CCMA award nominees talk excitement for Saturday

Dan Clapson, who runs the Blue Jays Sessions, and Teigen Gayse, a singer-songwriter, talk about the festivities leading up to the Canadian Country Music Association Awards in Edmonton on Saturday, in which they are both nominees.

He is nominated for promoter of the year and she for breakthrough artist of the year.

This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

CTV Edmonton Morning Live's Kent Morrison: We are celebrating Canadian country music this morning, ahead of the CCMAs here in the city this weekend. Plenty of things happening around leading up to the show, including the Blue Jay Sessions, which showcase talent to the musicians in a very intimate setting. We also have pickles and peanut butter. So first of all, let's talk about the nomination and your career.

Teigen, how does this feel to be put in the spotlight at the CCMAs?

Teigen Gayse: Oh my gosh. It's very exciting. It's my first nomination and it's my first time performing at the gala, so I could not be more excited.

Kent: Explain to us why we have pickles and peanut butter here.

Teigen: I grew up eating peanut butter and pickle sandwiches and I just thought it was a normal thing that everyone ate, but apparently it is not. Then I became friends with Dan and he also liked peanut butter and pickle sandwiches – now we're besties and here we are.

Kent: Other people have done this, but Dan, the reason we're talking about food is because Blue Jay Sessions combines food and music.

Dan Clapson: Yes. Blue Jay Sessions started in 2019 and it was a Nashville-inspired food pop-up accented by music. Over the past five years, it's really become something special in the country music community. We've worked with so many artists across the country and you know me, I like my food. So I feel like you can go to music events sometimes and the food can be lackluster or sometimes non-existent. That's why we are here.

We're doing the event at Otto, which is an amazing German-style restaurant, and we're working with Blindman Brewing and Dandy Brewing to have some amazing beers on tap.

We also want you to have good food while you're enjoying the good music.

Kent: Teigen, what's it like to have that kind of support (and) opportunities for you to not only be in the spotlight at the awards, but also perform?

Teigen: Performing is my absolute favourite thing. When I'm up there on stage, it is like nothing else in the world matters. It's amazing. It's absolutely amazing. I feel very blessed to have such a wonderful music community and all the support and to be even nominated. I feel like I'm going in the right direction, so it makes me really happy.

Kent: You're going to be at the gala in front of your peers. What's that going to be like?

Teigen: It's going to be crazy. I'm so excited. My parents are coming. It's their first time coming to the CCMAs and I just remember when I was first starting my career, I was like, “I can't wait to go to the CCMAs.”

We were actually talking about that the other day. Like, “Remember a few years ago when you were just so excited to go? Now you're nominated and you're performing.”

Kent: Dan, you've got plenty of other artists performing at the Blue Jays Session?

Dan: Yes, we have many. Artists from all over the country.