Ottawa-area artists among nominees for Juno Awards

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Rapper Belly, pop singer Jamie Fine and jazz chanteuse Kellylee Evans are among the musical artists with roots in the Ottawa area to be nominated for a 2025 Juno Award. 

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Announced in Toronto on Tuesday, the field of nominees is topped by pop darling Tate McRae and country up-and-comer Josh Ross, each with five nominations, but Ottawa-area artists made inroads in a cross-section of categories. 

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Evans is a contender for the best vocal jazz album of the year for her Christmas project, Winter Song, which was recorded swiftly with a who’s who of Ottawa-area musicians and produced by local engineer Steve Foley. 

“And thank you to this cast of characters who dropped everything to record the album in October in time for a November release,” Evans posted on social media, giving props to her team for her fourth Juno nod. She last won one of the Canadian music awards in 2011. 

Another previous Juno winner is Belly, the Palestinian-born wordsmith who grew up in Ottawa. The former Ahmad Balshe is in the running for the year’s best rap album for his politically charged fourth project, 96 Miles from Bethlehem. 

Jamie Fine, the big-voiced pop singer who was nominated four times in recent years for her work with former musical partner Elijah Woods, makes a fresh appearance in the pop-album category for her solo EP, if this is it …, facing off against the likes of McRae and Shawn Mendes. 

In the roots categories, singer-songwriter Kaia Kater, who grew up in Wakefield, gains further recognition with her second Juno nomination, this time with her album, Strange Medicine, in the contemporary-roots field. 

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Ottawa-born-and-raised blues guitarist Sue Foley, who was also a Grammy nominee this year, takes her latest shot at a blues Juno for her masterful One Guitar Woman, a tribute to the legendary women who influenced her, including Rosetta Tharpe and Maybelle Carter. 

Ottawa-based gospel singer Ryan Ofei is a newcomer to the Juno Awards (although he’s no stranger to the Grammys), notching his first Canadian nomination for his solo debut, Restore, in the contemporary Christian/gospel category. 

Rounding out the crop of Ottawans to receive nominations are Leif Vollebekk, who enters the adult-alternative race with Revelation, and National Arts Centre Orchestra cellist Rachel Mercer. As part of a chamber trio with violinist Scott St. John and pianist Angela Park, Mercer shares the nomination for best small-ensemble, classical album for their project, Under a Veil of Stars. It features music by Canadian composer Kevin Lau that pays tribute to the late Ottawa violinist Yehonatan Berick, who was Mercer’s partner. 

The awards will be handed out during a televised ceremony in Vancouver on March 30. The host of the event is Michael Bublé.

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lsaxberg@postmedia.com

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