Sandra Sperounes, Journal Music Writer
Edmonton Journal

Tuesday, February 12, 2002

Veteran singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, right, received four Juno nominations -- for best artist, songwriter, album and video. Competing with Cohen in the songwriting category is fellow Montrealer Rufus Wainwright. "Being up against Leonard Cohen for best songwriter, he's won enough awards already, I'll probably win it," Wainwright told Monday's news conference in Toronto. "It's wonderful, it's also very nerve-racking and whether it's trying to win a prize at the county fair or a Juno, the moment they bring up those screens with your name on it, it's scary."

- - -

The Juno gods are smiling on Alberta.

Two Edmonton singer-songwriters, Maren Ord and Maria Dunn, join Hanna's Nickelback in the hunt for Canada's top musical awards. Together, they scored six Juno nominations:

- Ord, 20, is up for Best New Artist based on the strength of her Nettwerk pop debut, Waiting.

- Dunn's album, For A Song, is nominated for Best Roots and Traditional Album.

- Nickelback earned four nods -- as many as veteran Leonard Cohen and one less than Juno leader Our Lady Peace.

Hours after the nominees were announced, Ord was still surprised by her nomination. She didn't even watch Monday's Juno news conference -- she found out from her mom, who left a message at Ord's new apartment. "I listened to the message and said, 'No way!' I definitely was dancing," said Ord. "I didn't think I'd be nominated. It's huge, it's the Junos. I'm really humbled."

So humbled, in fact, that Ord didn't even have big plans to celebrate her Juno fortune. Her first concern was her dad, Alan, who was also marking his 61st birthday Monday. "We're going to eat cake and ice cream," she said.

Ord is facing stiff competition from her fellow nominees, including rapper Jelleestone and Toronto's eclectic guitar-thumper, Hawksley Workman. But she'll still be attending the ceremonies -- once she finds an outfit to wear. "I don't own anything fancy," she giggled. "So we'll have to do some shopping."

Nickelback's Chad Kroeger might need a shopping bag to take home the band's potential Juno haul. As one of the biggest bands in North America, the Hanna rockers have a great shot in each of their categories -- Best Group, Best Single for How You Remind Me, and Best Album and Best Rock Album for Silver Side Up.

In the group department, Nickelback is competing against metal-punk upstarts Sum 41, The Tea Party, and two bands with personnel problems, Our Lady Peace and the Matthew Good Band. Both lost their guitarists last year.

Nickelback's Silver Side Up is also vying with Our Lady Peace's Spiritual Machines and Sum 41's All Killer No Filler for Best Album. Diana Krall's jazz disc, The Look Of Love, and Nelly Furtado's Whoa, Nelly! round off the nominees. The latter already picked up Best Pop Album at last year's Junos.

Other Alberta Juno hopefuls include:

- Westlock's Carolyn Dawn Johnson and Calgary's Paul Brandt are competing against each other in the Best Country Artist or Group category.

- Big Sugar, led by Alberta boy Gordie Johnson. The Toronto-based group is nominated for Best Rock Album for Brothers & Sisters, Are You Ready?

The Junos, hosted by the Barenaked Ladies, will be handed out April 14 in St. John's, Nfld. Nickelback, along with Furtado, Alanis Morissette, Amanda Marshall and Great Big Sea, are slated to perform at the event.

Watch for extra-large contingent of Albertans to invade the rock's Mile One Stadium.

-İBest single: California, Wave; Everybody's Got a Story, Amanda Marshall; How You Remind Me, Nickelback; If It Feels Good, Do It, Sloan; Life, Our Lady Peace

-İBest-selling album, foreign or domestic: All That You Can't Leave Behind, U2; Black and Blue, Backstreet Boys; Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water, Limp Bizkit; Hot Shot, Shaggy; Survivor, Destiny's Child

-İBest-selling Francophone album: Cordial, La Bottine Souriante; Disparu, La Chicane; Du Coq a l'ame, Lynda Lemay; Etc., Gabrielle Destroismaisons; Les Vents Ont Change, Kevin Parent

-İBest album: All Killer No Filler, Sum 41; Silver Side Up, Nickelback; Spiritual Machines, Our Lady Peace; The Look of Love, Diana Krall; Whoa, Nelly!, Nelly Furtado

-İRap recording: Bad Dreams, Swollen Members; Easy to Slip, Solitair; Firestarter Vol. 1, Kardinal Offishall; Jelleestone 13, Jelleestone; Still Too Much, Ghetto Concept feat. Snow, Kardinal Offishall, Maestro, Red One and Ironside

-İPop album: Girl Versions, Emm Gryner; Morning Orbit, David Usher; Open, Cowboy Junkies; Saturday People, Prozzak; Ten New Songs, Leonard Cohen

-İRock album: All Killer No Filler, Sum 41; Brothers & Sisters, Are You Ready?, Big Sugar; Pretty Together, Sloan; Purge, Bif Naked; Silver Side Up, Nickelback

-İAlternative album: Down at the Khyber, Joel Plaskett Emergency; (Last Night We Were) The Delicious Wolves, Hawksley Workman; Night of the Shooting Stars, Rheostatics; Poses, Rufus Wainwright; The Constantines, The Constantines

-İVideo: I Hear You Calling, Josh Levy (Gob); In My Secret Life, Floria Sigismondi (Leonard Cohen); In Repair, Oli Goldsmith (Our Lady Peace); Jealous of Your Cigarette, Sean Michael Turrell (Hawksley Workman); Plumb Song, Stephen Scott (Snow)

Maren Ord

- Nominated for Best New Artist

- Ord, 20, released her major-label debut album, Waiting, last year.

- She was signed to Nettwerk in '99 after her performances at Lilith Fair.

- As a kid, she sang with her 10 brothers and sisters as the Ord Family Singers. Her mom, Kathy, is a piano teacher. Her dad, Alan, is a music professor at the University of Alberta.

Maria Dunn

- Nominated for Best Roots and Traditional Album

- Dunn is a familiar face on the local roots/Celtic scene. She's released two discs, including 2001's For A Song, jammed with dozens of local musicians, and appeared as Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol.

- She's currently on her way home from Scotland, where she performed at the Celtic Connections festival.

© Copyright 2002 Edmonton Journal


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