This has been a great year for Halifax's Joel Plaskett since release of his latest triple album Three. He racked up plenty of awards and accolades since then, including being short-listed for the prestigious 2009 Polaris Prize, a CBC Radio 3 Bucky Award for Best Lyrics for his infectious single "Through & Through & Through." Juno nominations, Indie Award wins, and great demand for the reunion tour for the band of his teenaged years, Thrush Hermit.
The most impressive of feats, arguably, is the 7 East Coast Music Award wins that he took home for Entertainer of the Year, Male Solo Recording of the Year, Recording of the Year, Single of the Year ("Through & Through & Through"), Songwriter of the Year ("Through & Through & Through"), and Pop Recording of the Year, as well as Producer of the Year Awards.
Below is his reaction. From Joel Plaskett's website:
Hey Internet,
I’m truly honoured to have won some awards at the ECMAS in Sydney this past weekend although I’d like nothing more than to carve them up and share them with my super talented fellow nominees and friends: Dave Marsh, Classified, Jenn Grant, Catherine MacLellan and Two Hours Traffic amongst others. Best part of the weekend was seeing some killer music in the various venues. Smoking sets by Carmen Townsend, English Words, Mardeen, THT, Dead Letter Chorus from Australia, The True Love Rules and Amelia Curran were all inspiring. Old Man Leudecke rules too.
CMW then the Hermit. Let’s roll.
- Joel
PS- Just unpacked my bags and I found the crumpled poem I wrote as an acceptance speech:
This is an honour I thank you sincerely
It’s great to sing songs and have some body hear me
Awards are bizarre and they make me feel strange
But I love playing music in my home on the range
The boys from the beach said “hang on to your ego”
Marsh’s new rocker’s called “Super Amigo”
My hands they hang heavy and my feet they feel lighter
I’m a songwriting singer, not a singer-songwriter
So many friends deserve this acclaim
They rock in the fire and they roll in the flame
They write for themselves and they fight for their peoples
They sing like the Byrds and they scream like the Eagles
Musicians musicians in nooks and in crannies
I miss my old grandpa and I miss my granny
But coming to Sydney it makes me feel merry
‘Cause they are buried uptown in that beautiful cemetery
So thank you Cape Breton above and beyond
Your stars in your sky and your tar in your pond
I’m a deer in your headlight, a tear in your eye
I hope I get old before I die
You’re sitting there watching me standing here sweatin’
So here’s to good music and here’s to Cape Breton