The Colleen Peterson Songwriting Award is an annual Canadian award, presented to the year's best song by an emerging singer-songwriter from Ontario in the genres of roots, traditional, folk and country music. [1] The award, created in memory of Canadian country singer Colleen Peterson, is sponsored by the Ontario Arts Council and the Ontario Council of Folk Festivals (OCFF), and is presented to a songwriter selected from 15 nominations put forward by the OCFF's Songs from the Heart songwriting competition, [2] excluding overall winners of the Galaxie Rising Stars Awards. The award was initially funded in part by royalties from the sale of Postcards from California, a posthumous album collecting some of Peterson's unreleased demo recordings. [3]
The award was presented for the first time in 2003.
Ariana Gillis, the winner of the award in 2012, is the daughter of 2004 winner David Gillis. [10]
Richard Reed Parry is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, best known as a core member of the Grammy Award-winning indie rock band Arcade Fire, where he plays a wide variety of instruments, often switching between guitar, double bass, drums, celesta, keyboards, and accordion.
The Ontario Arts Council (OAC) is a publicly-funded Canadian organization in the province of Ontario whose purpose is to foster the creation and production of art for the benefit of all Ontarians. Based in Toronto, OAC was founded in 1963 by Ontario's Premier at the time, John Robarts.
Evalyn Parry is a Canadian performance-maker, theatrical innovator and singer-songwriter. She grew up in Toronto, Ontario in the Kensington Market neighborhood. Her music combines elements of spoken word and folk.
Quartette is a Canadian country-folk group consisting of Cindy Church, Caitlin Hanford, Gwen Swick and Sylvia Tyson. Each of the four members also record as solo artists in addition to their work as a group.
Lori Yates is a Canadian alternative country music singer and songwriter.
Colleen Susan Peterson was a Canadian country and folk singer, who performed both as a solo artist and as a member of the band Quartette.
Madison Violet is a Juno-nominated Canadian music duo composed of singer-songwriters Brenley MacEachern and Lisa MacIsaac. The group has been notable for various folk and pop award nominations and wins.
Ariana Gillis is a Canadian singer-songwriter born in Hamilton, Ontario.
David Parry was a Canadian folk musician, storyteller, actor, stage director, and teacher. He was an important presence in the Canadian folk music scene from the mid-1970s up until his death in 1995. He worked both as a solo artist and as a member of the Friends of Fiddler's Green, a ceilidh band based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was married to writer and musician Caroline Balderston Parry. Their son Richard Reed Parry is a member of the rock band Arcade Fire and their daughter Evalyn Parry is a prominent spoken-word performer and musician.
Lynne Hanson is a Canadian singer-songwriter based in Ottawa, Ontario who has released eight solo albums and has toured internationally.
Eileen McGann is an Irish-Canadian folk singer, songwriter and traditional Celtic musician. Her album, Beyond The Storm, was Juno Award-nominated in 2002. She has released seven solo CDs and has established an almost 30-year career touring across North America and Great Britain.
The Young Novelists are a Canadian folk-roots band, formed in Toronto, Ontario in August 2009. They play and tour as a five or six-piece band, or as a duo. Their second full-length studio album, made us strangers, was released in April 2015 and won the Canadian Folk Music Award for New/Emerging Artist, as well as being nominated for the Canadian Folk Music Award for Vocal Group. It remained nine weeks on the Top 10 Folk/Roots/Blues !earshot radio charts in Canada.
Cris Derksen is a two-spirit Juno Award–nominated Cree cellist from Northern Alberta, Canada. Derksen is known for her unique musical sound which blends classical music with traditional Indigenous music. Her music is often described as "electronic cello" or classical traditional fusion.
Ken Yates is a Canadian folk singer-songwriter, who won the Canadian Folk Music Awards for English Songwriter of the Year and New/Emerging Artist of the Year at the 13th Canadian Folk Music Awards in 2017.
Abigail Lapell is a Canadian folk singer-songwriter, who won the Canadian Folk Music Award for Contemporary Album of the Year at the 13th Canadian Folk Music Awards in 2017 for her album Hide Nor Hair and again for English Songwriter of the Year at the 15th Canadian Folk Music Awards in 2020 for her album Getaway.
Camille Intson, also known professionally as Camie, is a Canadian playwright, singer-songwriter, new media artist, and researcher.
The Canadian Folk Music Award for English Songwriter of the Year is a Canadian award, presented as part of the Canadian Folk Music Awards to honour the year's best songwriting in Canadian folk music. Unlike many songwriting awards, the nomination is given in consideration of all of the songwriting on a whole album rather than singling out individual songs. Awards are also presented for French Songwriter of the Year and Indigenous Songwriter of the Year.
The Canadian Folk Music Award for French Songwriter of the Year is a Canadian award, presented as part of the Canadian Folk Music Awards to honour the year's best French-language songwriting. Unlike many songwriting awards, the nomination is given in consideration of all of the songwriting on a whole album rather than singling out individual songs. Awards are also presented for English Songwriter of the Year and Indigenous Songwriter of the Year.
The Canadian Folk Music Award for Indigenous Songwriter of the Year is a Canadian award, presented as part of the Canadian Folk Music Awards to honour the year's best songwriting by First Nations and Inuit artists. Unlike many songwriting awards, the nomination is given in consideration of all of the songwriting on a whole album rather than singling out individual songs. Awards are also presented for English Songwriter of the Year and French Songwriter of the Year.