andPOP - Pop Culture With Substance

The fifth annual Canadian Folk Music Awards were held Saturday in Ottawa, reports CBC.

Awards were given in 19 categories, and the ceremony was co-hosted by CBC’s Shelagh Rogers and La Bottine Souriante musician Benoit Bourque.

Halifax’s Joel Plaskett’s triple album Threeearned two awards, although the singer-songwriter was not present at the ceremony. Chris McKhool’s Toronto-based band Sultans of String also won two trophies in McKhool’s hometown.

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Canadians: Want a quick 20 grand? Make an amazing album.

The Polaris Prize awards $20,000 to the Canadian artist or group that creates the best album of the year, based solely on artistic merit. Sales don’t count, marketing doesn’t count. The ten nominees – Elliot Brood, Fucked Up, Great Lake Swimmers, Hey Rosetta!, K’Naan, Metric, Joel Plaskett, Malajube, Patrick Watson, and Chad Vangaalen – all attended and performed at the Polaris Prize Gala, so I made sure to snag a few interviews before the award was given out.

The winner of the $20,000 prize? Well, check out the video and I’ll tell you.

Joel Plaskett, who performed in Vancouver last week as part of the 2010 Cultural Olympiad, is expanding his cross-country tour in support of his upcoming album, “Three.”

After playing the Maritimes in April, the Nova Scotia-based rocker will head west for a string of shows beginning May 6 in Regina.

Newly added stops include Calgary on May 7, Victoria on May 10 and Saskatoon on May 15. Dates are coming soon for Winnipeg, Vancouver and Ottawa.

Tickets are available at the MapleMusic website.

“Three,” Plaskett’s sixth full-length album, hits stores March 24. The release is actually made up of three discs, each containing nine songs for a total of 27.

Here are his upcoming Canadian dates:

April 21 – Charlottetown, PEI @ Confederation Centre Of The Arts
April 22 – Fredericton, NB @ The Fredericton Playhouse
April 23 – Saint John, NB @ The Imperial Theatre
April 24 – Moncton, NB @ The Capitol Theatre
May 6 – Regina, SK @ The Distrikt Nightclub
May 7 – Calgary, AB @ Knox United Church
May 10 – Victoria, BC @ Alix Goolden Performance Hall
May 12 – Kelowna, BC @ Habitat
May 13 – Kamloops, BC @ The Pavilion Theatre
May 14 – Edmonton, AB @ McDougall United Church
May 15 – Saskatoon, SK @ Broadway Theatre
May 21 – Montreal, QC @ La Sala Rossa
May 23 – Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall
May 30 – Halifax, NS @ Rebecca Cohn Auditorium (Dalhousie University)
July 2 – Orillia, ON @ Orillia Opera House

Halifax’s The Joel Plaskett Emergency and Antigonish’s The Trews will rock the house at this year’s East Coast Music Awards.

Other acts set to take the stage at the annual awards gala in New Brunswick include P.E.I.’s Jimmy Rankin, Cape Breton’s Nathan Wiley and the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra.

The Joel Plaskett Emergency is the leading nominee, with nods in seven categories including entertainer of the year and recording of the year.

Indie band Wintersleep is close behind with five nods.

The East Coast Music Awards, Festival and Conference is a four-day extraganza that will take place at different locations throughout Fredericton. The events kick off Feb. 7, with a special 20th anniversary concert on Feb. 9.

It all leads up to the awards gala at the Aitken Centre on Feb. 10.

CBC-TV usually airs the awards gala live across the country, but the station announced in November it would instead produce a one-hour special featuring performances from the entire awards weekend, to air March 2.

However, several CBC Radio programs will broadcast from the weekend event.