Japandroids, Sloan Among Nominees For 2012 ECHO Songwriting Prize

Japandroids, Sloan, Kathleen Edwards, Dan Mangan and John K. Samson have had their songs nominated for the 2012 Echo Songwriting Prize to determine the best independent songwriters in Canadian music.

Sponsored by SOCAN (Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada), the five nominees for the annual prize are selected by an expert panel (including Spinner's own Joshua Ostroff) with the winner then being determined by a public vote.

The nominated songs are:

Japandroids "The House That Heaven Built" from Celebration Rock
John K. Samson "When I Write My Master's Thesis" from Provincial
Kathleen Edwards "A Soft Place To Land" from Voyageur
Sloan "Unkind" from The Double Cross
Dan Mangan "Post-War Blues" from Oh Fortune

Voting for the Echo, which has officially begun, will remain open until 5 p.m. EDT, Wednesday, October 10, with the winner being announced Friday, October 19. The eventual winner will score $5,000.

Past champs have included Katie Moore, Brasstronaut, The Weakerthans, D-Sisive, Abdominal and Propaghandi. The nominees for the French edition of the 2012 Echo include Lisa LeBlanc, Avec pas d'casque, Koriass, Marie-Pierre Arthur and Salome Leclerc.