VANCOUVER, B.C. - A live downtown concert by local band Said The Whale kicked off the beginning of what is sure to be a killer month for Vancouver music fans, leading up to the annual Juno Awards.
The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences announced the lineup Monday for JunoFest 2009.
The festival, held on March 27 and 28, the same weekend as the awards ceremony, will feature more than 100 musical acts from throughout Canada.
More than half of those participating have been chosen locally to highlight Vancouver's rich and diverse music scene.
"Get ready, Vancouver! In just 31 days, the 2009 Juno Awards are coming to town," CARAS president Melanie Berry shouted to a crowd of dozens.
The audience of mostly teens gathered to watch Said The Whale perform tracks from the group's debut album, Howe Sounds/Taking Abalonia.
Cameras flashed and fans sang and danced along as the group played such hits as, "This Winter I Retire."
Said The Whale will perform during JunoFest, as will The Trews, who are nominated for group of the year.
Surrey, B.C.'s Elise Estrada, who is nominated for R&B recording of the year, will also hit the stage, as will fellow nominees Amos Garrett, Big Dave McLean, Elizabeth Shepherd, Elliott Brood and The Gryphon Trio.
Abbotsford, B.C.'s Carly Rae Jepsen, who shot to fame as a Canadian Idol contestant, is also scheduled to perform at one of several venues throughout Vancouver.
"We're really lucky in Vancouver. We're going to have a couple of years with historic events and one of those is going to be the Juno Awards, so it's going to be great for all of us," said Bob D'Eith, chair of Vancouver's Juno host committee.
Earlier in the day, some of Canada's top musicians announced they will trade in their guitars for neck guards when they take on a team of ex-NHL players next month at the annual Juno Cup.
Blue Rodeo frontman Jim Cuddy will headline a star-studded cast of hockey-playing musicians, including Sarah McLachlan along with Alan Doyle and Sean McCann of Great Big Sea at this year's game at UBC Thunderbird Arena.
Included in the Rockers lineup - regardless of hockey-playing skills - will be Barney Bentall, drummer Tyler Stewart of the Barenaked Ladies, and Jesse Wainwright and Cam Melnyk of State of Shock,
The former NHLers have so far put out a minimal lineup of eight players, while the Rockers have a lineup of 25 for the 6th annual charity hockey game.
"We are trying to make up in quantity what we lack in quality," Cuddy said with a laugh at an event Monday to help kickstart the star-studded weekend next month.
Cuddy, a 12-time Juno award winner who plays recreational hockey, was on the ice at GM Place wearing a hockey jersey and firing pucks at a goalie before he was joined by former NHL star Cliff Ronning to help promote the game.
Money raised at the Juno Cup goes to MusiCounts, a music education charity associated with the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
Ronning, who played with the Vancouver Canucks and other NHL teams, will be joined for the March 27 game by retired tough guy Bob Probert, Dave Babych, Mark Napier, Mike Pelyk, Paul Coffey, Russ Courtnall and Brad Dalgarno.
Cuddy and Ronning posed for some ceremonial puck drops before the Blue Rodeo star explained the game's importance in raising money for music education in schools.
He said the Juno Cup began initially as a way to raise money and the profile of MusiCounts.
MusiCounts provides $10,000 grants to schools that have an ongoing, full-time music program. The money is used to replace instruments and buy sheet music.
"There are all kinds of schools whose programs are in jeopardy, not because of a lack of will from teachers or students, but because they don't have the budget to buy instruments."
Then the Juno Cup took on another role.
"It was also a way of trying to get more musicians to come to the Junos," said Cuddy. "The (awards) are only successful if all the musicians come.
"We're now at the point where we have to fill two full squads of musicians," he said of the hockey player-musicians who have signed up.
Cuddy, who played as a kid, quit for several years and then rediscovered the game, said there are musician's leagues all over the country.
D'Eith said celebration will also include a fan fare and the songwriter's circle.
But the climax are the March 29 awards at GM Place. Performers confirmed so far include Nickelback, City and Colour, McLachlan and Simple Plan.
