Nominations were announced Friday in Moncton for the 2012 East Coast Music Awards and about two dozen of those nominations went to artists and music industry figures from P.E.I.
Several Island artists earned multiple nominations, including Catherine MacLellan, Paper Lions and Tim Chaisson and Morning Fold.
The lion's share of the nominations Friday went to Cape Breton singer-songwriter Jimmy Rankin who received nods in eight categories.
Several other artists followed closely behind Rankin including Classified, with six nominations, and David Myles, The Trews and Matt Andersen, each of whom received five.
The awards will be presented at the 2012 East Coast Music Awards, which takes place in Moncton April 11-15.
The following is a breakdown of P.E.I.'s nominations for both music and industry awards.
Singer-songwriter Catherine MacLellan, who last week received five Music P.E.I. Awards, was nominated for ECMAs for album of the year, folk recording of the year and solo recording of the year for Silhouette.
Paper Lions, also a multiple winner at the Music P.E.I. Awards, was nominated for the Bell Aliant Fan's Choice Entertainer of the Year as well as songwriter of the year and song of the year, the latter two for Stay Here For A While.
Tim Chaisson and Morning Fold were nominated for the Bell Aliant Fan's Choice Entertainer of the Year award and the Bell Aliant Fan's Choice Video of the Year, the latter for Slippin' Away.
Singer-songwriter Jordan Cameron received his first ever ECMA nomination for folk recording of the year for My, What A Lovely Hate.
The Sky Family earned a nod in the category for gospel recording of the year for Celtic Revival.
Three of the six nominations for loud recording of the year went to artists from P.E.I.
Those nominations went to Death Valley Driver, who won that category at the Music P.E.I. Awards, for Choke The River; Get Bodied, for Harbingers; and Uigg, for Of Moose and Men.
Ten Strings & A Goat Skin were nominated for roots/traditional group recording of the year for Tri.
Nominated in that same category was Rawlins Cross, which features P.E.I.'s Joey Kitson on lead vocals.
Island native Jenn Grant, who has resided in Halifax for several years, was nominated for the Bell Aliant Fan's Choice Entertainer of the Year award, as well as for album of the year and rock recording of the year, for Honeymoon Punch.
Her song, Getcha Good, was also nominated for song of the year.
Five of the industry award nominations announced Friday have a P.E.I. tag.
Jon Matthews, owner of Big Grey Sound Studio, was nominated for audio professional of the year.
The Festival of Small Halls was nominated for event/venue of the year.
Three of the nominations in the category for media outlet/ contributor of the year went to P.E.I.
Those nominations went to Doug Gallant, of The Guardian, The Buzz and Karen Mair, of CBC Radio's Mainstreet.
Rob Oakie, executive director of Music P.E.I., said Friday he was pleased with the number of nominations earned by Island artists and music industry people.
"We've received about the same number of nominations this year that we did last year," Oakie said. "We're pleased with that given the fact there were actually fewer categories this year. Sure we were disappointed that some artists we thought would get nominated didn't get nominated, but that's the way things go sometimes."
Music and industry awards will be distributed throughout the event at various times on showcasing stages, at the industry awards brunch, and at the Music Awards Gala on Sunday, April 15 at Casino New Brunswick.
The executive director of the East Coast Music Association, Su Hutchinson, says it will be a week to remember.
"Celebrating the incredible talent in Atlantic Canada and supporting the hard work of our artists is our primary focus," said Hutchinson. "Preparations are underway for an ECMA Week that will present our artists and industry in exciting new ways."
Voting for music and industry awards began Friday and closes March 1.
This year, there are two awards for the fans to vote on - Bell Aliant Fan's Choice Entertainer of the Year and Bell Aliant Fan's Choice Video of the Year.
Fan's Choice voting opens March 1 and closes April 5.
The association Friday unveiled the entire showcase schedule for ECMA Week 2012, with artist performance times and award distribution highlights, as well as a few musical surprises and guest performers, like Canada's own Maestro Fresh Wes.
Also announced Friday were highlights from the international business program being held in conjunction with East Coast Music Week.
Over 50 high-profile international delegates from the around the globe, will descend upon Moncton to do business with the East Coast music industry.
Online: http://www.ecma.ca
FOR A COMPLETE LIST OF INDUSTRY AND MUSIC AWARDS SEE PAGE 2 ...
