With last week’s announcement of the finalists for the Country Music Association of Ontario awards, here’s a look at some more of the categories. Note: the awards show will be held in Ottawa this June.

-for Single of the year, the nominees are “Loud” by Tim Hicks, “Little Girl” by Kira Isabella, “Walls Come Down” by Meghan Patrick, “Feels Like That” by The Reklaws and “Denim on Denim” by Tebey; this is the first year The Reklaws have been nominated in this category and all the other nominees this year have been nominated in previous years; Tebey is the only nominee this year to have won this award before (in 2016 for “When the Buzz Wears Off”); previous winners include Jason Blaine, Deric Ruttan, Small Town Pistols, Tebey, River Town Saints and James Barker Band; no one has won this award more than once;

-this year’s Songwriter(s) nominees are Jason Blaine, Deric Ruttan and Brett Beavers for Jason’s recording of “Ain’t Got Growin’ Up Down Yet,” Tim Hicks, Todd Clark, Gavin Slate and Travis Wood for Tim’s recording of “Loud,” Tebey, Sam Ellis and Elizabeth Elkins for Kira Isabella’s recording of “Little Girl,” Meghan Patrick, Kelly Archer and Justin Weaver for Meghan’s recording of “Walls Come Down,” Todd Clark, Jenna Walker, Stuart Walker, Travis Wood and Donovan Woods for The Reklaws’ recording of “Feels Like That,” and Tebey and Ryan Lafferty for Tebey’s recording of “Who’s Gonna Love You;” this year is the first time since 2016 where each artist co-wrote the nominated song; Deric Ruttan holds the record for most wins (4) and most consecutive wins (2); in fact, Deric has won twice-in-a-row twice!

-BTW, four of the nominees for Single of the year are also nominated in the Songwriter(s) category. Only twice before has the Single of the year won the Songwriter(s) category the same year (Jason Blaine’s “They Don’t Make ‘Em Like That Anymore” in 2013 and Small Town Pistols “I Only Smoke When I Drink” in 2015);

-the nominees for Album of the year are “The Story” by Lean Daniels, “New Tattoo” by Tim Hicks, “Heart of Glass” by Jessica Mitchell, “Country Music Made Me Do It” by Meghan Patrick” and “Feels Like That” by The Reklaws; Jessica Mitchell and The Reklaws are first-time nominees in this category; Tim Hicks and Meghan Patrick are the only nominees this year who have won before; and no one has ever won this award more than once;

-and the nominees for Roots Artist or Group are The Abrams, Mackenzie Leigh Meyer, Jessica Mitchell, The Redhill Valleys and Western Swing Authority; Western Swing Authority holds the record for most wins in this category (2) and are the only winners to have done so consecutively; Mackenzie Leigh Meyer and The Redhill Valleys are first-time nominees this year; no solo artist has ever won this category; and Western Swing Authority are the only artists to have been nominated for this award every year.

For the complete list of nominees, go to the CMAOntario website at https://cmaontario.ca/newsletter/2019-cmaontario-awards-nominees-announced/?fbclid=IwAR1iOITAtFoQv_l9ce7OUTSVYq12zI636HizgN6umgNHh5p70P01MMD6V7g

Good luck to all the nominees!