Wedden, Bonnetta and Francey nominated for 2016 Canadian Folk Music Awards

Jeff Green | Sep 28, 2016

Nominees have been announced for the 2016 Canadian Folk Music Awards, with fiddler Jessica Wedden being nominated in the category of Young Performer of the Year. Submissions for the CFMAs were received from across Canada there are a total of five nominees in each category.

The nomination was based on the song on her first CD entitled “Fiddling is My Passion”, which was recorded at the age of 12, just three and a half years after she started to play the fiddle. To qualify for this category, the entrant must be under 19 at the time of recording. Jessica is presently 14 years old.

She is from the Sharbot Lake area and started playing fiddle with the Blue Skies Community Fiddle Orchestra. She then broadened her learning experience with private lessons from professional fiddler, Cindy Thompson of Almonte. To date, , profiled in Celtic Life magazine from Nova Scotia, and has performed at the 2016 Havelock Jamboree, Ottawa’s 2015 CityFolk Music Festival, Perth's 2016 Stewart Park Music Festival Youth Showcase and the 2016 Almonte CeltFest. Fiddling is her passion!

Wedden is one of three local musicians nominated for CFM Awards this year.

Frontenac News contributing reporter and man about town in Mountain Grove, Jonas Bonnetta, of Evening Hymms has been nominated as Emerging Artist of the Year for his third release, Quiet Energies, from 2015.

Finally, the decorated Elphin-based singer/songwriter David Francey, a three-time Juno Award winner, has been nominated for Contemporary Album of the Year for Empty Train.