True funny man host Russell Peter led the charge with his own brand of humor. Pulling fewer punches than last year, the laughs were many, setting the mood for an entertaining two hours of prime Canadian music.
With 32 of the awards handed out the previous night, the Junos were characterized by live performances rather than acceptance speeches.
Performers included Sam Roberts Band, Sarah McLachlan, The Stills and Bryan Adams. Nickelback took home the lion’s share of awards winning three, including Album of the Year. Lights won for New artist of the Year and Sam Roberts Band took home Artist of the Year.
Vancouver’s own Loverboy was given a special lifetime achievement award and was recently inducted into the Canadian Rock and Roll hall of fame.
Representing the finer characteristics of many of Canada’s top stars, two artists stood out over the Juno weekend as outstanding ambassadors for Canadian music.
Renowned worldwide, Sarah McLachlan and Buffy Sainte-Marie were among the artists honoured for their achievements and contributions to Canadian music. Sainte-Marie won for Aboriginal Artist of the Year and McLachlan was given the Alan Waters Humanitarian Award.
Celebrating her 20-year anniversary as one Canada’s leading voices, McLachlan accepted the Alan Waters Humanitarian Award which recognizes artists whose humanitarian contributions have positively enhanced Canada’s social fabric.
McLachlan has been a champion of humanitarian causes for most of her career, never failing to express gratitude or hesitant to contribute.
McLachlan visited Thailand and Cambodia with Much Music in 1991 as part of a World Vision aid project. It was there that her eyes were opened to the suffering in the world. She came back with a renewed sense of gratitude and a strong urge to give back.
Using her profile to benefit charities and organizations, she is the spokesperson for the BC Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, for which she has helped raise $20 million in donations thanks to a television adoption campaign that used her song “Angel.” Her successful Lilith Fair tours raised $7 million for charity.
Buffy St Marie is an artist whose legacy has influenced Canadian music for over 40 years. Born in Saskatchewan, Buffy spent time in New York’s storied Greenwich Village forging the scene that would become the hippie movement of the 1960’s.
Along with Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell, she put her Canadian stamp on some of the most important music of the century. Her song “Universal Soldier” is still as relevant today as it was in those heady days when it became an anthem for the anti war movement.
Part of the student movement of the 60’s, Buffy also worked for the Obama campaign. Her advice for up-and-coming artists goes like this:
“Be smart, take care of yourself and your gift. So often it’s easy to get detoured with all the temptations and lack of stability. Take a bath now and then and don’t miss the airplane. If you are a singer, learn how to dance.”
Having forged her own path and broken through racial barriers, Buffy has seen aboriginal music emerge from the shadows and onto the world stage.
“I’ve been doing this for over 40 years. When I was first travelling I was the only aboriginal person I would see on the concert stage. And for me it has always been two things: I have this wonderful shiny world in show biz, but also from the very beginning all the way through until now I’ve spent time on the reservations. Stuff that used to be seen only on the reservation is now seen by the larger public.”
At the annual Juno’s Songwriters Circle that took place before the main event, Buffy garnered the loudest applause and won accolades from fellow musicians like Hawksley Workman, who seemed genuinely reverent of the enigmatic singer.
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