For the second straight year, the Happy Nun Café in Forget has been named the Venue of the Year by the Saskatchewan Country Music Association (SCMA).
The SCMA revealed its annual award winners during a virtual ceremony Saturday night.
In a post on its Facebook page Sunday morning, the Happy Nun thanked all of its friends and family for the continued support.
The Happy Nun also applauded all the other venues out there that are working hard to do what they can to keep live music happening at this time.
Former Estevan resident Cal Gratton was named the Music Director of the Year.
And the SCMA bursary was won by Carlyle's Morgan Robertson.
J.J. Voss, Tenille Arts and The Hunter Brothers – all of whom have played on multiple occasions in the Estevan area – were among the big winners.
Voss was named the Male Artist of the Year, an award won by former Estevan resident Chris Henderson the previous three years. Henderson was among those who congratulated Voss on the award in a post on social media, saying the right nominee won for 2020.
Henderson said he doens't know if there is any artist in Canada who "had laid it on the line for their art in 2020" the way Voss has, only to have COVID derail their plans.
Voss also helped put together the Chris Henderson and Friends online fundraiser for the Canadian Mental Health Association, which couldn't have happened without Voss.
Voss also won for Roots Album or EP of the Year for Come Along with Me.
Arts was named Female Artist of the Year. She also won awards for Album or EP of the Year for Love, Heartbreak & Everything in Between, and Single of the Year for Somebody Like That, and she shared the Songwriter of the Year Award with Allison Veltz Cruz and Alex Kline for Everybody Knows Everybody.
The Hunter Brothers won awards for Group of the Year, Interactive Artist or Group of the Year, Fans Choice Entertainer of the Year, and Video of the Year for Hard Dirt (along with director Sean Smith of Stingray Pictures).
