2020 Canadian Country Music Association Awards Nominees & Fan Poll

The Canadian Country Music Association has announced the nominees for its 2020 awards, and it’s exciting news. Things might look a little different this year, but it’s still wonderful to be able to look at the list of nominees and know that they are all deserving of these honours and recognition when the awards are handed out on Global TV on Sunday, September 27, 2020.

And because we know that Canadian country music fans are passionate and engaged, we want to know who you think should take home the trophies when the 2020 CCMA award winners are announced.

Leading the way in artist categories are Tenille Townes and her SIX nominations with Dean Brody and Brett Kissel close behind her with five nominations each. Congratulations to them.

Please note that these are unofficial fan polls and do not count as votes for the final award decisions. But that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t vote, share, and show as much love as you want to the artists you love in Canadian country!

Before you vote, please join us in sending out our congratulations to all of the nominees and their teams for the hard work and dedication that went into earning these 2020 nominations. Each and every one of them should be very proud to see their name listed and we hope they take a few moments to celebrate.

Now, check out the nominees and submit your votes in the 2020 Fans’ Choice Award and 11 artist award categories and scroll down to see all of the nominees in the Musician, Radio, and Industry categories.

2020 Canadian Country Music Association Awards Fan Poll

Click Here to cast your Official Vote for the 2020 CCMA Fans’ Choice Award!

Musician Awards

Bass Player of the Year

• Kirby Barber
• Lisa Dodd
• Curtis Ebner
• Doug Elash
• Matt Genereux
• Justin Kudding

Drummer of the Year

• Matthew Atkins
• Ben Bradley
• Spencer Cheyne
• Flavio Cirillo
• Rob Wells
• Greg Williamson

Fiddle Player of the Year

• Linsey Beckett
• Tyler Beckett
• Denis Dufresne
• Matt Piche
• Mike Sanyshyn
• Tyler Vollrath

Guitar Player of the Year

• Paul Chapman
• Ryan Davidson
• Matt McKay
• Chad Murphy
• Darren Savard

Keyboard Player of the Year

• Mike Little
• Brendan Waters
• Scott Wilkinson

Specialty Instrument Player of the Year

• Mitch Jay
• Connor Riddell
• Tyler Vollrath

Steel Guitar Player of the Year

• Chris Altmann
• Doug Johnson
• Mitch Jay

Radio Awards

Music Director of the Year (Large Market)

• Steph Hansen – CISN-FM/CKRY-FM – Edmonton, AB/Calgary, AB
• Jaxon Hawks – CJJR-FM – Vancouver, BC
• A.J. Keller – CFCW – Edmonton, AB
• Amanda Kingsland – CKBY-FM – Ottawa, ON
• Peter Walker – CJKX-FM/CHKX-FM – Oshawa, ON/Hamilton, ON

Music Director of the Year (Medium/Small Market)

• Shilo Bellis – CJXL-FM – Moncton, NB
• Paul Ferguson – CHCQ-FM – Belleville, ON
• Cal Gratton – CJVR-FM – Melfort, SK
• Luca James – CKGY-FM – Red Deer, AB
• Peter Morena – CKYY-FM – St. Catharines, ON

Country Personality(ies) of the Year

• Wendy Boomer – CKBY-FM
• Shannon Ella – Pure Country
• Paul McGuire – Stingray
• Randy Owen – CJDL-FM
• Sarah Scott – CFXO-FM

Radio Station of the Year (Large Market)

• CFCW – Edmonton, AB
• CJKX-FM – Oshawa, ON
• CKBY-FM – Ottawa, ON
• CKKL-FM – Ottawa, ON
• CKRY-FM – Calgary, AB

Radio Station of the Year (Medium/Small Market)

• CFXO-FM – High River, AB
• CHCQ-FM – Belleville, ON
• CICX-FM – Orillia, ON
• CJXL-FX – Moncton, NB
• CKGY-FM – Red Deer, AB

Industry Awards

Booking Agency of the Year

• The Feldman Agency
• Invictus Entertainment Group
• Paquin Artist Agency
• Sakamoto Agency
• United Talent Agency

Country Club of the Year

• Cook County Saloon – Edmonton, AB
• Cowboys Roadhouse – Winnipeg, MB
• King Eddy – Calgary, AB
• Ranchman’s Cookhouse And Dancehall – Calgary, AB
• Rock ‘N’ Horse Saloon – Toronto, ON

Country Festival, Fair or Exhibition of the Year

• Boots And Hearts Music Festival – Oro-Medonte, ON
• Calgary Stampede – Calgary, AB
• Cavendish Beach Music Festival – Cavendish, PE
• Centerfield Music Festival – St. Paul, AB
• Diesel Bird Digital Music Festival – Online

Country Music Program or Special of the Year

• A Kissel Country Christmas – BAK 2 BAK Entertainment Inc./Stingray
• Canada Together: In Concert – Corus Entertainment
• Casey Clarke Country Countdown – Casey Clarke Productions
• Girl Power Hour – Rogers Media
• The Paul McGuire Show – Stingray

Management Company of the Year

• Big Loud Management
• Invictus Entertainment Group
• MDM Artist Management Services
• RGK Entertainment Group
• Starseed Entertainment

Music Publishing Company of the Year

• Anthem Entertainment
• Big Loud Publishing
• Sony / ATV Music Publishing
• Universal Music Publishing Group
• Warner Chappell Music Canada

Record Company of the Year

• MDM Recordings Inc.
• Open Road Recordings
• Sony Music Entertainment (Canada) Inc.
• Universal Music Canada
• Warner Music Canada

Industry Person of the Year

• Steve Coady – Warner Music Canada – Vice President, Radio Promotion
• Warren Copnick – Sony Music Entertainment (Canada) Inc. – Director of National Promotion
• Mike Denney – MDM Recordings Inc – President
• Brianne Deslippe – Big Loud Records – Vice President of Promotion/General Manager Canada
• Anya Wilson – Anya Wilson Promotion – Radio Promoter

Creative Director(s) of the Year

• Design Team: Mitchell Nevins, Madeline Merlo, Photography: Emma-Lee
Digital Single Packaging: Kiss Kiss, If You Never Broke My Heart, It Didn’t, Digital Singles, Newsletter Template, Zoom Digital Background Filter, Instagram Filter, Website (Artist: Madeline Merlo)
• Design Team: Bronwin Parks
Single: Just Let Go (Artist: Gord Bamford), Album, Vinyl and Artist Merchandise: It Was A Song (Artists: Ryan Langlois) Singles: (Country Thunder, Country Thunder Acoustic, Dock Rock, Artist Branding (Artist: The Washboard Union)
• Design Team: Wes Mack, Kyle Bottoms
Album: Soul (Artist: Wes Mack)
• Design Team: Nick Perreault, James Murdoch, Ben Shillabeer
Album: Twenty Something, Single: Homesick For The Holidays, Social Graphics (Artist: The Dungarees)
• Design Team: Brett Kissel, Connor Schefler
Album: Now Or Never (Artist: Brett Kissel)

Recording Studio of the Year

• Barrytone Studios – Miramichi, NB
• Bart McKay Productions – Saskatoon, SK
• MCC Recording Studio – Calgary, AB
• Noble Street Studios – Toronto, ON
• OCL Studios – Chestermere, AB

Record Producer(s) of the Year

• Jeff Dalziel
EP: Highway Mile (Artist: Aaron Allen), Single: Hot Mess (Artist: Nice Horse), Single: I Do (Artist: Dan Davidson)
• Jacob Durrett, Brett Kissel, Bart McKay
Album: Now Or Never (Artist: Brett Kissel)
• Karen Kosowski
Single: Country Thunder (Artist: The Washboard Union)
• Scott Moffatt
Album: What You See Is What You Get (Artist: Luke Combs)
• Joey Moi, Dave Cohen
Single: These Days (Artist: MacKenzie Porter)

Retailer of the Year

• Amazon Music
• Apple Music
• Spotify Canada Inc.

Ron Sakamoto Talent Buyer or Promoter of the Year

• Paul Biro – Sakamoto Agency
• Jim Cressman – Invictus Entertainment Group
• Adam Oppenheim – Stampede Entertainment Inc.

Video Director of the Year

• Stephano Barberis
Video: All The Time (Artist: David James), Video: As If We Won’t (Artist: JoJo Mason), Video: Better On You (Artist: JoJo Mason), Video: Country Girls (Artist: Jess Moskaluke), Video: Country Thunder (Artist: The Washboard Union), Video: Dear Me (Artist: Madeline Merlo), Video: Timeless (Artist: Dallas Smith)
• Emma Higgins
Video: I Needed That (Artist: Andrew Hyatt), Video: She Drives Me Crazy (Artist: Brett Kissel), Video: Your Mama (Artist: High Valley)
• Ben Knechtel
Video: Ain’t My Fault (Live @ MOD CLUB) (Artists: Jade Eagleson), Video: Bars & Churches (Artist: Aaron Goodvin), Video: Can’t Help Myself (Artist: Dean Brody x The Reklaws), Video: Count The Ways (Artist: Jade Eagleson), Video: Loved You Like That (Artist: Kris Barclay), Video: Old Country Soul (Artist: The Reklaws), Video: Still Gonna Be You (Artist: Jade Eagleson), Video: The Way You Roll (Artist: Chad Brownlee), Video: There’s A Drink For That (Artist: James Barker Band)
• Raphael Mazzucco
Video: The Good Ones (Artists: Tebey and Marie-Mai)
• Travis Nesbitt
Video: Bad Guy – Billie Eilish Bluegrass Cover (Artist: DD and the Butterlovers) , Video: Church (Artist: Dan Davidson), Video: Days Go By – Keith Urban Cover (Artist: Jess Moskaluke), Video: Good Life (Aritst: Nice Horse), Video: Halfway Home (Artist: Jess Moskaluke), Video: I Do (Artist: Dan Davidson), Video: If I Can’t Have You – Shawn Mendes Bluegrass Cover (Artist: DD and the Butterlovers), Video: If The World Was Ending – JP Saxe Cover (Artist: Ryan Lindsay), Video: Resistorz (Artist: Clayton Bellamy & The Congregation), Video: Say My Name – Destiny’s Child Cover (Artist: Jess Moskaluke), Video: Symphony Of Destruction – Megadeath Bluegrass Cover (Artist: DD and the Butterlovers), Video: They Don’t Make Em Like they Used To (Artist: The Dungarees), Video: This Love – Maroon 5 Cover (Artist: Jess Moskaluke), Video: Unkiss Her (Artist: Dan Davidson), Video: Way Back When (Artist: Ryan Lindsay), Video: Wild (Artist: Ryan Lindsay), Video: Wolves At The Door (Artist: Black Mountain Whiskey Rebellion)

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Joshua Murray

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Trish Cassling

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