Submitted to Cashbox Canada
Big Win for Ann Vriend! Ann Vriend is more than thrilled that she has won the Toronto Blues Society’sCOBALT PRIZE at the recent 2019 Maple Blues Awards event. The event took place Monday night at Toronto’s Koerner Hall where Vriend was handed the award for Contemporary Blues Composition/Songwriting for her song "It’s Happening." Commissioned for a school fundraiser, the students of Sifton Elementary School Choir accompany AV on this empowering and gritty, inner-city soul anthem. This is the second Cobalt prize win for Vriend, who also picked up the prestigious award in 2017 for "All That I Can" (Aporia Records).
As part of the same project, the song“FLAME” was recorded with Edmonton’s Highlands Junior High School
The Toronto Blues Society’s annual Cobalt Prize is judged on a song’s ability to creatively utilize blues traditions within the broad contemporary musical landscape. With a focus on melody, song structure, lyric etc. they also choose the song that “will refresh and enrich blues as an art form."