Margaret Malandruccolo is a Canadian photographer and music video director primarily living in Los Angeles who specializes in portraiture, album photography, and fashion photography. She has directed over a hundred music videos and has won two Juno Awards and four CCMA Awards. [1]
She has done photography for multiple books, commercials, and musical albums including Stephen Fearing's That's How I Walk (2002), Your Man (2006) by Josh Turner, Edge of Day (2007) by Jimmy Rankin, Get Me Some (2000) by The Jeff Healey Band, 1UP! (2009) by illScarlett, A Place Called Love (2010) by Johnny Reid, and Some People Change (2006) by Montgomery Gentry.
She won Album Design of the Year along with Marina Dempster, Nelson Garcia, and Steve Goode, at the Juno Awards of 2003 for Exit (2002) by k-os. She was one of the photographers for the album Tangents: The Tea Party Collection (2001), which won a Best Album Design award at the Juno Awards of 2001. In 1999 she was nominated, along with David Ashcroft and Ivan Otis for a Best Album Design at the Juno Awards of 1999 for the album Three Seeds by New Meanies. In 2000 she was nominated, along with Garnet Armstrong, Mark Bartkiw, and Amo3ba Corp, for a Best Album Design on the album Blue Green Orange by I Mother Earth.
She has directed music videos including:
Amanda Stott is a Canadian singer and songwriter from Brandon, Manitoba, Canada.
Carolyn Dawn Johnson is a Canadian country music singer-songwriter. Johnson co-wrote Chely Wright's 1999 single, "Single White Female," which reached number one on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in September 1999. Johnson was signed, in 2000, to record label Arista Nashville.
Deric J. Ruttan is a Canadian country music singer, songwriter and record producer from Bracebridge, Ontario, Canada. A Nashville, Tennessee resident, he has released four studio albums and has written or co-written more than 60 songs that have been recorded by other recording artists.
Amanda Nicole Wilkinson is a Canadian country music singer. She was raised in Trenton, Ontario. She is best known for being a member of The Wilkinsons, a trio which also included her father Steve and brother Tyler. She has also recorded with Tyler in the duo Small Town Pistols and as a solo artist.
Victoria Wenonah Banks is a Nashville-based Canadian singer and songwriter who has penned songs for a variety of artists including Reba McEntire, Sara Evans, Jessica Simpson, Lauren Alaina, Carly Pearce and Mickey Guyton. Her songs have earned 2 ASCAP Country Music Awards, a SOCAN International Achievement Award, a Covenant Award, and a Grammy nomination.
John Kirkland Reid is a British-Canadian country music artist. Reid moved to Canada in July 1989 when he was 16 from Scotland United Kingdom. His father, a diesel mechanic, wanted to give Reid and his brother opportunities he did not think they would have in Scotland. He graduated from Turner Fenton Secondary School in Brampton, Ontario, in 1992. Reid went on to attend Bishop's University in Lennoxville, Quebec, where he met his wife.
Tara Lyn Hart is a Canadian country music singer/songwriter.
James Kevin Rankin is a Canadian country and folk artist. A member of The Rankin Family, Rankin has also released seven solo albums: Song Dog (2001), Handmade (2003), Edge of Day (2007), Forget About the World (2011), Tinsel Town (2012), Back Road Paradise (2014) and Moving East (2018). Rankin's solo and Rankin Family awards include 5 Junos, 27 East Coast Music Awards, 9 SOCAN top radio play Awards, 7 Canadian Country Music Awards, 2 Music NS Awards, and 2 Canadian Radio Music Awards.
The Higgins are a multi-award-winning Canadian country music group from Delta, British Columbia. The Higgins comprise three siblings: John, Eileen, and Kathleen Higgins. They have charted a total of three singles on the Canadian Country Music charts, two of which were Top 15. Videos for "Flower Child", "Real Thing", and "Second Hand Car" all went to No. 3 on CMT's Chevy Cross Canada Countdown. The Higgins are songwriters as well as musicians, having written or co-written nine tracks on their national debut album Real Thing. The Higgins were nominated for CCMA Group of the Year in 2008 and 2009, and have won six BCCMA awards including Album of the Year and Group of the Year (2008).
Crystal Shawanda is a Canadian blues and country music artist. CMT documented her rise to fame in the six-part series Crystal: Living the Dream, which was broadcast in February 2008. Signed to RCA Nashville in 2007, she released her first single, "You Can Let Go", in Canada in January 2008. It was the fastest climbing single on the Canadian Country Singles Chart since Carolyn Dawn Johnson's "Georgia" in 2000, reaching the Top 10 in five weeks. It was released in the United States on February 25, 2008. and reached #2 on the American media base chart. She became the first full blood Indigenous woman to appear in the Top 20 on the American Billboard Country Music chart, selling over 300k records, and to sing at the Grand Ole Opry, as well as the first to win the CCMA for Female artist of the year in 2009,and the first to win a Juno award for "Blues album of the year" in 2020, and the first to appear in the Top 10 of the American Billboard Blues chart in 2022.
Lindi Marie Ortega is a Canadian country singer-songwriter from Toronto, Ontario, who had lived in Nashville, Tennessee then moved to Western Canada in 2017. She spent nearly a decade as an independent artist in the Toronto music scene, releasing two albums and an EP in that time. She has been described as "Toronto's best kept secret" and nicknamed "Indie Lindi". Ortega left Last Gang management and records in November 2017. She has since released Til The Goin' Gets Gone EP and her full-length Liberty on her own label Shadowbox Music. Her voice has been described as a blend of Dolly Parton's, Johnny Cash's, and Emmylou Harris'.
Chad Brownlee is a Canadian country music artist, songwriter, actor, and former ice hockey defenceman. He has one #1 Canada Country hit with "Forever's Gotta Start Somewhere".
"Today I'm Gonna Try and Change the World" is a song co-written and recorded by Canadian country music artist Johnny Reid. It was released in June 2010 as the first single from his 2010 album A Place Called Love. The song reached No. 41 on the Canadian Hot 100 in July 2010.
Brett Kissel is a Canadian country singer. He has achieved four number-one hits on the Canadian country chart with "Airwaves", "Drink About Me", "A Few Good Stories", and "Make a Life, Not a Living". Kissel has released the albums, Started with a Song (2013), Pick Me Up (2015), We Were That Song (2017), Now or Never (2020), What Is Life? (2021), and The Compass Project (2023).
This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in 2014.
"Started with a Song" is a song recorded by Canadian country music artist Brett Kissel. It was released in June 2013 as the first single from his major label debut album, Started with a Song. It became the most added song at Canadian country radio in its first week, surpassing a record set by Taylor Swift's "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together".
"Take the Week Off" is a song recorded by Canadian country music artist Deric Ruttan. It was released in August 2013 as the first single from his fourth studio album, Take the Week Off. It peaked at number 66 on the Canadian Hot 100 in October 2013.
The Reklaws are a Canadian country music duo from North Dumfries, Ontario, formed in 2012. The duo consists of siblings Stuart and Jenna Walker. They have released three albums, Freshman Year, Sophomore Slump, and Good Ol' Days. The duo has achieved four number one hits with "Feels Like That", "Can't Help Myself", "11 Beers", and "Honky Tonkin' About" on the Canada Country chart, in addition to multiple gold and platinum certified singles.
"Drink About Me" is a song recorded by Canadian country music artist Brett Kissel for his eighth studio album Now or Never. The song was written by Ben Stennis and Matt Rogers, while Kissel co-produced the track with Jacob Durrett. The track was Kissel's first release to the American country radio format. "Drink About Me" was nominated for Single of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2021.