Chilliwack trumpet player and singer-songwriter, Bria Skonberg, took home a top Canadian music award on the weekend after winning a Juno for vocal jazz album of the year for her self-titled album, Bria.
“It’s a real honour to be recognized by the industry in my home country,” says Skonberg. “It gives me confidence going into the next round of projects, and inspires me to keep working hard to live up to it.”
Presented annually by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Juno Awards is Canada’s premier awards show and the Canadian music industry’s most prestigious recognition for excellence in recorded music.
Skonberg grew up in Chilliwack, graduated from Chilliwack secondary in 2001, and moved to New York about seven years ago.
This year’s awards took place in Ottawa on Saturday and Sunday where Skonberg was there with her family.
“I was shaking a little from shock while I was at the podium, so I’m glad I had prepared a cheat sheet of thanks,” she says.
Onstage, she thanked her family, husband, producer Matt Pierson, the Pledge Music crowdfunders, the band, the Sony team, her managers, and “my New York community for lifting me up, and the heart of my hometown Chilliwack for keeping me grounded. I dedicated it to all the teachers and mentors I’ve had along the way, from public school through university until now.”
“My parents and husband were there, and it was so wonderful to share that experience with them,” she adds.
Skonberg was nominated for the award earlier this year.
“This (album) is where my voice meets my trumpet, meets my personality, meets my sensibilities. What’s cool about this album… was pulling together all of those ingredients in a cohesive way. I feel like there’s a full picture here,” she said during an interview in February, shortly after being nominated.
Skonberg’s album was up against Quiet Nights by Matt Dusk and Florence K, You’ll Never Know by Heather Bambrick, I’m Still Learning by Barbra Lica, and Words by Amanda Tosoff.
Bria was recorded in the summer of 2015 by Sony Records and released in September 2016. It contains 14 songs with five originals by Skonberg: Curious Game, How Can It Be, My Shadow, Wear and Tear, and Down In The Deep.
The album has quite a variety of moods and feels, and includes trumpet, piano, bass, drums, clarinet, saxophone, vibraphone, and percussion.
And although she’s now used to living in the Big Apple, being at the Junos was “definitely a new experience” for this home-grown Chilliwack woman.
“I had not walked a red carpet until this week,” says Skonberg. “Apparently walking a red carpet is not so much about walking but standing so people take your picture!”
To hear some short clips of the songs on Bria, go to briaskonberg.com.
NOTE: The video below was shot at Cultus Lake, shortly after her Juno nomination in February.