Here are your 2022 Juno winners in the folk, roots, world and Indigenous categories
The Juno telecast doesn’t happen until tomorrow night but the awards we care about here at Roots Music Canada all get given away before that big event – in a Saturday night gala that this year happened in Toronto tonight.
“The first thing I want to take a moment to highlight is that right now, in this room together, we are in this room together,” said co-host Angeline Tetteh-Wayoe at the start of the night, recognizing that this was the first Juno gala since 2019.
One of the highlights of the webcast that stretched just over three hours was Allison Russell accepting her Juno for Contemporary Roots Album of the Year by reciting an original poem about triumphing over abuse.
“You are not alone. We are not what we’ve lost,” it began.
Another moving moment came when Mustafa accepted his award for Alternative Album of the Year for When Smoke Rises, an album inspired by the deaths of his friends in Regent Park.
“I watched Canadian publications announce the deaths of my friends using mugshots, descriptors being dated criminal records, and I knew then that I had to rewrite their memories,” he said.
“I’m not going to speak about how I’m the first Black Muslim to win this award. I think that being the first of anything should now be critiqued more than celebrated.”
Governor General Mary Simon presented the 2022 Humanitarian Award to Susan Aglukark.
Susan has been an inspiration to Indigenous people through her Arctic Rose Foundation, which creates safe spaces for Indigenous youth to express themselves freely, to immerse themselves in their culture and revitalize their bonds with their communities, she explained.
“Because of her contributions, our communities are stronger, more vibrant and more connected to the next generation,” she said.
“Susan inspires me with her music, her actions, and most importantly her kindness and her heart. Let us all learn from her example.”
Here’s who took home the awards in the folk, roots, world and Indigenous categories. A shoutout also goes to Ravi Naimpally, veteran world and jazz collaborator and bandleader, whose band Avataar won Jazz Album of the Year.
Contemporary Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year
War Club – DJ Shub
Contemporary Roots Album of the Year
Outside Child – Allison Russell
Traditional Roots Album of the Year
Joyful Banner Blazing – Maria Dunn
Blues Album of the Year
Open Road – Colin James Stony Plain*Fontana North/IDLA
Global Music Album of the Year
Kalasö – Afrikana Soul Sister
Reggae Album of the Year
Easy Now – Kairo McLean
Traditional Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year
Kakike – Fawn Wood
Country Album of the Year
What Is Life? – Brett Kissel
