(TORONTO) Open Road Recordings artist, Doc Walker, won the 2009 JUNO Award for Country Recording of the Year for their album, Beautiful Life, on March 28, 2009 in Vancouver, BC. Doc Walker have four previous JUNO Award nominations and won six 2008 Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) Awards including Album of the Year and Fans Choice Award.
“We are honoured to receive the JUNO Award for Country Album of the Year,” said Dave Wasyliw, Doc Walker. “We grew as a band, as songwriters, and as musicians with Beautiful Life. We are proud of the project and happy that our efforts, and the efforts of those who were involved, were recognized with this award.”
Doc Walker’s JUNO win is another success for Open Road Recordings in 2009. Label mate and fellow JUNO nominee for Country Recording of the Year, Tara Oram, presented the JUNO Fan Choice Award on yesterday’s broadcast and recently won a 2009 East Coast Music Award (ECMA) for Country Recording of the Year for her album, Chasing The Sun.
Open Road Recordings currently holds six of the top-10 selling Country albums on the Canadian Country Chart, according to Nielsen SoundScan (week ending March 22, 2009). Open Road artist, Johnny Reid, holds the No. 1, No. 3 and No. 5 Country chart positions. His newest effort, Dance With Me, is No. 1 Country and No. 3 Top 200, and was certified Gold just over 48 hours after release.
Taylor Swift’s “Love Story”, off her double-Platinum album, Fearless, remains the No. 1 most played single in Canada across all radio formats. Open Road Recordings currently has three of the top-10 singles on the Canadian Country radio charts and 5 of the top-10 videos on CMT’s Chevy Cross Canada Countdown.
About Doc Walker:
Chris Thorsteinson, Dave Wasyliw and Murray Pulver may have come from humble beginnings as scrappy kids fooling around with guitars in small-town Manitoba, but with their 2008 release, Beautiful Life, the boys from Doc Walker are far from their days of playing Manitoba socials and local campground shows. Produced in Nashville by Justin Niebank, (best known for his work on Vince Gill’s recent Grammy-winning album, These Days) Beautiful Life is the first time Thorsteinson, Wasyliw and Pulver have written together as an equal team. With harmonies reminiscent of bands like the Eagles, Poco, Alabama and America, Beautiful Life shows that Doc Walker have clearly hit their stride, creating a sound born from their undeniable chemistry and telling the stories they want their fans to hear. Put simply, Beautiful Life leaves Doc Walker fans eagerly anticipating more. www.docwalker.ca.
About Open Road Recordings:
Open Road Recordings is home to 2008 Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) Award winning group Doc Walker, Juno Award winner The Road Hammers (certified Gold in Canada), classic Canadian roots group Prairie Oyster, platinum selling singer Johnny Reid, break out success stories The Higgins and Tara Oram, and others. Open Road Recordings represents Big Machine and Valory Records in Canada, home to Taylor Swift (certified double-Platinum in Canada), Jack Ingram, Jewel, Trisha Yearwood and more. Open Road Recordings is part of the MapleCore Ltd. family of labels and is distributed by Universal Music Canada.
