Adrian Sutherland gets first Juno Award nomination

A musician from Attawapiskat First Nation has received his first Juno Award nomination.

Adrian Sutherland was nominated in the contemporary Indigenous artist or group of the year cateogory for his debut solo album When the Magic Hits.

Sutherland said he and his manager were on Zoom listening to the nominations. He said he couldn't believe it when his name was called.

"I think I had to just to be sure that it wasn't a mistake at first, but to be honest, it didn't feel real at all," he said. 

"It didn't really hit me till later on in the day."

This is Sutherland's debut solo album and he said he thinks "it's incredible to get a general nod."

"It's definitely getting recognition from the industry," he said. 

"Certainly, I find it quite incredible."

Sutherland said the last two years of the pandemic have been difficult for artists, himself included.

"I was not able to leave the community, so we had to really kind of strategize and figure out how it was going to stay engaged," he said. 

"So we actually built a part of that process that was going to mean that I would have to build a studio. So we did that in November of 2020."

He said building that studio ensured the success of the album.

"So that really allowed me to put out this album if it wasn't for that," he said. 

"There's no way I would have been able to do this album last year."

'Excited to get back out'

Sutherland said he's been working on another video which will be released in the coming weeks, for the song Scared.

"I'm hoping to get out to start performing again this summer, so that's pretty exciting," he said. 

"It's going to be three years by then that I've done any real live performances. So yeah, I'm really excited to get back out and start performing again."

The Junos will be awarded on May 15 in Toronto.

The Junos said the category in which Sutherland is nominated is new this year.

"In response to Canada's evolving music landscape, Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences announced the creation of new categories this year," it said.

"Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year has been split into two awards: Contemporary Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year and Traditional Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year."