Julie Doiron wins NxEW's Shadow Polaris Poll

Julie Doiron has long been admired by Canadian music fans and musicians alike but has never sought rock-star status. She seems perfectly happy to be a successful touring musician with a loyal and always growing fan base but not particularly interested in limos and four star hotels. So it seems fitting that she has had a huge year in a very quiet way. It may not have come from music critics, or the 'music industry' but ordinary fans, the people she's always seemed most interested in have been heaping the love on her. First it was Julie Doiron Day in Bruno Saskatchewan, then her band Eric's Trip was, along with the Rheostatics, inducted in the first year of Zunior's Independent Music Hall of Fame and now, without even being long listed for the real Polaris Prize, he album I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day has won NxEW's Shadow Polaris Prize.

To recap one more time, back in May we asked readers of (and writers for) NxEW to nominate their favorite album of the year, based on artistic merit alone (not popularity). We started with a list of almost 100 albums and then, via open vote, narrowed it and narrowed it until we got down to a top 10 which included Julie Doiron - I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day, Timber Timbre - self titled, Jill Barber - Chances, Chad Van Gaalen - Soft Airplane, Elliott Brood - Mountain Meadows, Joel Plaskett - Three, Hey Rosetta! - Into Your Lungs, Laura Barrett -Victory Garden, Great Lake Swimmers - Lost Channels, and Jenn Grant - Echoes. After another vote, open to everyone which lasted more than a month, Julie Doiron has emerged as your choice in our Shadow Polaris Poll.

Again, sadly, we don't have twenty thousand dollars to give our, or the money to fly everyone in for a star studded gala - all we have is our love and admiration for an amazing artist who keeps getting better.

If you are unfamiliar you can find more about Julie at JulieDoiron.com, myspace.com/juliedoiron, radio3.cbc.ca/bands/Julie-Doiron, on Facebook, Twitter or Wikipedia.

You can also, if you don't already have it, download the single Consolation Prize here.

Consolation Prize by Julie Doiron



Julie Doiron Day in Bruno, SK