2026 Canadian Country Music Association Awards Winners

[crosfan]

ARTIST AWARDS

1. Entertainer of the Year

James Barker Band
Brett Kissel
Owen Riegling
Josh Ross
Cameron Whitcomb - WINNER

2. Ford F-150 Album of the Year

The Hard Way – Cameron Whitcomb - WINNER
In the Feeling – Owen Riegling
Later Tonight – Josh Ross
Starting Over – Thelma & James
One of Us – James Barker Band

3. Fans’ Choice

Jade Eagleson
James Barker Band - WINNER
Morgan Griffiths
Brett Kissel
Tyler Joe Miller
The Reklaws
Owen Riegling
Josh Ross
Josh Stumpf
Cameron Whitcomb

4. Female Artist of the Year

Madeline Merlo
Jess Moskaluke
Meghan Patrick - WINNER
Sacha
Tenille Townes

5. Francophone Artist of the Year
presented by Spotify

Francis Degrandpré
Fred Dionne - WINNER
Gab Forest
Vince Lemire
Laurence St-Martin

6. Group or Duo of the Year

High Valley
James Barker Band - WINNER
The Prairie States
The Reklaws
Thelma & James

7. Musical Collaboration of the Year

Backfire – Nate Haller x Tenille Townes - WINNER
Drunk Right Now (Na Na Na) – Josh Ross & Akon
How Do You Miss Me – Dallas Smith feat. Alexandra Kay
Shooting Star – Sacha with Restless Road
Till The Wheels Fall Off – The Road Hammers feat. Tyler Connelly & Ian Thornley

8. Male Artist of the Year

Jade Eagleson
Tyler Joe Miller
Owen Riegling
Josh Ross
Cameron Whitcomb - WINNER

9. Breakthrough Artist or Group of the Year
presented by FACTOR

Sully Burrows - WINNER
Morgan Griffiths
Brock Phillips
Zach McPhee
Josh Stumpf

10. Alternative Country Album of the Year
presented by National Music Centre

The Acrobat – Tenille Townes
Chapter 1 – Shawnee Kish
Further From the Country – William Prince
The Hard Way – Cameron Whitcomb
Starting Over – Thelma & James - WINNER

11. Single of the Year

Backfire – Nate Haller x Tenille Townes
Bourbon – Morgan Griffiths
Hate How You Look – Josh Ross - WINNER
Options – Cameron Whitcomb
You Didn’t Hear It From Me – James Barker Band

12. Songwriter(s) of the Year
presented by SOCAN

Alternate Ending – Maggie Chapman, Jake Etheridge, Josh Jenkins, MacKenzie Porter (Artist: Thelma & James)
Backfire – Michael August, Nate Hall, James Adam Shelley, Tenille Townes, Stuart Walker (Artist: Nate Haller x Tenille Townes) - WINNER
Kingdom Of Fear – Jack Riley, Cal Shapiro, Nolan Winfield Sipe, Cameron Whitcomb (Artist: Cameron Whitcomb)
One Of Us – James Barker, Jim McCormick, Gavin Slate, Travis Wood (Artist: James Barker Band)
Safe Place to Break – Zach Kale, Shane Minor, Meghan Patrick (Artist: Meghan Patrick)

16. Video of the Year

Cowboys & Dreamers – Brett Kissel (Video Director: Travis Nesbitt)
Golden Child – Meghan Patrick (Video Director: Ford Fairchild)
I Ain’t Country – Jess Moskaluke (Video Director: Connor Scheffler)
Later Tonight – Josh Ross (Video Director: Jack Owens)
Parking Lot Prayers – Thelma & James (Video Director: Caleb Donato) - WINNER

MUSICIAN AWARDS

17. Bass Player of the Year

Tyson Goodvin
Lisa Jacobs - WINNER (TIE)
Ben Miller - WINNER (TIE)
Brandi Sidoryk
Alex St. Kitts

18. Drummer of the Year

Spencer Cheyne
Flavio Cirillo
Rich DaSilva - WINNER
David Larocque
Brendan Lyons
Greg Williamson

19. Fiddle Player of the Year

Talia Beckie
Tyler Beckett - WINNER
Denis Dufresne
Julie Jasmin
Catherine Robertson

20. Guitar Player of the Year

Chris Bray - WINNER
Russell Broom
Ryan Davidson
Étienne Joly
Brennan Wall

21. Keyboard Player of the Year

Amber Bauer - WINNER
Jared Brake
Cam Buie
Matt Koebel

22. Speciality Instrument of the Year

Derek Caven
Marcel Rousseau
Tyler Vollrath - WINNER

23. Steel Guitar Player of the Year

Matty Mckay - WINNER
Kevin Neal
Francis Veillette

RADIO AWARDS

24. Radio Station of the Year (Large Market)

CFCW (Edmonton, AB) - WINNER
CFXJ-FM (Toronto, ON)
CHKX-FM (Hamilton, ON)
CJJR-FM (Vancouver, BC)
CKRY-FM (Calgary, AB)

25. Radio Station of the Year (Medium or Small Market)

CFWC-FM (Brantford, ON)
CHCQ-FM (Belleville, ON) - WINNER
CICX-FM (Orillia, ON)
CJGX (Yorkton, SK)
CKYL-FM (Peace River, AB)

INDUSTRY AWARDS

26. Booking Agency of the Year
presented by Dolly’s

Fame Group Agency
The Feldman Agency - WINNER
Invictus Entertainment Group
Paquin Artists Agency
Rosemarie Records

27. Country Club of the Year

Cook County Saloon (Edmonton, AB)
Horseshoe Tavern (Toronto, ON) - WINNER
LANJEU — Lounge & Spectacle (Montréal, QC)
Ranchman’s Cookhouse and Dancehall (Calgary, AB)

28. Country Festival, Fair or Exhibition of the Year

Big Valley Jamboree (Camrose, AB)
Boots and Hearts Music Festival (Oro-Medonte, ON) - WINNER
Calgary Stampede (Calgary, AB)
Cavendish Beach Music Festival (Cavendish, PEI)
LASSO Montréal (Montréal, QC)

29. Country Music Program, Special, or Digital Feature of the Year

Dallas Smith & His Band (Unplugged) Tour (Behind The Scenes) (Brandon Ferguson)
Heartstrings & Honky Tonks Broadcasting LIVE on 840 CFCW (CFCW and SILVERPLOW)
On the Porch with Front Porch Music (Front Porch Music)
Pure Country Top 50 Countdown with Lainey Wilson, Russell Dickerson and Shannon Ella (iHeartRadio Canada) - WINNER
Russell Dickerson Holiday House Party (Warren Copnick and Ron Tarrant)

30. Country Personalitie(s) of the Year

Shannon Ella (Pure Country Radio National Midday) - WINNER
Tracy Lynn (CFWC-FM)
Jason McCoy (CICX-FM)
Sam McDaid (CIKZ-FM)
Logan Miller & Jenna Weishar (On The Porch With Front Porch Music)

31. Management Company of the Year

The Core Entertainment - WINNER
MDM Artist Management Services
Red Light Management Services
Starseed Entertainment
Strut Entertainment

32. Music Publishing Company of the Year
presented by CMRRA

Anthem Music Publishing
Big Loud Publishing - WINNER
Sony Music Canada Publishing
Universal Music Publishing Group
Warner Chappell Music Canada

33. Record Company of the Year

Big Loud Records - WINNER
BMG Canada
MDM Recordings Inc.
Sony Music Entertainment Canada Inc.
Universal Music Canada

34. Industry Person of the Year

Justin Clark (Big Loud Records)
Warren Copnick (Sony Music Entertainment Canada Inc.)
Lindsay Hyslop (BMG Canada) - WINNER
Emilie Pallick (604 Records)
Craig Senyk (SkySong Records, Craig Senyk Initiatives)

35. International Industry Person of the Year

Seth England - WINNER
Sina Hall
Baylen Leonard
Justin Thomson
Frank Varrasso

36. Creative Team or Designer of the Year

Design Team: Chris Doi, Roberta Landreth, Kyle McKearney, Jeff Ojeda – Single: “Wildflower” Artwork (Artist: Kyle McKearney), Single: “Rearview” Artwork (Artist: Kyle McKearney)
Design Team: Mikey Lavi, Kaity Panayotopoulos, Collin Steinz, Tenille Townes, Jackson Tupper – Album: “The Acrobat” Vinyl Packaging (Artist: Tenille Townes)
Design Team: Bronwin Parks, Amanda Rheaume, Jen Squires – Album: “The Truth We Hold” Campaign Materials (Artist: Amanda Rheaume)
Design Team: Logan Dane Morrison, Shaina Stein – Album: “The Hard Way” Artwork (Artist: Cameron Whitcomb) - WINNER
Design Team: Mitch Nevins – Single: “Going Somewhere” Campaign Materials (Artist: Tim Hicks)

37. Recording Studio of the Year

80A Studios (Toronto, ON) - WINNER
Manicdown Studios (Vancouver, BC)
MCC Recording Studio (Calgary, AB)
OCL Studios (Chestermere, AB)
Wildflower Studios (Airdrie, AB)

38. Record Producer(s) of the Year

Derek Hoffman – Single: Going Somewhere (Artist: Tim Hicks), Single: Good To Drive (Artist: Jessica Sevier), Single: Rally Around (Artist: Sully Burrows), Single: Sad Eyes (Artist: Andrew Hyatt)
Karen Kosowski – Single: Iron Man (Acoustic)(Artist: Meghan Patrick), Single: Jessica Jezebel (Artist: Meghan Patrick), Single: Safe Place To Break (Artist: Meghan Patrick) - WINNER
Bart McKay – Single: Jesus Drank Whiskey (Artist: Julia Vos), Single: Leavin’ Town (Artist: Rosewood Ave.), Single: She’ll Come Back Around (Artist: Chevy Beaulieu)
Joey Moi – Album: I’m The Problem (Artist: Morgan Wallen)
Dan Swinimer – Album: Days Like This (Artist: Tony Stevens), Single: Feels Like Forever (Artist: The Prairie States), Single: Listen (Artist: Chad Brownlee), Single: Man Outta Me (Artist: Savannah Jade)

39. Retailer or Commercial Platform of the Year

Amazon Music
Apple Music - WINNER
SiriusXM Canada
Spotify Canada Inc.

40. Ron Sakamoto Talent Buyer or Promoter of the Year

Jim Cressman (Invictus Entertainment Group)
Dan Clapson (Blue Jay Sessions)
Brooke Dunford (Republic Live)
Chris Melnychuk (SILVERPLOW Productions Inc.)
Denise Ross (Live Nation Entertainment) - WINNER

41. Innovative Campaign of the Year

“The Backroad of Memory Lane” Campaign (Delta Sweet)
“Carl Dean” Campaign (Hailey Benedict, Big Loud, Local Hay) - WINNER
“Growing Down” Campaign (Robyn Ottolini)
“Killer Instinct” Montreal Canadiens Playoff Campaign (Rick Duff and Rosemarie Records)
“Later Tonight” Album Roll Out (Josh Ross and Universal Music Canada)

Top Selling Canadian Single of the Year

Josh Ross, "Hate How You Look"

Top Selling Canadian Album of the Year

Cameron Whitcomb, The Hard Way

Top Selling Album of the Year

Morgan Wallen, I'm the Problem

Gary Slaight Music Humanitarian Award

Brett Kissel and W. Brett Wilson