Loreena McKennitt says Juno-nominated album was 'really a second thought'

CBC

12-02-2025

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Manitoba's Loreena McKennitt says she didn't set out to record the album that has put her once again in contention for a Juno Award.
The Celtic singer-songwriter's new live album, The Road Back Home, has been nominated for traditional roots album of the year in the 2025 awards.
The nomination is the latest accolade for the Morden-born musician, who's already won two Junos and received multiple Grammy Award nominations over a career that's spanned three decades.
Last month, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences announced McKennitt will be one of five artists inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame this spring.
"It's always an honour," she said in an interview with CBC News.
"Probably most artists, everybody's got their nose to the grindstone. You're not necessarily thinking about awards and honours, but it's lovely when it happens."
Listen | Morden's Loreena McKennitt on her Juno nomination
The Road Back Home was recorded during a series of performances at southern Ontario folk festivals during the summer of 2023.
"I didn't set out to make a recording," she said.
Juno Awards 2025: A breakdown
Here are all the 2025 Juno nominees
"It was really a second thought … but I'm glad we did, because there's something about recordings of live performances that have a very unique kind of energy or electricity that studio ones don't always have."
McKennitt was accompanied by The Bookends, a group of Celtic musicians she met in Stratford, Ont., where she currently lives.
The singer-songwriter said the album is a departure from her previous explorations of Celtic music, which she discovered when she moved to Winnipeg in the late 70s.
"That's when I became really immersed and fell in love with Celtic music," she said.
"Those years in Winnipeg were extremely formative, as were the years in Morden … When I look back in my career, I see these two locations being very, very significant in my musical development."
Other Manitoba nominees
Other Juno nominees with Manitoba roots in this year's awards include:
Boy Golden, For Eden (Contemporary roots album of the year).
Jocelyn Gould, Portrait of Right Now (Jazz album of the year (solo)).
James Ehnes, Williams Violin Concerto No. 1; Bernstein Serenade (Classical album of the year (solo).
Big Dave McLean, This Old Life (Blues album of the year).
The Secret Beach, We were born here, what's your excuse? (Adult alternative album of the year).
Sebastian Gaskin, "Brown Man" (Contemporary Indigenous artist or group of the year).
Jordan St. Cyr, My Foundation (Contemporary Christian/gospel album of the year).