“Sometimes you have an instant crush on an album, but it can also be like a one night stand,” Radio-Canada host Catherine Pogonat told a room full of music enthusiasts at the National Arts Centre’s (NAC) Fourth Stage.
Pogonat was part of a music critics’ panel held on Sept. 8 to discuss the prestigious Polaris Music Prize. The Montreal journalist was joined on stage by fellow Quebecer and Voir arts writer, Julie Ledoux, in addition to Ottawa broadcasters Alan Neal, host of CBC Radio’s All in a Day, and Ryan Bresse from CKCU.
The Polaris Music Prize, the organization that presents the annual monetary award to an outstanding Canadian record, has staged panel discussions in select cities across the country with local journalists who speak about the albums being considered by the prize’s jury.
The tour’s Ottawa stop was moderated by Polaris founder and executive director, Steve Jordan. The tour is meant to inform music listeners about what it’s like to be a part of the Polaris jury, the group of over 200 music journalists that recommend albums they believe to be Polaris-worthy.
Canada’s most impressive record is ultimately chosen by a five-person grand jury after being narrowed down from a 40-album longlist and a ten-album shortlist. This year’s shortlist includes artists such as internationally renowned rapper Drake, Vancouver crooner Tobias Jesso Jr., and musician and activist Buffy Sainte-Marie.
During the informal panel, Jordan joked on stage with the music critics as he posed questions ranging from what makes an album praiseworthy, to their favourite local artists, to their top five Polaris picks. Following the panel presentation, the music critics took the opportunity to join in a candid Q&A with the audience, which included Ottawa-area musicians Scottie Irving and Julien Dussault.
Irving, the keyboardist for the PepTides, said he attended the event because of his connections to the recording industry and the potential for networking.
“They’re [the Polaris Prize nominees] artistic peers of ours . . . and we’re very curious about the community surrounding the prize,” Irving said just before the panel began.
He also expressed the need for a continued dialogue about Canadian recording artists.
“Without the support of these people, things like this can’t happen . . . and people will have to do things for free,” he said.
The featured panelists agreed that Polaris is instrumental in promoting and celebrating Canada’s most promising records.
CBC Ottawa’s Alan Neal—whose Polaris hopeful is Buffy Sainte-Marie’s Power in the Blood—sees participating on the Polaris jury as a powerful outlet for he and his colleagues to introduce their audiences to more Canadian music.
Following their stop in the nation’s capital, the Polaris Music Prize panel is headed to Montreal for Pop Montreal and then onto Halifax for Halifax Pop Explosion. The 2015 Polaris Prize winner will be revealed at a gala on Sept. 28 at the Carlu in Toronto. The entire event, which will be hosted by Fred Penner, can be streamed online at polarismusicprize.ca.
