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Canada’s Top Country Stars to Perform Alberta Tribute
Toronto, ON – CTV and the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) announced today the addition of a special performance by all five of this year’s JUNO Award nominees for Country Recording of the Year. Canadian country artists Aaron Lines, Gord Bamford, Johnny Reid, Paul Brandt and Shane Yellowbird – four of whom are Alberta natives - will pay tribute to the JUNO Awards host city and province, Canada’s heartland of country music, in a special segment on the broadcast. Hosted by Russell Peters, The 2008 JUNO Awards airs Sunday, April 6 on CTV from Calgary’s Pengrowth Saddledome. Today’s announcement brings CTV’s The JUNO Awards broadcast lineup to 13 performers, including previously announced acts Anne Murray, Avril Lavigne, Feist, Finger Eleven, Jann Arden, Measha Brueggergosman, Michael Bublé and Sarah Brightman. Additions to the superstar lineup will continue to be announced as the broadcast nears. About Aaron Lines Gord Bamford Johnny Reid Paul Brandt Shane Yellowbird Broadcast in High Definition and 5.1 Surround Sound, The 2008 JUNO Awards, Canada’s Music Awards, will air on CTV on Sunday, April 6 from the Pengrowth Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta. It is the seventh year in a row that The JUNO Awards will air on CTV, the official broadcast partner of the JUNO Awards. Since CTV joined forces with CARAS in 2002, The JUNO Awards have travelled across Canada, bringing a live, electrified stadium show to millions of Canadians. Since going live from St. John’s in 2002, CTV has broadcast The JUNO Awards from Ottawa (2003), Edmonton (2004), Winnipeg (2005), Halifax (2006) and Saskatoon (2007). Previous hosts of The JUNO Awards on CTV include Nelly Furtado (2007), Pamela Anderson (2006), Brent Butt (2005), Alanis Morissette (2004), Shania Twain (2003) and Barenaked Ladies (2002). The 2008 JUNO Awards is produced by Insight Productions in association with CTV and the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS). Executive producers are John Brunton and Barbara Bowlby for Insight Productions and Melanie Berry and Stephen Stohn for CARAS. Louise Wood is Producer and Donna Luke is Supervising Producer. Ed Robinson is Executive Vice-President, Programming, CTV. Susanne Boyce is President, Creative, Content and Channels, CTV Inc. Sponsors of the 2008 JUNO Awards include FACTOR, Canada’s Private Radio Broadcasters and the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage’s “Canada Music Fund”, The Government of Alberta, The City of Calgary, Tourism Calgary, Calgary Arts Development and Radio Starmaker Fund. Broadcast sponsors for The 2008 JUNO Awards are Pontiac, Doritos, TD Canada Trust and Rogers. About CARAS: About CTV: Web Links:
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A family man at heart, acclaimed country music artist Aaron Lines was born and raised in Fort McMurray, Alberta. With four albums to-date since his debut Love Changes Everything in 2001, Lines has garnered four JUNO Award nominations and won two CCMA Awards for Male Artist of the Year and Rising Star Award in 2003. He has recorded hits such as “Waitin’ on the Wonderful” and “The Lights of my Hometown”, which in 2005 and 2006 were the most-played songs on Canadian country radio. Additionally, “You Can’t Hide Beautiful” became a Top 3 song and No. 1 video in the U.S. Lines’ latest album, Moments That Matter, reflects not only his heartfelt lyrics in songs like the title track and “Somebody’s Son”, but it also reflects his playful side with songs like “Let’s Get Drunk and Fight” and the No. 1 hit “Cheaper to Keep Her”. 
From singing at community functions in Lacombe, Alberta, to opening shows for Tim McGraw and Kenny Rogers, Gord Bamford is hailed as one of the young guns of “honest” country. In 2000, Gord released his debut album, God’s Green Earth, and spent considerable time in Nashville, crafting his songwriting abilities with country music’s best, including Steve Fox, Tim Taylor and Byron Hill, who would eventually co-produce his second album, Life is Good (2003). Hill and Bamford penned several Top 20 radio hits, including honky-tonk kickers “Joe’s Place” and “The Watering Hole” to great love songs such as “I Would For You” and “We’re All Cowboys.” With a 2008 JUNO Award nomination for Country Recording of the Year, Bamford’s third album, Honkytonks and Heartaches, features the Top 10 hit singles “Blame It On That Red Dress” and “Stayed ‘Til Two”.
Scotland native, but Canadian-bred, Johnny Reid brings a unique perspective to country music. Performing in pubs at a young age, Reid mixed traditional Irish and Scottish folk music with his parents’ musical influences, including Charlie Rich, Etta James, Chuck Berry and Joe Cocker. By the age of 17, Reid moved to Canada, where he attended Bishop’s University, playing football by day and performing his music in the local bars by night. After graduation, Reid toured across Canada and travelled to Nashville to further build his repertoire of original songs and released his debut, Born to Roll, in 2005. The first single from the album, the infectious “You Still Own Me,” reached Top 15 on country radio while the video reached Top Five on Country Music Television, and the chart-topping hit “Missing An Angel,” received the No. 1 Song Award from SOCAN. The album also garnered five nominations and three wins for Johnny at the 2006 CCMA Awards. His most recent release, Kicking Stones, has gone gold in Canada, selling more than 50,000 copies, and garnered a 2008 JUNO Award nomination for Country Recording of the Year. 
Paul Brandt is known as the voice of country music in Canada. Growing up in Airdrie, Alberta, he has been singing since the age of 13, and began making trips to Music City USA – Nashville, Tennessee – where he was offered a development deal. His debut album, Calm Before the Storm, was recognized as Billboard magazine’s Best-Selling New Male Artist Album in 1996, and spawned such hits as “My Heart Has A History” and “I Do”, which was the first song to chart No.1 by a male Canadian country artist since the days of Hank Snow. Brandt went on to record seven more hit albums over the last 10 years, winning countless Country Music Awards and six JUNO Awards to-date, setting this multi-platinum selling artist apart as the most-awarded male Canadian country artist in history. Paul Brandt will be the recipient of the inaugural Allan Waters Humanitarian Award at this year’s JUNO Awards and also received a 2008 JUNO Award nomination for Country Recording of the Year for his album, Risk.
Growing up within the rodeo lifestyle in Hobbema, Alberta, Shane Yellowbird was a typical cowboy. He began singing when a speech therapist suggested he sing his sentences to help him with his stuttering problem. Not only did this cure his speech impediment, but he developed a great love for music. In just a few short years, Yellowbird has gone from quietly pursuing a fine arts degree at Red Deer College to becoming a rising country music star. In November of 2006, he released his debut, Life is Calling My Name, which won three Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards including Best New Artist, Single of the Year (“Beautiful Concept”) and Best Video (“Beautiful Concept”). Yellowbird was named the Chevy Trucks Rising Star of the Year at the 2007 Canadian Country Music Awards and the hit “Pickup Truck” became his first Top Five song on the Canadian Country Singles chart. He is nominated for a 2008 JUNO Award for Country Recording of the Year.