Classic country comes alive during awards weekend (10 photos)

The Northern Country Music Association (NOCMA) inducted ten musicians into The Great Northern Opry and the 2018 Northern Ontario Country Music Hall of Fame during the Northern Ontario Country Music Awards Weekend in Sault Ste. Marie Saturday.

The annual awards show is now in its 29th year.

“We built this from some dances around the city, to covering everywhere from Parry Sound all the way up the north highway going toward Thunder Bay,” said awards weekend music director Scott Infanti.

The NOCMA now has a total of 152 inductees into The Great Northern Opry, and a total of 52 Northern Ontario Country Music Hall of Fame inductees following this year’s awards weekend.

Infanti told SooToday that the NOCMA prides itself on creating a community for lovers of classic country music.

“I think the importance of this is to get recognized and to hang on to that classic sound that seems to be getting lost in the Nashville sector of things,” said Infanti. “It’s almost becoming more poppy, rocky, and we’re trying to hang on to that classic sound a little bit and recognize those people who paved the way for us.”

NOCMA president Dave Patterson says that all three inductees into the Northern Ontario Country Music Hall of Fame Country will receive personally addressed letters from the Canadian Country Music Association.

“I like what we’ve done, and I’m very proud of what we created,” Patterson said. “And we never did it all alone, I’ll tell you that. It took a lot of help.”

Here’s a list of the newest inductees into The Great Northern Opry and the Northern Ontario Country Music Hall of Fame:

The Great Northern Opry

Vern Cheechoo - Cochrane District
Mike Joseph -  Cochrane District
Don Gibbings - Nipissing District
Earl Bell - Algoma District
Cheryl Robbins - Nipissing District
Marc Serre - Sudbury District
Darrin Johnson - Inductee at Large

The 2018 Northern Ontario Country Music Hall of Fame

Yvan Nadeau - Cochrane District,
Frank Robbins - Nipissing District
Jeff Pyette - Manitoulin District

The awards weekend wraps up with Scott Infanti's Great Northern Opry Annual Country Gospel Show Nov. 4, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Quattro Hotel and Conference Centre.