Like many other events this year, COVID-19 forced the East Coast Music Association to cancel their festival and conference week that was scheduled to take place at the end of April in St. John’s, NL. Since then, they have been working on a way to celebrate all the achievements of the east coast music industry.
ECMA has announced that a special, pre-recorded broadcast of the 2020 East Coast Music Awards will air on Saturday, July 11th an 9 PM AT / 9:30 PM NT (7:30 ET) on CBC TV in Atlantic Canada and on CBC Gem across the country (where it will be available on-demand afterward).
The show will still be hosted by Mary Walsh and feature special performances by Tim Baker, Rose Cousins, Wintersleep, Damnhait Doyle, Matt Mays, Neon Dreams, Motherhood, Eastern Owl, Zamani, Jacobus, and Shanneyganock. It will also feature a tribute to the legendary Ron Hynes, celebrating his induction into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Awards that will be announced during the broadcast include Album of the Year, the Bucky Adams Memorial Award, Francophone Recording of the Year, Indigenous Artist of the Year, Roots/Traditional Recording of the Year, Solo Recording of the Year, Songwriter of the Year, Fans’ Choice Entertainer of the Year, and Fans’ Choice Video of the Year. The Dr. Helen Creighton Lifetime Achievement Award – an Honourary Award that recognizes artists who have had a profound and lasting effect on the Atlantic Canadian Music Industry – will also be presented. The remaining awards will be announced the day before, Friday, July 10th across ECMA social media channels – more information to come on that soon.