Hedley was a Canadian pop rock band that originated in Abbotsford, British Columbia, originally formed in 2003. They were named after the unincorporated community of Hedley, British Columbia, a name chosen after members heard that it was for sale for $346,000. After lead singer Jacob Hoggard placed third on the second season of Canadian Idol in 2004, the group signed with Universal Music Canada and released their self-titled debut studio album the following year. Hedley saw commercial success with their subsequent studio albums, including Famous Last Words (2007), The Show Must Go (2009), Storms (2011), Wild Life (2013), Hello (2015) and Cageless (2017).
Stony Plain Records is a Canadian independent record label, which specializes in roots music genres such as country, folk, and blues. The label has released more than 300 albums.
Melanie Durrant is a Canadian urban contemporary-style singer. She attended the Arts program at Earl Haig Secondary School and also trained at the Royal Conservatory of Music. Melanie Durrant has received multiple accolades throughout her career. She was nominated in several categories at the 2004 Canadian Urban Music Awards and at the MuchMusic Video Awards. Melanie Durrant has collaborated with artists such as Kardinal Offishall, Choclair, Common and Slakah The Beatchild. She has shared the stage alongside Jay-Z, 50 Cent, Jill Scott and Sean Paul.
The Polaris Music Prize is a music award annually given to the best full-length Canadian album based on artistic merit, regardless of genre, sales, or record label. The award was established in 2006 with a $20,000 cash prize; the prize was increased to $30,000 for the 2011 award. In May 2015, the Polaris Music Prize was increased to $50,000, an additional $20,000, sponsored by Slaight Music. Additionally, second place prizes for the nine other acts on the Short List increased from $2,000 to $3,000. Polaris officials also announced The Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize, an award that "will annually honour five albums from the five decades before Polaris launched in 2006." Details about the selection process for this prize are still to be revealed.
Emilie-Claire Barlow is a Canadian singer, arranger, record producer, and voice actress. She has released several albums on her label, Empress Music Group, and has voiced characters for animated television series. She performs in English, French, and Portuguese.
Aaron Pritchett is a Canadian country music singer. He had a #1 hit on the Billboard Canada Country chart with "Better When I Do", and has landed gold-certified hits with "Hold My Beer", "Dirt Road in 'Em" and "Worth a Shot".
Thomas Luther "Luke" Bryan is an American country singer, songwriter, and television personality. Bryan is a five-time "Entertainer of the Year", being awarded by both the Academy of Country Music Awards and the Country Music Association. In 2019, Bryan's 2013 album Crash My Party received the first Album of the Decade award from the Academy of Country Music. He is one of the world's best-selling music artists, with over 75 million records sold. Since 2018, Bryan has been a judge on American Idol.
Hannah Georgas is a Canadian pop/rock singer-songwriter, based in Vancouver, British Columbia. She was nominated in the categories of "Best New Artist of the Year" and "Songwriter of the Year" at the 2011 Juno Awards, and again at the 2013 Juno Awards for "Songwriter of the Year" and "Best Alternative Album".
Sultans of String are an instrumental music group based in Toronto, Ontario, combining elements of Spanish flamenco, Arabic folk, Cuban rhythms, and French Manouche Gypsy-jazz. The group's leader is producer and Canadian musician Chris McKhool.
Chris McKhool is a Canadian violinist, producer, guitarist, composer, and singer-songwriter. He has received numerous awards for his work, including four JUNO Award nominations and four Canadian Folk Music Awards for his various recordings.
Kira Isabella Wilkie is a Canadian country music artist. Isabella was signed to Sony Music Canada in 2009. Her first single, "Love Me Like That", was released in 2011 and charted on the Canadian Hot 100. Isabella released her second single in 2011 entitled "A Real Good Radio". Her third single, "A Little More Work", was released in 2012. Her debut studio album, Love Me Like That, was released in October 2012, and produced two further singles. Kira Isabella announced dates for a 2013 Canadian tour with Terri Clark in October 2012 and Carrie Underwood in December 2012. In 2013, Isabella signed with U.S. record label HitShop Records. The lead single from her second album, "Quarterback", was released in spring 2014.
Ritchie Acheampong, better known as Rich Kidd, is a Canadian hip hop recording artist, record producer and film/video director from Toronto, Ontario. He is a two-time nominee for the Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year as a solo artist, garnering nominations at the Juno Awards of 2013 for The Closers and at the Juno Awards of 2014 for In My Opinion. In 2013, he formed the project Naturally Born Strangers with collaborators Tona and Adam Bomb. That group's debut release, The Legends League Presents: Naturally Born Strangers, won the Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2015.
Colden Rainey Swindell is an American country music singer and songwriter. He has written singles for Craig Campbell, Thomas Rhett, Scotty McCreery, and Luke Bryan, and has released four albums for Warner Bros. Records Nashville. He has released thirteen singles, eight of which have reached number one on the Hot Country Songs and/or Country Airplay charts. Three more singles have reached the Top 10.
Jason Benoit is a country music singer-songwriter from Fox Island River, in western Newfoundland. Benoit began pursuing his professional music career in 2013. His first single was a country rendition of the Armin van Buuren and Trevor Guthrie dance song "This Is What It Feels Like", which peaked on the Billboard Canada Country chart at number 46. The single was included on the country music compilation album, Country Heat 2014. In 2014, Benoit signed his first label deal with the newly formed JV Records/Sony Music Canada and shortly after released "Crazy Kinda Love". On March 9, 2015, Benoit released his third single, "Gone Long Gone". The latter reached the top ten on the Canadian Billboard Country chart in the summer of 2015 and was certified Gold by Music Canada shortly thereafter.
Buzz Records is a Canadian-based independent record label with headquarters in Toronto, Ontario. The label evolved out of the underground performance space, The Garage. In 2011, the first releases from the Buzz Records collective were live recordings from the venue; a series titled "Live@The Garage". The Garage was closed down in 2012 but the label continued to release local, underground records in the cassette format.
Derek Seguin is a Canadian stand-up comedian. Of mixed French Canadian and Irish descent, he is best known for comedy which plays on the cultural differences between English Canada and French Canada, which he performs in an intentionally exaggerated stereotype of a Québécois accent.
The Glorious Sons are a Canadian rock band from Kingston, Ontario. Formed in 2011, the band signed with Black Box in 2013. Since then, The Glorious Sons have released one EP, Shapeless Art, and four full-length albums.
Mayce Galoni is a Canadian stand-up comedian, whose comedy album Awkwarder received a Juno Award nomination for Comedy Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2019.
