Laura Vinson named female artist of the year

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Metis country-pop singer Laura Vinson received a standing ovation from her peers Jan. 28 at the Alberta Recording Industry Association Awards (ARIA) ceremonies when she was named Female Recording Artist of the Year.

She also won Music Score of the Year for 'Paint Me A Story', which she wrote for an ACCESS Network TV film. The ceremonies were broadcast live from Edmonton by Shaw Cable.

A visibly-surprised Vinson beat out last year's winner -- female recording artist of the year Mary Lou Somnor -- and promising young singer Kerri Anderson.

"This was the first time I ever won any vocal award. It was pretty surprising. I screamed my head off!" she gushed in an interview last week.

Last year, Vinson received an award from the Calgary Country Music Association and another from Alberta Achievement.

Vinson has been nominated for half a dozen Juno Awards and many other country music awards throughout her career, but had never won.

Ironically, while she took a break from the country music scene last year and in semi-retirement, she won a number of awards.

But Vinson might no have garnered the accolades from her peers and fans had she pursued her ambitions to be a teacher.

In the early 1970s, she lived what some may call a double life. By day, she attended classed at the University of Alberta and by night she played with 'Bitter Sweet', a house band at the Corona Hotel.

"It paid my way through school. I eventually had to drop my early morning class," she recalled.

In 1973, Vinson received her Bachelor of Education from the U of A. At the time there wasn't a demand for teachers, so Vinson changed her career goals and she followed her heart to pursue music.

It has taken her 22 years in the music business for the Metis singer to gain the popularity and prestige that she has.

Last year proved to be a great year for her. Both she and Dave Martineau, a fellow musician, put together a single titled "Gunshy" for Alberta Country, a showcase album of Alberta musicians.

The promo package, which was sent to the United States and Europe, has received a lot of interest.

In 1989, the plight of the Lubicon Lake Band tugged at the Metis singer's heart and inspired her to put together a long titled "Spirit Sings". It soon became the title track for a special request album.

And last summer, the country-pop singer came out with a popular song titled, 'Indian Summer'.

In 1989, she had what many would call a good year in the music industry, providing three music scores for an ACCESS series titles 'Native Imagery' with two of the scores receiving ARIA nominations.

This year Vinson will be collaborating with other musicians on a music score for film producer Stu Mitchell's 'Decade of Champions', which will be seen on CFRN. An airing date has yet to be set.