Signpost Music » An Overview of the GMA’s by Host, Carolyn Arends

By Carolyn Arends

Carolyn performing at the GMAs

The weekend of October 22^nd I had the privilege of participating in the Gospel Music Association of Canada’s Covenant Awards in Calgary, AB. The awards themselves are preceded by several days of conferences, showcases and concerts; unfortunately I can’t give an eyewitness account of those earlier events as I did not land in Calgary until early Friday morning. I did hear from several reliable sources that it was a stimulating and inspiring whirlwind of panels, seminars and shows.

As for my part, my cohort Spencer Capier and I caught the 6:30am flight out of Abbotsford and landed in Calgary around 8:30am. After a quick breakfast I ran over to the conference to present an hour on songwriting (one of my favourite subjects, even though, as the quote says, “talking about music is like dancing to architecture”.) I was expecting maybe a dozen or so folks and had more like 40; which had Spencer scurrying back to the hotel on my behalf to make more hand-outs. I talked fast and long, but my class stayed with me, and it was encouraging to see so many artists taking their craft seriously and passionately.

The conference was held at the headquarters of Samaritan’s Purse, which was a stroke of genius firstly because of location (directly across the street from the Airport Sandman, where most participants stayed) and secondly because of emphasis – each day of the conference featured a different NGO or missional organization. Very cool.

After my songwriting class, it was off to First Alliance in Calgary to prepare for the Awards Show itself. I was co-hosting the evening with Arlen Salte (recording artist, worship leader, and the brilliant mind behind Breakforth Canada). Arlen and I had received the meat and potatoes of the script from GMA President Martin Smith earlier in the week, but it was up to us to add the appropriate level of “awkward banter” that has become de rigueur at awards shows. We had a couple of hours to get to know each other better and riff in a few directions … we ended up with Arlen’s spirited campaign to get a “Norwegian Album of the Year” category added to the GMA slate. (After all, Brian Doerksen always wins for “Mennonite of the Year”, right?) I had suspected things might go in this direction; the trophy Arlen eventually received for “Norwegian Artist of the Year” looked strikingly like my son’s 2004 T-ball trophy.

Covenant Awards Finale

The show itself was a terrific celebration of the strength and diversity of Canadian Christian artists. Highlight performances included Winnipeg’s Fresh I.E. (with Signposter Jon Buller adding his trademark energy to the band), Saskatchewan’s family group The Hunters, and many more. Pianist Mike Janzen (of Signpost fame) brought the house down with an extended instrumental number (with the help of Jacob Moon and the excellent house band, who strongly resembled the folks in Brian Doerksen’s band).

Arlen and I noted that Mike’s success was due largely to the fact that “Mennonites are known for their funkiness.”

Canadian rockers downhere cleaned up at the show (winning 9 of their 11 nominations) and really turned heads when lead signer Marc Martel stunned the crowd with an operatic performance of Nessum Dorma (accompanied by a Salvation Army brass band). It was brilliant.

I had the opportunity to perform “I Am a Soul” from my new disc with Spencer and the aforementioned stellar house band, and then I particularly enjoyed leading all the artists in a simple refrain of “I could sing of your love forever” … a song of thanks to the God who thought up music and community and invites us to take part in both.

In conclusion, it was a grand evening and only really lacked in one thing. Which leads me to my “MAKE STEVE BELL ATTEND THE COVENANT AWARDS IN 2010 CAMPAIGN”. More on that later …

Oh, as far as the hardware goes, Signpost Artist picking up trophies were:

Steve Bell (Gord Johnson) for Jazz/Blues Song of the Year – Embrace the Mystery (Devotion Album)

Mike Janzen for Jazz/Blues Album of the Year – Mombacho