Juno nomination 'highest honour' for P.E.I.'s Rose Cousins

P.E.I. acts have nabbed two nominations for 2018 Juno Awards — The East Pointers have been nominated for the year's best traditional roots album, and P.E.I.-born artist Rose Cousins is up for best songwriter. 

Nominees for Canada's best-known music awards were announced in all 42 categories Tuesday. 

"As a songwriter, it is the one recognition that means the most," said Rose Cousins, from her home in Halifax. "It's kind of the highest honour I can imagine, being recognized as a songwriter." 

It's definitely overwhelming in the greatest way.— Rose Cousins

Cousins is nominated for her album Natural Conclusion. It also earned her eight East Coast Music Award nominations last week, and took her to the Grammy Awards in New York last week as her engineers were nominated for their work on the album (they lost to the engineers of Bruno Mars's album 24K Magic). 

• Rose Cousins, Jenn Grant, Kinley, The East Pointers grab ECMA noms

• First Play Live: Rose Cousins, Natural Conclusion

"I'm so proud of this record — I couldn't have predicted all of the accolades that I've gotten in the last couple of months," she said. "It's definitely overwhelming in the greatest way." 

Neither Cousins nor The East Pointers are new to the Junos. Cousins won best roots/traditional album in 2013 for We Have Made a Spark, while the East Pointers won just last year for Secret Victory. 

The East Pointers, nominated for their new album What We Leave Behind, recently won four PEI Music awards. 

• P.E.I.'s East Pointers win Juno award Saturday night

Friend Curran also nominated

Cousins is competing against Gord Downie, Scott Helman and Amelia Curran for the best songwriter trophy. Which would she least mind losing to? 

Amelia Curran, she quickly responds.

"Amelia is so well-known for her writing, as a writer, and I am deeply inspired by all the work that she has done — so I would love it to go to a friend," Cousins said, while noting she's also a big fan or Gord Downie's album. 

Toronto-based indie-pop darlings Alvvays — which has two members from P.E.I., Alec O'Hanley and Brian Murphy — has two nominations, for alternative album of year and group of the year.

This year's awards mark the first time in 16 years the Junos will air on CBC .

The festivities get underway in Vancouver on March 19, with a week of special events leading up to the televised awards show from the Rogers Arena. The Juno Awards broadcast gala airs live on March 25 on CBC-TV, CBC Radio and CBCMusic.ca.

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