Portage country musician nominated for three provincial awards

A big night at the Manitoba Country Music Association Awards could be in the cards for Nelson Little.

Little has been nominated for three awards; Male Artist of the Year, Roots Artist of the Year, and the Indigenous Country Music Award. He says being nominated for these awards, as the event gains prestige, is very gratifying.

"I guess, just life," says Little when asked where he gets his inspiration from. "A lot of tragedy. I was in two accidents when I was young, so there's still a way that I write that still comes from dealing with hardship."

Little explains that it could take somewhere between two-to-three months to write a song, but then another six months to properly market it.

He says he spent this past summer travelling across Manitoba, stopping to perform shows at venues such as Dauphin's Countryfest, the Whoop and Hollar Folk Festival, Stomperfst in Reedy Creek, and more.

"(The support for me) is growing, the band works with Kendra Kay and Quinton Blair, so I get to meet a lot of their fans, and we all support each other," explains Little. "It's not a dying trend, but the music industry is definitely different than it was 20 years ago."

The 2023 Manitoba Country Music Awards will take place on November 4th at the Club Regent Casino and Event Centre in Winnipeg.