New Brunswick artists Chloé Breault and One8tea among this year’s ECMA award winners. Halifax announced as host city for 2023.
Hillsburn, Morgan Toney, Chloé Breault and Zamani are among the initial winners of the 2022 East Coast Music Awards (ECMAs). The awards were announced this evening, as part of the first live awards show since 2019, held at the Aitken University Centre in Fredericton, NB and broadcast live across the Rogers network.
Hosted by the Canadian Godfather of Rap, Maestro Fresh Wes, the 2022 East Coast Music Awards Show featured performances from Andrew Waite (PEI), Chloé Breault (NB), Hillsburn (NS), Kelly McMichael (NL), Morgan Toney (CB), One8tea (NB), Quote The Raven (NL), The Town Heroes (CB), and Zamani (NS). With special guest performances by Lisa Leblanc (NB) and Patsy Gallant (NB), who received the Director’s Special Achievement Award, as well as a tribute to Acadian songwriting as 1755 performed their newly inducted Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame song “Le monde a bien changé”.
The remaining ECMA Awards will be handed out Sunday May 8, at the East Coast Music Awards Part II: Music & Industry Awards Show, hosted by Stephen Antle at the Delta Hotels Fredericton and live on ECMA.com.
Throughout tonight’s broadcast, the following ECMAs were handed out:
Album of the Year:
Hillsburn – Slipping Away
African Canadian Artist of the Year:
Zamani
Contemporary/Roots Recording of the Year:
Quote The Raven – Can’t Hold the Light
Francophone Recording of the Year:
Chloé Breault – Plage des morons
Fans’ Choice Entertainer of the Year:
Justin Fancy
Fans’ Choice Video of the Year:
Mallory Johnson and Twin Kennedy— “Wise Woman” (Director: Cecil Johnson)
Group Recording of the Year:
Hillsburn – Slipping Away
Indigenous Artist of the Year:
Morgan Toney
Rap/Hip-Hop Recording of the Year:
One8tea – Ventilation 2
Rock Recording of the Year:
Kelly McMichael – Waves
Solo Recording of the Year:
Andrew Waite – Self-titled Album
Song of the Year:
Breagh Isabel – “Girlfriends” & Dylan Menzie – “A Heart That Doesn’t Want Mine”
Songwriter of the Year:
Rube & Rake
“We would like to express our sincere gratitude to each and every artist and industry professional, as well as our staff, contractors, and partners, who pulled together this incredible event after two years online,” said ECMA CEO, Andy McLean. “We are so proud to produce a live show for our hard-working and deserving East Coast artists and industry professionals, and to bring the celebration to the nation through the Rogers network.”
The ECMA have additionally announced that Halifax, Nova Scotia will host the 35th anniversary of the East Coast Music Awards: Festival & Conference in 2023.
“We’re very excited to head back to Halifax to mark our 35th anniversary,” said Andy McLean, CEO of the East Coast Music Association. “After so much change, it will be incredible to celebrate the breadth, depth, and history of East Coast Music and our association in what is quickly becoming the Music City of the Atlantic Region.”
Photos: Chloé Breault by Annie France Noël. One8tea respectfully lifted from ECMA.com. No credit provided.
