Preston Pablo of Timmins wins first Juno, performed

Preston Pablo reflects on Juno win & performance Timmins' own Preston Pablo reflects on his Juno win for breakthrough artist of the year & performance at the awards.

Preston Pablo of Timmins is celebrating a career-making achievement, having won the Juno Award for breakthrough artist earlier this week.

Pablo was nominated in two other categories and also performed his hit single Flowers Need Rain during the awards.

He told CTV News he is still in disbelief and processing the wild night at the Juno Awards in Edmonton, Alta., on Monday night.

“This crazy 10, 15 minutes of just… insanity,” Pablo said.

The event saw the artist mark several firsts off his Canadian music career checklist in only a few short hours.

Pablo said performing at the Junos was already a far-off thought, let alone winning one and being nominated for three of them.

He said his sole focus heading into the event was on giving a great performance. “I knew it was going to be live on TV,” said Pablo.

“I knew that everybody back home was going to be watching, my family was in the crowd.”

Minutes before he was set to take the stage, he heard his name called not for sound checks but as the winner of Breakthrough Artist of the Year.

“I was holding the Juno, walking through the halls and, like, just trying to wrap my mind around the whole thing,” said Pablo.

“Then I’m like, ‘Oh, I still got to perform. I still gotta take a breath and, like, get myself together because I have to do one of the biggest performances of my career.’”

Pablo told CTV News being surrounded by some of the country’s top artists like Jessie Reyez, Tate McRae, Nickelback and Avril Lavigne – whose table was right beside his – was surreal.

“I definitely made eye contact (with her), you know, so that counts,” said Pablo.

He said he credits much of his success to the people around the world who found him on social media and supported him over the last few years.

Cultural Industries Ontario North (CION) said that many northern musicians hope to share in Pablo’s dream come true of being discovered online and that social media is now an essential tool for artists.

“He’s worked it into his personality, where he’s comfortable using it,” said CION music sector development officer Melanie St-Pierre.

“So, when he’s using it, he doesn’t feel like it’s taking away from his personality and things like that - like, he just is himself on there and people love that.”

St-Pierre said while finding fame or being discovered is not going to happen for every musician, creating an online presence is an important skill to learn in the music industry.

Pablo said he is soaking it all in as he prepares for his first headlining show Friday and he plans to write more music inspired by his emotions in those life-changing moments at the Junos.

“It’s going to be a lot of happy music, a lot of bright-sounding music,” he said.

Pablo also said he is working on making a memorable appearance in his hometown soon.

“I want to make sure that when that happens, it’s the best show that I have,” he said.

Right now, Pablo said he is looking to release some more singles and an EP then — when he has more experience, a full album.

Even after all of this attention, he said he is still learning and growing and wants to try to stay humble.

For more updates on Pablo’s career and music, visit his Facebook page.

A complete list of Juno award winners can be found here.