It was a night of surprises and upsets at the East Coast Music Awards - who won, who didn't, and that there were few multiple award-winners. In the past, artists such as Joel Plaskett and Great Big Sea have swept awards in several categories, but this year, two was the highest number any act took home.

That's a surprise because Cape Breton's Jimmy Rankin was nominated for a record eight ECMA's, but was held to just one victory, the Fan's Choice Video of the Year, for Here In My Heart. Instead, major trophies went to David Myles, Song Of the Year, and Songwriter of the Year, for Simple Pleasures. Matt Andersen grabbed two, for Solo Recording of the Year, and Blues Recording of the Year. And Hey Rosetta won the coveted Album of the Year, and Group Recording of the Year, for Seeds.

The biggest surprise was for the Fan Choice Entertainer of the Year. The most votes were collected for Nova Scotia's Blou, the first-ever Acadian act to win that honour, fittingly in the Maritime's largest Acadian centre.

With so many packed and sold-out concerts over the five days at the East Coast Music Awards, it's surprising that the biggest shows happened Sunday afternoon. The SOCAN Songwriter's Circle has long been the hottest ticket at the ECMA's, and with the likes of Rose Cousins, David Myles, and Jimmy Rankin, those tickets went long ago.

So a big treat was added to the afternoon, for all the delegates and the whole city - a free show at the Moncton City Market, headlined by The Trews, along with Carmen Townsend and Kevin McIntyre. The crowd estimate there was around 1000, with people spilling out across a couple of blocks.

More awards were handed out Saturday, with Classified grabbing the Rap/Hip-Hop Recording of the Year. Country honours went to Gordie Sampson, Scott MacMillan took the classical trophy, and Saint John's Mike Biggar won Gospel Recording for his Christmas album, The Season.

Tonight's Gala Awards show at Casino New Brunswick will see the rest of the ECMA's handed out, along with an all-star list of performers, including Matt Andersen, Meaghan Smith, Catherine MacLellan, and host Roch Voisine. You can watch it on-line at www.ecma.ca.

The Gala Awards show isn't happening until Sunday night at the East Coast
Music Awards, but already several Atlantic Canadian acts are winners
this year. For years people have complained that awards shows are too
long, and give out too many trophies. So how do you properly honour
everyone? The ECMA's handle that by handing out trophies at some of
the major showcases earlier in the week, in front of fans and with
just as much ceremony.

Already, Ghettochild from Halifax has taken home the African-Canadian
Recording honour, World Recording has gone to Keith Mullins, who also
picked up the Children's Recording award along with Thom Swift for
their Wood Buffalo Youth Song Project, and the Loud Recording trophy
went to Shelter With Thieves. Kim Stockwood grabbed Roots Solo,
Rawlins Cross got the ECMA for Roots Group, and Catherine MacLellan
took home the Folk Recording title.

The Trews, winners of the Rock Recording award, are paying back all
the fans Sunday, by playing a free outdoor show at Moncton's City
Market at one o'clock. Then the Gala Awards are at Moncton's
Casino that night. Jimmy Rankin is the heavy favourite, going into the
awards with seven nominations.

Bruce who? The gall of the city of Moncton, announcing the huge Springsteen concert coming August 26th to Magnetic Hill, right in the middle of the East Coast Music Awards! Actually, it was a pure coincidence. Springsteen's camp insists on releasing all concert dates at the same time, so it had to be done right then. Luckily, Mayor George LeBlanc received the go-ahead roughly 30 seconds before he was due as a guest on CBC Radio's Q with Jian Ghomeshi. Timing is everything.

If anything, the announcement came as the latest salvo aimed at an already shell-shocked music audience. It's just Friday, for G's sake, and already some are feeling overwhelmed by all the music they've seen, with three more nights to go. Me, I liked the gigs, but I'm even more impressed with the turnout. Thursday night's main showcase at the Delta Beausejour Ballroom was very crowded, and it's rare that the Thursday night shows gather that much excitement. A check around the other venues told the same story at each one. Packed at 6:30 PM at the Tide And Boar to see Kathleen Gorey-McSorley, then Al Cooper and Rosedale; packed at The Oxygen to see Carmen Townsend and Chris Colepaugh and the Crew at 1;40 AM.

At the Roots Room, there were trophies to hand out. The ECMA's has smartly been using the new format for awards shows. Instead of doing this awful pre-show awards, rushing through a bunch of categories, and making them seem unimportant, now they hand them out over several days, at appropriate showcases. Catherine MacLellan played first, including a captivating version of her father Gene's iconic Snowbird, and later was awarded the Folk album ECMA. Kim Stockwood played her touching tribute to her Newfoundland home, the Back To The Water album, and saw that in Roots Recording, while Rawlins Cross grabbed the Roots Band award. Meanwhile, as usual, Mr. Matt Andersen simply wowed the crowd, going from soft at the start to roaring at the end, showing why he's Canada's top blues artist these days.

It wasn't just the official ECMA events drawing the crowds. Down at the Colonial Inn, in the Millenium Lounge, they don't normally have music on a Thursday. But some local groups convinced them to host a No-Case, a venue for those up-and-comers and fringe artists, who also want to join the party. This No-Case was a roaring success, featuring five bands, including the pictured Great Balancing Act (above) and The Mike V Band (below). The venue was packed solidly all night, and there is lots of talk about doing such a show every few weeks. And that is how the ECMA leaves a legacy in the cities it visits.

At Q Friday morning, Mayor LeBlanc didn't sing any Springsteen songs, but it was still the hottest ticket of the week so far. The sell-out crowd got to hear Radio Radio, Jenn Grant and Rose Cousins. Oh, and of course, me, and the well-dressed Paul Henderson, he of Sappy Fest in Sackville, talk to Jian about the state of East Coast Music. I think I said it was good.

My ECMA got off to a great start Wednesday night with a show at Plan B. It was the kick-off party, featuring Moncton's unofficial house band, Les Paiens. These guys are simply the hottest players around, with a great instrumental jazz sound. They have a huge following in the city, and last night proved jazz is alive and well, and very danceable. The band serves up funky grooves, trance portions, hot solos, terrific combo playing, and lots of energy. Jazz and dancing? Yup. Well, not me, but everybody not so self-conscious. It was a great way to get into the flow, because now, all the other musicians are pouring into town.

Of course, I'm gleaning lots of news at the same time, or at least some early tidbits. Catherine's up for an award tonight, the first trophy to be handed out, for Roots Album. She's performing at the Roots Showcase, where they'll do the honours. But Catherine being Catherine, it's not really about the awards, it's songs first. She'll be playing some new ones, because those are the ones she's excited about. She's still making plans for her next disc. It was going to be an all-acoustic guitar effort, but the last couple she's written feel more like band songs, so the plans are fluctuating.

Cunjak is pumped about a special showcase Friday his festival, Fredericton's Shivering Songs, has put together. It's at 7 PM at the Old Cosmo, and features The Olympic Symphonium, Rose Cousins, Gypsophilia, Alan Jeffries, Paper Beats Scissors, and more. Nice. I'll go.

And Heidi Baird had real blockbuster. Fresh from a meeting with Matt Andersen, she was able to announce he's coming home to Perth-Andover on April 28th, to headline a special benefit for the people in the town affected by the recent devastating flood. He's not coming alone, either. He's bringing pals such as Lennie Gallant and Bruce Guthro. Tickets go on sale Monday, and will be available at Long & McQuade in Grand Falls, Andrew & Laura McCain Library in Florenceville-Bristol, MES Music in Woodstock, Wicked Good Graphics in Centreville and at the Rec Department in Perth-Andover. Also, they will be available by PayPal on www.cvarts.ca. Heidi's hoping lots of folks from all around come and show their support for Perth-Andover, by getting to see a great concert.

The East Coast Music Awards week has barely begun, and already I've noticed a big difference, an exciting one. I say that from a New Brunswick perspective, and with some home-province pride. Having attended many of the awards over the past twenty years, I'm very pleased with the visibility the province has this year, and the sheer number of NB acts getting to play, often multiple times.

The main idea behind taking the ECMA's out of Halifax, it's original home, and touring it to different areas was to spread the love around the region. It was to show that it's not just about Halifax. In those early days, obviously Cape Breton and St. John's had strong scenes as well, and although weaker partners, PEI and NB couldn't be denied the right. Eventually the gap between the music scenes was reduced, as first PEI and then NB started to grow stronger. Although it's still there in some ways, you can't deny there isn't a lot of talent in each area.

It's always been the policy that the host city, and province, gets some extra slots for the local musicians. It's a smart rule, and boy, is it paying off this year. There are entire showcases, stages and clubs devoted entirely to New Brunswick's best. There are dozens of acts playing, and virtually every major show has a New Brunswicker on stage.

Much credit has to go to the local ECMA organizing team, and also Music NB, for making this happen. Music NB alone has curated multiple shows each day. They start up Thursday afternoon at the Tide & Boar, 700 Main St., with a six-hour showcase that's completely free, and then the same thing happens Friday as well. You can catch such acts as Mike Biggar, Kathleen Gorey-McSorley, Al Cooper and Rosedale, The Divorcees and Samantha Robichaud over those two days - again, free. There are nighttime shows as well, back at Tide & Boar, and at Plan B on Friday, plus day-long fun Saturday.

Thursday night also sees one of the best all-Acadian shows, at the Capitol Theatre, with Roch Voisine, Joseph Edgar, Melanie Poirier and more. Plus there's the First Nations showcase there on Friday night. Meanwhile, I am being besieged by emails, Facebook notifications, tags, phone calls and semaphore signals from local groups, tell me where they are playing, whether they are official gigs, no-cases, or even private hotel parties and jams. All-in-all, it's very heartening to how far the provincial organizations, and the musicians themselves have come in the past decade, and how local musicians can draw just as much excitement from the music fans.

It's here, this year's East Coast Music Awards are on this week, and through the entire event, I'll be keeping you up-to-date on all the excitement and happenings in Moncton, up to and including the awards themselves, happening Sunday night. As anyone who has attended the awards will tell you, it's much more than just handing out trophies. The host city hosts the best all-around assembly of East Coast talent the year will see, with shows jamming clubs and theatres from start to finish. Almost all your favourites will be in town, and it's an excellent opportunity to see some new acts too. All in all, it's wall-to-wall music, with something for everyone.

If you live in Moncton, or are within driving distance for the day, please don't miss out. It simply is lots of fun, and there are so many shows happening, day and night, you're sure to see something. There are even free events, or pub shows that only require a modest cover (or none at all). I've been going to this event since 1992, that's 20 years of experience, so I thought I might pass on some tips for newcomers, from a hardy veteran who has paid his dues and lived without sleep for long stretches. Call this, then, my ECMA Survival Guide.

1.) Make a plan. Head to the main ECMA website, www.ecma.com , and check out all the schedules you can find. Pay special attention to the Showcases. There are many of them, from Wednesay night on. Find the best-looking lineup for you, and chart a course for the week, based on who you want to see. Don't fly blind, or just go to your usual favourite place, they may have the entirely wrong music for you.

2.) Buy tickets in advance. Some of these events sell out. Not all, but some. You might as well find out now.


3.) It's not all about Showcases. The ECMA holds many official Showcases, but that's only part of the week. There are plenty of stages put on by others, including corporate sponsors, local bars that aren't part of the official program (those are usually called No-Cases), and music acts themselves, taking the individual approach to attracting attention. For instance, Trews fans will be thrilled to find out the band is playing the Moncton Market stage on Saturday afternoon at 1 PM, completely free, at the Bell Aliant party. At 2 PM Saturday, Vie Tapas and Lounge is having their No-Case in the afternoon, with Phil Flowers, among other. Thursday night sees the Millenium Lounge hosting The Mike V Band, Great Balancing Act and more. These are just some of dozens of performances over the five days.


4.) Social Media. The best way to find out what your favourite bands are up to is on the Net. Check out Facebook pages and home pages, and there's a good chance you'll find out something cool that they are up to that isn't published on the ECMA site. You'll find out about "surprise" shows, even hotel room jams. That's how we roll at the ECMA's.

5.) Don't freak out. If you don't particularly like the band in front of you, don't bail out immediately. Like the weather, they change quickly. Most Showcase sets last 20 - 30 minutes, tops.

6.) Food. Sometimes the restaurants can get pretty packed at peak times. Make reservations. And, like the shows, plan it out. Much of the fun of the ECMA's is the socializing, and meals with several friends are highlights. But not if they are stressful. Stick to your schedule, so you are not rushing, or worse, missing shows you really wanted to see. Also, it might be best to eat at off-hours. Most of the delegates go out between 6 and 9 for dinner, so if you did 5 PM, you'd miss the rush.

7.) Money. If you have some, this isn't a time to cheap out. Think of it as vacation time, and you'll have a better event. If you were visiting, say, Toronto, you'd have a hotel, eat at restaurants, and go to shows, and pay a whole lot more, plus the airfare or whatever. Don't be concerned about ten bucks at the door of a bar, you're getting great music, and you've paid the same to sit through an awful movie.


8.) No Money. No Problem. Find the free stuff, and the bars without cover. Drop by the home hotel, the Delta Beausejour, and start reading the posters. They will be everywhere, trust me, especially in the elevators. Now I'm going to give away one of my big secrets, and I'm already kicking myself for it. SpinCount. Beausejour, mezzanine floor, Friday and Saturday, the Acoustic SuiteCase, from 4 PM to 10 PM, some of the very big names, including Chris Colepaugh, Christina Martin and Dale Murray, Gloryhound, Backyard Devils, on and on. Free.

9.) Health Advice. Earplugs can help. Much, much water. Always have headache stuff. Rest up in advance. Don't overdo it, you're not 30 anymore (this one is just a reminder for me). Don't forget to eat (I don't need this reminder). Stay out late, this doesn't happen often. Don't be a music snob, it's hardly life-and-death, it's supposed to be fun. Dance, unless you are a complete embarrassment (this one is another reminder for me).

Okay, I hope that helps a little. I'll pass on any hot info about surprise shows and exciting moments as the week progresses. So even if you can't come to Moncton, hopefully you'll get a taste of the fun.