With seven nominations, Halifax rockers Joel Plaskett Emergency lead the list of 2008 East Coast Music Awards nominees announced Tuesday.

Joel Plaskett performs at the East Coast Music Awards in Halifax on Feb. 18, 2007
(Andrew Vaughan/Canadian Press)

Included among the seven nominations for Joel Plaskett Emergency is a nod for entertainer of the year. Multiple award winners at the 2007 ECMAs, singer-songwriter Joel Plaskett and the band were also Juno and Polaris awards nominees earlier this year.

The band's 2007 album Ashtray Rock has three nominations, including recording of the year and its single Fashionable People earned nods for best single and songwriter of the year for Plaskett.

Wintersleep, a Halifax indie rock band, earned five nominations including recording of the year, best group recording and best rock recording for their 2007 album Welcome to the Night Sky.

Wintersleep vocalist Paul Murphy, guitar and keyboard player Tim D'Eon, drummer Loel Campbell and bass player Jud Haynes have won a nomination for songwriter of the year for Weighty Ghost and the song has also been nominated as best single.

ECMA 2008 selected nominees
Entertainer of the year	George Canyon Jill Barber Joel Plaskett Emergency Ron Hynes The Trews
Recording of the year	Chucky Danger, Chucky Danger Edge of Day, Jimmy Rankin Ashtray Rock, Joel Plaskett Emergency The city Destroyed Me, Nathan Wiley Little Jabs, Two Hours Traffic Welcome to the Night Sky, Wintersleep
Alternative recording of the year	Battery Point, Battery Point Rise, Down with the Butterfly Woke Myself Up, Julie Doiron The City Destroyed Me, Nathan Wiley Future Radio, Slowcoaster
African-Canadian recording	New Beginnings, Chelsea Nisbett Calvary's Cross, Dante Hiscock It's the music, Jamie Sparks
Country recording of the year	Classics, George Canyon Edge of Day, Jimmy Rankin I Won't Fall, Kevin Chase Me & Cinderella, RyLee Madison You Ain't Gettin' My Country, The Divorcees
Female solo recording	Orchestra for the Moon, Jenn Grant Short Stories, Jessica Rhaye Woke Myself Up, Julie Doiron Rebekah Higgs, Rebekah Higgs If you were for me, Rose Cousins
Male solo recording	House for sale, Dave Gunning Classics, George Canyon It's the music, Jamie Sparks Edge of Day, Jimmy Rankin The City Destroyed Me, Nathan Wiley
Rap, hip-hop recording	Hard to be hip hop, Classified Make 'Em Holla, Hotbox with Bonshah & Expedyte Help! I've Been Robbed, J-Bru One of the Best, MC Sean One Got It Locked, Mick D
Rock recording of the year	Alert the Medic, Alert the Medic Chucky Danger, Chucky Danger Ashtray Rock, Joel Plaskett Emergency Canvas Tears, The Contact Welcome to the Night Sky, Wintersleep

Singer-songwriters Nathan Wiley of P.E.I. and Jimmy Rankin of Cape Breton and Charlottetown folk rock band Chucky Danger each have four nominations.

The entertainer of the year honour is the only award that is voted on by the public.

This year's nominees are last year's winner, veteran country star George Canyon, Halifax singer Jill Barber, Joel Plaskett Emergency, St. John's singer-songwriter Ron Hynes and Antigonish, N.S., rock band The Trews.

Canyon, who has won entertainer of the year for the past three years, also has nominations for best country album for Classics, competing with Rankin's Edge of Day and New Brunswick country artist Kevin Chase's I Won't Fall.

Among the rising stars gaining notice at this year's ECMAs are alternative band Alert the Medic, Halifax songerwriter Don Brownrigg, Halifax pop singer Ian Sherwood, Halifax alternative artist Rebekah Higgs and Cape Breton singer-songwriter Stephanie Hardy.

They all have nominations for the rising star recording of the year award.

Hip hop artist Classified has earned three nominations, including rap recording of the year for Hard to be Hip Hop and Jamie Sparks of Cherry Brook, N.S., has three nods, including African-Canadian recording of the year for It's the Music.

Charlottetown power-pop quartet Two Hours Traffic have nominations for recording of the year and best pop recording for Little Jabs and best video for Jezebel.

The East Coast Music Awards are open to artists from New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia.

The East Coast Music Association will hand out the awards on Feb. 10, 2008, in Fredericton.