The 2011 Western Canadian Music Awards (WCMA) were announced recently, featuring a healthy portion of local Saskatoon artists.

Notables locals are Little Miss Higgins (ya, ya, she lives in Nokomis. Whatever) for Across The Plains, which got a nom for best blues recording; Jen Lane‘s For The Night in the best solo roots category; Shulyer Jansen‘s Voice From The Lake for best duo or group roots recording; Jordan Cook‘s Seven Deadly Sins, which showed up in the rock and independent categories; and The Sheepdogs, whose Learn And Burn was nominated for best rock recording.

This year’s WCMAs will be doled out this fall in Whitehorse, Yukon as part of BreakOut West, which runs from October 20-23.

The wait is almost over. Saskatoon psychedelic rock/pop experimentalists Feral Children have (finally) announced details on the release of their first album as a full band. The self-titled full-length will be released on November 4th, 2011 and will be celebrated with an album release party at Amigos on the same day, which just happens to be the actual date of the Community Radio Society of Saskatoon (CRSS)’s 25th birthday!

FC have made the new songs available to stream on their bandcamp site, so whet your appetite with a little clicking action here. Also, check out the trippy cover art by local cover art aficionado Ben Hettinga:

You can also re-visit an interview our very own Jay Allen did with FC frontman Ryan Davidson a few months back by clicking here.

As previously reported this past spring, local noise-folk-pop ensemble Slow Down, Molasses landed a gig at the End of the Road Festival, which starts tomorrow at the Larmer Tree Gardens in North Dorset, England.

While in the jolly old country, SDM managed to book some other gigs, as well as some various live performances, including this gem, recorded while floating down the Oxford River in something called a punt (those English, they’ve got a word for everything!).

Check out their nautical rendition of Walk Into The Sea track “Feathers:”

Punt Sessions – Slow Down, Molasses from Nick Seagrave on Vimeo.