Jade Eagleson, The Reklaws Lead CMAOntario Nominations in 2024

Jade Eagleson is poised to win big at the CMAOntario Awards, presented by the Country Music Association of Ontario.

The "Rodeo Queen" singer picked up five awards nominations today, including Single of the Year, Album/EP of the Year, and Male Artist of the Year — the most nominations of any artist. Eagleson is followed by sibling duo The Reklaws, rising artists Josh Ross and Karli June, and mainstay Meghan Patrick, who all have four nominations each.

Eagleson, the 29 year-old from Bailieboro, Ontario, won Entertainer of the Year and Male Artist of the Year at last fall's CCMA Awards and might prove hard to beat. Ross, who's up against Eagleson for Male Artist, Single of the Year, and Fan Choice, won Breakthrough Artist at the CCMAs last fall, while The Reklaws took home the award for Top Selling Canadian Album.

Country is a hot genre right now in Canada and North America. Live Nation Canada recently launched a major new country festival, Coast City Country, set to have its first edition in Vancouver this April. Country stars are also climbing the Canadian Hot 100. Ross, nominated for his song "Trouble," has spent nine weeks on the Hot 100 this year with his single "Ain't Doin' Jack." Owen Riegling, whose "Old Dirt Roads" is currently No. 69 on the chart, picked up three CMAOntario nominations for the song.

In Canada, the Maple Blues Awards are facing criticism after Black musicians came away empty-handed from last month's awards. Notably, all of the most-nominated artists at the CMAOntario awards are white, an indicator of the ongoing barriers and prejudice artists of colour face in the music industry, and in country music in particular. Beyoncé recently became the first Black woman to have a No. 1 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart with single "Texas Hold 'Em," prompting conversations about racism in country music as some have refused to take the superstar's country recordings seriously.

CMAOntario members will vote for the winners ahead of the awards ceremony on June 2, at the Living Arts Centre in Mississauga. The awards ceremony will be hosted by Jason McCoy of Pure Country Radio and singer Teigen Gayse, and takes place during the CMAOntario Festival & Awards Weekend, which features conversations with songwriters, a street fair, a tailgate party and more.

Find the full list of nominees below:

SINGLE OF THE YEAR sponsored by Pure Country

Honky Tonkin' About, The Reklaws
Match For My Memory, Robyn Ottolini
Old Dirt Roads, Owen Riegling
Rodeo Queen, Jade Eagleson
The Road That Raised You Up, Jason Blaine
Trouble, Josh Ross

ALBUM/EP OF THE YEAR sponsored by Country 106.7 Kitchener

Ahead of Our Time, James Barker Band
Burning Back, Jessie T
Do It Anyway, Jade Eagleson
Greatest Show on Dirt, Meghan Patrick
Now & Then, Nicole Rayy
Unlearn, Griffen Palmer

SONGWRITER(S) OF THE YEAR sponsored by SOCAN

Craig Brooks, Nicole Rayy - Now & Then, recorded by Nicole Rayy
Genevieve Fisher, Aaron Goodvin, Jennifer Schott - Best Thing About the Rain, recorded by Genevieve Fisher
Jade Eagleson, Daryl Scott - Rodeo Queen, recorded by Jade Eagleson
Jason Blaine - The Road the Raised You Up, recorded by Jason Blaine
Karli June, Gavin Slate - Feel Like Home, recorded by Karli June
Meghan Patrick, Matt Alderman, Tom Salter - Red Roses and Red Flags, recorded by Meghan Patrick

FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR sponsored by IBEW Local 353

Elyse Saunders, Famous
Jessie T, Just A Number
Karli June, Feels Like Home
Meghan Patrick, The Greatest Show on Dirt
Robyn Ottolini, Match to My Memory
Sacha, Confident

MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR sponsored by IBEW Local 353

Andrew Hyatt, L is For
Jade Eagleson, Rodeo Queen
Jason Blaine, The Road that Raised You Up
Josh Ross, Trouble
Owen Riegling, Old Dirt Road
Tim Hicks, Yee to the Haw

GROUP OR DUO OF THE YEAR sponsored by Country 103

James Barker Band, Meet Your Mama
New Moon Junction, Mind of Its Own
River Town Saints, She Got That
Rosewood Ave, I Won’t
The Reklaws, Honky Tonkin' About
The Western Swing Authority, Happy Chickens

ROOTS ARTIST OR GROUP OF THE YEAR

Callie McCullough, What If I Don’t
Emily Clair, Stealing Hearts
Julian Taylor, Georgia Moon
Mackenzie Leigh Meyer, Barbie Doll
The Abrams, Something New
The Western Swing Authority, Happy Chickens

BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST OF THE YEAR sponsored by Slaight Music

Alexa Goldie, Set in Stone
Dayna Reid, The Way You Lie
Jessie T, Just A Number
Karli June, Feels Like Home ft. Ryan Langdon
Lemon Cash, Breakup Song
Owen Riegling, Old Dirt Roads

FRANCOPHONE ARTIST OR GROUP OF THE YEAR

Dayv Poulin, Tout est relatif
Kristine St-Pierre, Et si
Les Rats d'Swompe, Dans l’cabanon
Reney Ray, La p'tite tomboy
Sugar Crush, Pause
Vincent Bishop, L'amour serait bienvenu

MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR sponsored by Jim Dunlop Productions

Dirty, Nicole Rayy
Feel Like Home, Karli June Feat Ryan Langdon
Happy Chickens, Western Swing authority
Honky Tonkin' About, The Reklaws feat. Drake Milligan
Long Way Back, The Redhill Valleys
Trouble, Josh Ross

FANS’ CHOICE sponsored by Visit Mississauga

Griffen Palmer
Jade Eagleson
James Barker Band
Josh Ross
Meghan Patrick
Steven Lee Olsen
The Reklaws
Tim Hicks

RECORD PRODUCER(S) OF THE YEAR

Adam Newcomb (Mackenzie Leigh Meyer, Runaway Angel)
Gavin Slate (Karli June feat. Ryan Langdon)
Jeff Dalziel (New Moon Junction, Abby Stewart)
Matt Koebel (Amanda Kind, Paige Rutledge, Angelica Appelman, Jessica Sevier)
Shawn Moore (Spencer Burns, Jessica Sole, Emily Clair, Matt Teed)
The Agenda (Patrick James Clark, David Madras, Peter Peres, Graham Scott Fleming)

RADIO STATION OF THE YEAR (LARGE MARKET) sponsored by Fielding Estate Winery

Country 104, London
Country 106.7, Kitchener
KX 94.7, Hamilton
KX96, Oshawa
Pure Country 93, London
Pure Country 94, Ottawa

RADIO STATION OF THE YEAR (MEDIUM MARKET) sponsored by Lucknow’s Music in the Fields

Cool 100.1, Belleville
Country 92.9, Chatham
Country 93.5, Kingston
Hot Country 93.9, Brantford
Pure Country 105, Peterborough
Pure Country 99, Kingston

RADIO STATION OF THE YEAR (SMALL MARKET)

Country 103 - Great Lakes Country
Country 107.3, Tillsonburg
Country 89, Welland
Country 93, Owen Sound
Pure Country 106, Orillia
The Ranch, 100.1, Listowel

INDUSTRY PERSON OF THE YEAR sponsored by Manrkē

Aj Astle, Roadhouse Productions
Ali Raney, Starseed Entertainment
Dave Woods, In the Country
Madelaine Napoleone, Warner Music Canada
Samantha Pickard, Strut Entertainment
Wendy Boomer, Country 92.3

MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR sponsored by Cithara Guitars

Adrian Juras (Karli June, Ryan Langdon)
Jeff Downtown Brown (Jason Blaine, Washboard Union, Kelsi Mayne, Shantaia)
Joey DePaiva (Elyse Saunders, Mackenzie Leigh Meyer, Aaron Allen)
Mackenzie Leigh Meyer (Robyn Ottolini)
Shane Guse (The Western Swing Authority, Session, Dean Brody)
Will Hebbes (Jess Moskaluke/The Agenda)