(Mat Barrett/northeastNOW Staff)

By Cam Lee

SCMA's Good To CJVR

CJVR, Cal Gratton win Saskatchewan Country Music Awards

May 20, 2020 | 9:59 AM

More hardware is on the way for Cal Gratton and CJVR.

Cal won the Saskatchewan Country Music Award (SCMA) for Music Director of the Year in a Secondary Market, while CJVR was named the Radio Station of the Year in a Secondary Market.

“It feels great,” Gratton told northeastNOW. “This province of Saskatchewan is just so vibrant right now, there’s so much great music being pumped out of this province, and I’m just happy to be a part of it.”

Gratton said it’s important for him to get to know the artists on a personal level.

“We don’t have to talk about music all of the time. I tend to talk to a lot of these artists on a social level, want to find out about their family, want to develop a personal relationship with them,” Gratton said.

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Gratton recommended artists call music directors of stations across the province as how best to proceed with their latest single.

CJVR has been recognized at the SCMA’s multiple times over the years, and Gratton called it a great honour.

“We’re all in this together, this entire team at CJVR radio is integral in making sure that we do play Saskatchewan country music, and that we do talk about Saskatchewan country music, and cover any of the events that are happening,” Gratton said.

The focus for CJVR and Gratton remains local, and he said there are many local entertainers with a lot of talent.

The awards show itself was vastly different this year. It’s the first time in the SCMA’s history the show was virtual, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the challenges in putting together a virtual show, Gratton said the organizing committee knocked it out of the park.

“It looked really, really good and it came together really fine,” Gratton said. “Hopefully next year we can get together in person and do this, but boy, to see it done virtually as it was on the weekend, I think it was fantastic.”

Gratton said any concerns as to whether the event could succeed virtually were laid to rest quickly, and the performances came across very well.

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cam.lee@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @camlee1974