Canadian Musician - November/December 2020 | Page 17

AND THE
AWARD GOES TO ...
AND THE
AWARD GOES TO ...
Backxwash ’ s Genre-Bending Album Wins 2020 Polaris Music Prize Montreal-based artist Backxwash has won the 2020 Polaris Music Prize for her album God Has Nothing to Do with This Leave Him Out of It , which earned acclaim for seamlessly blending gothic elements of rap and metal music and her personal perspective on faith , family , and her transgender identity .
“ I think all that my music was missing was a personal story . I was afraid to put that on the record , but I just pulled the lever and put that on the record and expressed myself as honestly as possible . I think the most important thing
is to make the music you want to make , and I was making the music I wanted to make and that ’ s how it came out ,” Ashanti Mutinta , aka Backxwash , said shortly after being announced as the winner in a broadcast presentation hosted by CBC Music .
The Polaris Music Prize goes to the best Canadian album of the year based on artistic merit without regard to genre , sales history , or label affiliation . It was determined by a grand jury of 11 music media professionals drawn from the greater Polaris jury pool of 201 writers , editors , broadcasters , DJs , and personalities from across the country .
Backxwash ’ s victory came with a $ 50,000
BACKXWASH reward . The nine other Short List nominees each received $ 3,000 courtesy of Slaight Music .
For more information , go to www . polarismusicprize . ca .
THE KINGS
The Kings ’ “ This Beat Goes On / Switchin ’ to Glide ” Going into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame The Kings ’ classic 1980 song “ This Beat Goes On / Switchin ’ to Glide ” is the newest addition to the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame ( CSHF ). On the song ’ s 40 th anniversary , the CSHF celebrated with a presentation to The Kings ’ David Diamond and Mister Zero on Nov . 2 nd during a virtual induction aired on Breakfast Television Canada . The presentation also included a live-streamed performance by The Kings from the stage of the newly-renovated El Mocambo in Toronto .
Songwriting partners and bandmembers , Diamond and Zero knew they had two pretty good tunes , but it wasn ’ t until the band put the songs together as a segue in rehearsal that the magic started to happen . The 1980 release of “ This Beat Goes On / Switchin ’ to Glide ” became The Kings ’ breakout rock hit that stayed on Billboard ’ s Hot 100 for 23 weeks , and today has more than 2 million streams on Spotify and the video has over 4 million views on YouTube .
For more information , go to www . cshf . ca .
William Prince Earns Trio of Western Canadian Music Awards The 2020 Western Canadian Music Awards in both artistic and industry categories were handed out during a livestreamed broadcast on BreakOut West ’ s Facebook page on Sept . 25 th .
Winners included Winnipeg ’ s own Gerry Atwell , who was presented with the 2020 Heritage Award , and William Prince , who took home three awards , including Solo Roots Artist , Songwriter , and Recording of the Year . This year once again saw nominee representation from all four western Canadian provinces and three territories , as well as an outstanding showing from female / female-identifying artists who took home 50 % of the awards in the artistic categories .
Other winners included Snotty Nose Rez Kids for Rap / Hip-Hop Artist of the Year , Krystle Dos Santos for R & B Artist of the Year , John Paul Peters for Producer of the Year , Jess Moskaluke for Country Artist of the Year , and Begonia for BreakOut Artist of the Year .
For the full list of winners , go to www . breakoutwest . ca / awards .
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