聽 聽 聽Country artist and Kennedy native Eli Barsi celebrated her 30th year in the music business by taking home top honours-as Roots Artist of the Year- at the Saskatchewan Country Music Awards, April 26 in Yorkton. Barsi's husband, John Cunningham, was also honoured, taking home the trophy in the All Star Band (Specialty) category.
聽聽聽聽 鈥淭he Saskatchewan Country Music Association is a great organization that works hard to represent the province's country music artists, musicians, and industry-related people,鈥� says Barsi. 鈥淪ince moving back to the province a few years ago, my husband and I rejoined the organization and are happy to contribute and take part in as many of the SCMA's events as possible.鈥�
聽聽聽聽 鈥淲e were both very honoured and thrilled to be the recipients of a couple of awards this past weekend at the SCMA's annual event. My husband, John Cunningham, received the award for All Star Band (specialty), and I was blessed to receive the Roots Artist award for the second consecutive year.鈥�
聽聽聽聽 Barsi's career as a singer, songwriter, recording artist-and even yodeler-has culminated in a unique sound that embraces elements of western roots, bluegrass, gospel, and folk. She began performing 鈥淲hen I was three- or four-years-old, learning complete songs for the family.鈥�
聽聽聽聽 After leaving college, moving to Nashville at the age of 20, and after 10 years of playing venues in the U.S. And Canada, Barsi started her recording career as an independent artist, releasing singles to country radio and videos to CMT (Country Music Television).
聽聽聽聽 Her bluegrass, gospel, and western roots recordings brought Barsi to the attention of the iconic Sons of the Pioneers, which led her to a 10-year career performing in Branson, Missouri.
聽聽聽聽 Now back in Canada, Moosomin-based Barsi says her 30th year as a full-timer in the music business will be a busy one, both promoting and performing music from her critically-acclaimed album, 鈥淧ortrait of a Cowgirl鈥� and writing new material for her next album.
聽聽聽聽 鈥淢y 2015 music schedule has already been very busy with many shows so far south of the border, including Texas, Nevada, Tennessee, Virginia, Colorado, and Oklahoma,鈥� says Barsi. 鈥淲e look forward to being in Canada a little more this summer with festivals and concerts in Saskatchewan, Alberta, Ontario, B.C., and Manitoba.鈥�
聽聽聽聽 鈥淚f anyone would like to catch a performance, we welcome them, and my tour schedule is on my website at www.elibarsi.com.鈥�
