Nominees were revealed yesterday for the 2017 East Coast Music Awards, which returns to Saint John, NB for the first time in 15 years on April 27, 2017.

Multi-Platinum hip hop artist Classified leads the nominees this year with nine nominations, followed by Platinum singer/songwriter Ria Mae with seven nominations. Both artists will perform at the awards show, along with David Myles, Paper Lions, Reeny Smith, Lisa LeBlanc, Jason Benoit, Les Hôtesses d’Hilaire, Caroline Savoie, REPARTEE, Tomato/Tomato, Gordie MacKeeman & His Rhythm Boys, Còig, the Motorleague, and Adam Baldwin.

From April 26-30, the ECMAs will showcase hundreds of East Coast artists across multiple stages, including ECMA Big Ticket headliner Matt Anderson on April 29. Artists will also have the chance to connect with industry professionals from across the world at the 16th ECMA Industry Conference and Export Buyers Program.

2017 will also see the return of the SOCAN Song House, a two-day interactive songwriting workshop led by Ralph Murphy (renowned songwriter, producer, and author of Murphy’s Law of Songwriting). Applications for the workshop are now open, closing on Monday, March 6, 2017 at 5:00PM AST.

With over 13,000 people expected to take in the events, the ECMAs are expecting to have an approximate $3.1 million economic impact on the Saint John region.

Regular and VIP passes are available now. including wristbands for 2017 ECMA stages at bars and clubs, and evening stages at Saint John Trade & Convention Centre. Voting is also now open to the public for the Fans’ Choice Entertainer and Video Of The Year awards, sponsored by The Telegraph Journal. Fans can vote once a day for each award before the deadline on March 15, 2017 at 5PM AST.