TORONTO -- A handful of Canadians won big at Sunday night’s Grammy awards, including music producer and engineer Shawn Everett and “Weird Al” Yankovic guitarist Jim West.
Everett won the award for Best Engineered nonclassical album, for his work on Beck’s “Hyperspace.” He was nominated for two other albums in the same category, including singer Brittany Howard’s “Jamie” and “Black Hole Rainbow” by Devon Gilfillian.
“Sometimes you're dealt with a nice hand,” Everett told CTV News Channel on Monday after winning his sixth Grammy award.
The Alberta native says that he never imagined winning a Grammy when he was growing up, but it was the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity where he would pick up his knowledge of music production and engineering.
“Growing up in small town Alberta, there's like a lot of free time. So, you know, you can either go outside and play in the forest or record lawnmowers,” he added.
Guitarist Jim West, best known for working with “Weird Al” Yankovic, won his first Grammy award on Sunday for his solo album "More Guitar Stories."
West accepted the award for Best New Age album but encountered some technical difficulties and was inaudible throughout his acceptance speech. He later posted a video of his remarks on YouTube.
“They couldn't hear me for some reason. We went through a long soundcheck and everything and the producers were ready. And as soon as they announced my award, I started talking and all of a sudden they cut right to the next award. And I thought, well, that's really strange,” West explained to CTV News.
West says his latest project combines a mixture of elements that are all held together by the sound of guitar strings. “It's a very chilled out record that uses these Hawaiian slack key guitar tunings that I've been studying for a long time. And it uses those tunings and applies it to a lot of different music genres,” he said.
West says he received a text from his long-time collaborator “Weird Al” Yankovic shortly after news of his Grammy win was announced.
Yankovic later sent out a tweet saying, “I'm so incredibly happy and proud to say that Jim "Kimo" West, my amazingly talented friend who has played guitar in my band for nearly 40 years, has just won his first Grammy (for Best New Age Album). Congratulations, @westernmost!”
When asked about the impact Canadian artists are having on the music industry West said, “There are more and more great Canadian artists. You know, doing really well earning getting Grammys and awards and selling, you know, millions of records. It's just an amazing time for Canadian artists.”
Other Canadian winners included pop star Justin Bieber and Montreal DJ Kaytranada.
Bieber won the award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance for his song “10,000 Hours” with Dan and Shay, securing the 27-year-old Stratford, Ont. native his second Grammy.
Kaytranada went home with two awards. The 28-year-old record producer and DJ won Best Dance/Electronic Album for “Bubba” and Best Dance Recording for his track "10%” featuring singer Kali Uchis.
"This is crazy. This is insane," Kaytranada, born Louis Celestin, said from a remote location as he accepted his award. "I'm taking this one back to Montreal."
With files from the Canadian Press