Samara Yung has walked away from the recent Saskatchewan Country Music Association with another major award.
Yung would bring home the Fans Choice Entertainer of the Year. She said the awards are always a humbling thing as an artist.
鈥淚t鈥檚 always such an honour to be nominated for any award,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of the cherry on top after working so hard to get your name out there and your music heard. When you receive that nomination it just solidifies that all that work was noticed and it gives you the fire to just keep going.鈥�
So when Yung was among the nominees again this year she was proud of the accomplishment.
鈥淟ike I said before, nominations will never lose their importance or feeling,鈥� she said.
鈥淭he industry just keeps getting better and better with such talented younger and younger people getting involved every day. It鈥檚 my job to try to keep up with it all.
鈥淣ominations to me mean that I am doing just that, because it means someone is noticing my hard work. My goal is to continue to grow and adapt to all of the changes the music industry is throwing at us and to keep striving to get better and have my music heard and my name recognized.鈥�
But, wins are still nice, even if unexpected.
Yung, who won the local GX94 Star Search in 2005, said the win came as 鈥渁 total surprise!鈥�
鈥淗onestly I never expect to win anything because like I said before everyone in Saskatchewan just keeps on getting better and better and Saskatchewan is a very talented province -- there must be something in the water.鈥�
Yung said the competition was certainly notable this year.
鈥淚鈥檓 in categories up against artists and groups that are signed to labels and I鈥檓 a completely independent artist so it鈥檚 a whole different ball game for me,鈥� she said. 鈥淕roups like the amazing Hunter Brothers who are not only the most humble and sweet group of guys you will ever meet but have the current number one song in Canada and just came off of a tour with Paul Brandt. So when they read my name I was in total shock. I still think I鈥檓 in shock. It might take a few days for this to sink in. And the fact that this award was fan-based is totally blowing my mind.鈥�
It is the fan aspect that has Yung feeling the greatest pride.
鈥淚 am so humbled and honoured to have received this purely fan voted award and from the bottom of my heart I thank everyone for voting and supporting me,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 also have to thank my amazing family especially my mom, dad, husband and daughter for always supporting me and being there for me in so many different ways. My manager Casadie and our whole team for working so hard over the last year to help make this award happen! As well as Creative Saskatchewan and Saskmusic for their financial contributions.鈥�
Yung has been involved in music all her life.
鈥淚 got my start in music spending a lot of my early childhood at my dad鈥檚 band practices singing along and falling asleep in monitor bins listening to the band practice 70鈥檚 and 80鈥檚 classic rock,鈥� she said.
鈥淲hen I was three-and-a-half we moved to Yorkton and when I was about six or seven my dad started playing in a country band called Cowboy X. Still always tagging along to band practice and always singing, dad discovered that I was not only singing along with all the words but I was also on pitch. So the summer I turned eight my dad got me up on stage with the band to perform one song at the York Lake Jam and the rest is history.
鈥淲hat started as one song turned into six to eight songs turned into a set or two of my own.
鈥淧laying in multiple high school bands with friends as well as with my dad鈥檚 band in my teens and morphing into my own thing the year I graduated recording my first original songs back in 2005 after winning GX Star Search.鈥�
From there recording was a natural step.
鈥淪ince then I鈥檝e gone on the record a total of four albums and am currently working on my fifth,鈥� said Yung. 鈥淚鈥檝e officially won seven SCMAS as of this year and I鈥檝e worked with some of the best in the business. Most recently producer Danick Dupelle (of Emerson Drive) who produced Tebey鈥檚 number one hit in Canada 鈥榃ho鈥檚 gonna love you鈥�.鈥�
Most recently Yung recorded three songs including her current single out at radio right now 鈥楽werve鈥� in October of 2018 in Nashville with Danick Dupelle at Addiction studios (Journey鈥檚 Studio) and Vibe Recording Studio (Emerson Drives studio).
Swerve is Yung鈥檚 highest charting single to-date hitting #55 recently.
Other SCMA awards
The Hunter Brothers ended up with four SCMA awards.
Of the 32 awards handed out throughout the weekend, the four time CCMA nominated artists claimed Interactive Group or Artist of the Year, Group of The Year, Video of the Year (Those Were The Nights), and Single of the Year (Those Were The Nights). In addition to these group awards, Luke Hunter was named All Star Band- Bass Player of The Year.
Chris Henderson accepted his second Male Artist of the Year award alongside Tenille Arts who received her second Female Artist of the Year award and Songwriter of the Year for 鈥淢ad Crazy Love鈥�.
Jay & Jo were awarded the Roots Artists of the Year while Shantaia was awarded Emerging Artist of the Year. Album of the Year was presented to Codie Prevost for his latest album 鈥淩adio鈥�.
The Myrol Brothers were awarded the Legends and Legacy award. The Myrol Brothers were awarded the Non-Touring Band in 1991 and were the first generation of musicians in the SCMA.
