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Robyn Ottolini , Nate Haller , Karli June , Graham Scott Fleming , Sacha , Elyse Saunders and More to Perform at 2023 CMAOntario Awards
The Country Music Association of Ontario ( CMAOntario ) is proud to announce the first wave of performers for the CMAOntario Awards , presented by Slaight Music , taking place on Sunday , June 4 at Theatre Aquarius in Hamilton , Ontario .
The 11 th Annual CMAOntario Awards Show , hosted by Jason McCoy and Shannon Ella , will include exciting performances by : Robyn Ottolini , who is nominated for five CMAOntario Awards this year ; Nate Haller , Karli June , and Graham Scott Fleming , nominated for three CMAOntario Awards each ; plus , Sacha and Elyse Saunders , nominated for two CMAOntario Awards each . Additional performers will include Vincent Bishop , nominated for Francophone Artist or Group of the Year ; Jason Blaine , nominated for Album of the Year ; Genevieve Fisher , nominated for Female Artist of the Year ; Andrew Hyatt , nominated for Male Artist of the Year ; Ryan Langdon , nominated for Music Video of the Year ; Owen Riegling , nominated for the Rising Star Award ; and Julian Taylor , nominated for Roots Artist of the Year . Tickets for the CMAOntario Awards Show are on sale now .
The CMAOntario Awards Show will also include the Impact Award , which recognizes an artist , group , industry personality or organization that has left an enduring and indelibly positive footprint on the landscape of country music in Ontario . The 2023 Impact Award will be presented to Family Brown .
Family Brown , led by patriarch Papa Joe Brown , his two daughters Lawanda and Tracey , and son Barry , and musicians Ron Sparling and Dave Dennison , and in later years , Gary Spike Spicer , and Randall Prescott , became the most awarded act in Canadian Country music . The Ottawa-based band had a 22-year career bridging several generations of country music and entertained Canadians from coastto-coast-to-coast and played hundreds of communities across Ontario .
Throughout the 1970s and 80s , Family Brown recorded 14 studio albums for RCA Records , along with two greatest hits albums . The band had 43 charted singles with 24 Top Ten hits . Over those years , Family Brown won more than 50 national awards , including three Juno awards , and numerous RPM Big Country awards and Canadian Country Music awards .
The band hosted their own syndicated television show for 13 seasons across most of Canada , and had guest appearances on The Tommy Hunter Show , Grand Ole Country , Nashville Now , Hee Haw , as well as hosting their own BBC-TV specials in the UK .
After Papa Joe Brown passed away in 1986 , the band gave their final performance in 1990 . Three years later , Barry , Tracey and Randall re-grouped for another two albums for Sony Music .
Over the past 25 years , Barry , Lawanda and Tracey have held an annual fundraiser at the limestone church in Wilton , Ontario in support of the cemetery
board , which maintains the cemetery where Papa Joe Brown and his wife Flora rest , with many other family members . As well , Tracey and Randall have directed the operations of the CP Rail Holiday Train , which raises funds and awareness for local food banks across Canada .
Family Brown had a camaraderie with their fellow Canadian artists and bands , with many musicians feeling like they were a part of the extended family and looking upon Papa Joe as a father figure . To this day , Family Brown remains one of the most influential acts in Canadian Country music ensuring they will always be remembered , and proudly leading to their induction into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in 1997 .
The CMAOntario Award Show is preceded by a weekend of activities as part of the CMAOntario Festival & Awards Weekend , June 2-4 , 2023 . The CMAOntario Festival & Awards Weekend will include Songs & Stories : Songwriters in the Round , R2i TuneUp Conference , PierJam , Bonfire and Tailgate Party .
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