WARNER MUSIC CANADA CELEBRATES MULTIPLE WINS AT THE CCMAS

Meghan Patrick, Brett Kissel and The Washboard Union take home trophies

Paul Brandt is inducted in to the CCMA Hall of Fame

Warner Music Canada Named Record Label of the Year

Press Release via Warner Music Canada – Monday, September 11, 2017

Wow!  What a weekend for Warner Music Canada and its artists at the Canadian Country Music Association Awards in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.  Brett Kissel added three more awards to his trophy case, Meghan Patrick won her very first and second CCMA awards, The Washboard Union repeated as Roots Group of the Year and an old friend and, now, newest signing Paul Brandt was inducted in to the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame.  To top it all off, Warner Music Canada was named Record Company of the Year!

“This was truly an outstanding weekend,” said Warner Music Canada President Steve Kane.  “It’s an honour  that the artists on our label entrust us with the privilege of bringing their music to the world.  These awards are a testament to their art and the hard work our staff puts in to making sure that their songs are heard.”

The festivities started at the Saturday night gala dinner and awards where Brett Kissel won the award for Interactive Artist of the Year.  Coming off consecutive Top 10 singles, The Washboard Union repeated as Roots Group of the Year.  A little while later Warner Music Canada’s name was called as Record Company of the Year.  It was the first time since the late 80’s that the label had won the award and the first major label named since the early 90’s.

The gala evening ended on an emotional tribute to Paul Brandt who was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame.  Brandt was originally signed to Warner in the mid-90’s where he scored major hot singles right off the bat with “I Do” and “my Heart Has A History” which has the distinction of being the most played Canadian country song ever. Paul spent the first decade and a half of the 21st century as a successful independent artist but has since resigned with Warner Music Canada.  His recently released single “The Journey” is a prelude to his new album coming in 2018.

On the nationally broadcast CCMA Awards on Sunday night, Brett Kissel won the evening’s for award as Male Artist of the Year.  Later in the show Brett was called to the stage one more time as the winner of Video of the Year for the emotional “I Didn’t Fall In Love With Your Hair.”  Brett Kissel and his band took to the stage for an electrifying debut performance of his latest single “We Were That Song.”

In an announcement that seemed to delight the audience almost as much as it did the artist, Meghan Patrick was named Female Artist of the Year. This was the first CCMA Award for the singer from Bomanville, Ontario but it wouldn’t be the last.  Meghan also won the prestigious Rising Star Award.  Earlier in the show, Meghan and her band performed a breathtaking version of her hit “Be Country With Me.”

Other Warner Music Canada performers on the broadcast included High Valley who opened the show with the #1 hit “I Be U Be.”  The Washboard Union got the crowd on its feet with a sparkling performance of their latest hit “Shine” and Blake Shelton gave Canadians the world premiere live performance of his new single “I’ll Name The Dogs.”

The Warner celebration didn’t end with the CCMA’s closing credits either.  At an after-show reception, Warner Music Canada President Steve Kane presented Aaron Goodvin his first gold record for the infectious single “Lonely Drum.”  High Valley were presented with a plaque commemorating the fact they are the Canadian country group to have a #1 single in the Nielsen BDS era.  Blake Shelton was handed a gold award for his the 2016 album If I’m Honest and another commemorating 14 consecutive #1 singles at country radio, a feat that is without equal at any format in Canadian radio during the Nielsen BDS era (since 1995). Nielsen BDS creates its charts from monitored radio airplay.

WARNER MUSIC CANADA ARTISTS TAKE HOME 9 CCMA AWARDS

Brett Kissel Gets The Call Four Times Including Male Artist of the Year and Fans’ Choice Award

Monday, September 12, 2016 – Warner Music Canada

The 2016 Canadian Country Music Association Awards were held in London, Ontario this past weekend in what turned out to be a banner year for Warner Music Canada.  On Sunday, September 11, at a jammed Budweiser Gardens, three Warner artists (Brett Kissel, The Washboard Union and High Valley) were called to the podium to accept four awards between them on the nationally broadcast show.  Both Kissel and The Washboard Union also won awards during Saturday night’s pre-broadcast awards presentation.

On Sunday night’s show, Brett Kissel was the night’s big winner, taking home the coveted awards for Male Artist of the Year and the Fans’ Choice Award presented by SiriusXM.  On Saturday night, Brett won his third consecutive Interactive Artist of the Year.  Brett also joined Mickey Jack Cones and Bart Mckay in winning the Producers of the Year award while Patrick Duffy and Juan Lezica combined to win Recording Package of the Year for their design of Brett’s sophomore major label release, Pick me Up.

The wins cap off an incredible 12 months for Brett since the release of release Pick Me Up.  The album spawned the gold single “Airwaves” as well as the chart topping singles, “Cool With That” and “Pick Me Up.”  During the CCMA broadcast, Brett and his band performed an emotional rendition of the new single “I Didn’t Fall In Love With Your Hair,” Brett’s tribute to his mother, a cancer survivor. In October, Brett will be awarded the 2016 Allan Slaight Honour at the Canada's Walk of Fame induction ceremony. The Allan Slaight Honour recognizes young, inspirational Canadians who have achieved international success in the music industry. Kissel will be honoured alongside this year’s Walk of Fame inductees and will also be featured on the televised special. Past winners include Drake, The Weeknd and Shawn Mendes.

Vancouver-based The Washboard Union had their own breakout weekend winning the Rising Star award on broadcast night after having been named Roots Artist of the Year during the Saturday night ceremonies.  The Washboard Union  (Chris Duncombe, Aaron Grain and David Roberts) have been riding high on the success of two consecutive Top 10 radio hits (“Maybe It’s The Moonshine” and “Shot Of Glory”) from their Slaight Music / Warner Music Canada debut EP In My Bones.  The Washboard Union celebrated throughout the CCMA weekend in seeming non-stop frenzy of performances bringing the party right to the people of London, capped off by playing the CCMA Awards kick off concert being heading straight on to the John Deere Green Carpet to greet fans and media.

Alberta born and bred brothers Brad and Curtis Rempel of High Valley took to the stage on Sunday night to accept the band’s second consecutive win as Group or Duo of the Year.  High Valley also blew the roof off the arena performing their new Canadian-released single “Every Week’s Got A Friday.”  The new single was the most added track at Country radio and #2 most added track at all formats in Canada last week.  In the U.S., High Valley recently signed with Atlantic Records in Nashville who are enjoying great success with the track “Make You Mine,” which is about to enter the Top 30 of the airplay charts. “Make You Mine” was originally released in Canada in 2014 on the group’s independent album, Country Line.  The track enjoyed Top 5 radio success and was certified gold in Canada.

Warner Music Canada’s ninth CCMA Award was presented on Saturday night to the label’s Vice –President of Radio Promotion Steve Coady who was named Record Company Person of the Year.