By Justin Waldman
Jim Bean and Canadian Music Week just celebrated the 23rd annual Indie Awards, and headlining the celebrations this year were new Indie Awards Hall of Fame inductees, Finger Eleven! The show kicked off promptly at 8pm and by the end of the night, before we were treated to a full set by the brand new hall of fame inductees The Beaches and City and Colour won three awards each!
While only a few recipients were able to show up and accept their awards, the 2024 Jim Bean national Talent Search winner Myles Erlick was one of the few to show and gave the audience a performance that made it evidently clear why he won. The swagger of Elvis and the acrobatic ability of a Cirque Du Soleil performer, Myles Erlick has the presence and the voice that will shoot him into stardom and I for one cannot wait to see what he gets himself up to next. Tim Hicks also won the Country Artist/Group or Duo of the Year, while Tom Wilson won the Allan Slaight Humanitarian Spirit Award and gave a powerful speech and graced us with two songs.
A full list of winners can be found below:
Album of the Year
Karan Aujla “Making Memories”
Artist of the Year – presented by SiriusXM
City and Colour
Country Artist/Group or Duo of the Year
Tim Hicks
Electronic/Dance Artist/Group or Duo of the Year
Loud Luxury
Francophone Artist/Group or Duo of the Year
Jean-Michel Blais
Group or Duo of the Year
The Beaches
Hip Hop/Rap Artist of the Year – presented by SiriusXM
Shubh
Indigenous Artist/Group or Duo of the Year – presented by SiriusXM
Elisapie
Pop Artist/Group or Duo of the Year
Charlotte Cardin
R&B Artist/Group or Duo of the Year
Charlotte Day Wilson
Rock Artist/Group or Duo of the Year
The Beaches
Roots/Folk Artist of the Year
City and Colour
Song of the Year
The Beaches “Blame Brett”
Elizabeth Boland, Gustavo Coriandoli, Leandra Earl, Eliza Clara, Jordan Miller
Video of the Year
Karan Aujla “Admirin’ You”
Independent Label of the Year
Dine Alone Records
Producer of the Year
Ikky
Publisher of the Year – Presented by CMRRA
Anthem Entertainment
Jim Beam® Fan Choice Award
City and Colour
While the awards concluded the Danforth Music Hall welcomed Finger Eleven back to the stage to give audiences a full set. Bringing the energy and even a mosh pit to the crowd, they played a collection of their hits including First Time, I’ll Keep Your Memory Vague, Living in a Dream, and started their encore with a Pink Floyd cover of Welcome to the Machine before ending the night on the song almost everyone knows them for – Paralyzer. Finger Eleven truly put on a hall of fame-worthy show and everyone in the crowd was electric.
(Photo credit: Genevieve Walker)
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