a really special experience for me, being so new to Canada,” she said.
“I now know we have a vast collection of music created here in the Koots, which is so exciting for future events like the KMAs. We received over 200 song submissions and over 2700 unique email votes from all over the world.”
The night was hosted by Lucas Myers and Jocelyn Carver, with musical performances from Intersect, Dubconscious, Cam Penner, Immune2Cobras and Gemma Luna.
