Eric Bearclaw, seen here at around 14,000 feet in northern Pakistan, earned his first Juno nomination this week for his instrumental album Distant Places. (submitted photo)

By Alex Rawnsley

major award

‘Born and raised in Cedar:’ local instrumentalist celebrating first Juno nomination

Feb 16, 2025 | 6:10 AM

NANAIMO — Self-admittedly scared to check whether he’d been nominated, Eric Bearclaw was finally alerted to some recent good news by his former landlord.

Multiple congratulatory texts and calls from friends and family on Tuesday, Feb. 11 helped Bearclaw build the courage to see he’d been nominated for a Juno Award for instrumental album of the year, for his second collection: Distant Places.

The “born and raised in Cedar” Bearclaw told NanaimoNewsNOW the album was produced locally, at the Chamber studio in downtown Nanaimo, and was a labour of love.

“It all started with my classical guitar plugged in through a loop pedal and a bunch of effects to two of my acoustic amps, I started with just the basic riff, it could be two chords and build it from there with the melodies. I would have a rough idea of that, then I go into the studio with Rob (the Viking, producer) and took that idea and beefed it up.”

Inspiration for the album comes from Bearclaw’s travels, finding sounds and styles of music he loves and incorporating them into his own creations.

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All centre around his guitar, despite the wide array of geography he draws from.

“I spent almost a couple of months in Madagascar, Sierra Leone a bit, years ago in Egypt and Lebanon. I like that dark, Middle Eastern oud-sound, the fretless guitars.”

Central and south American influences, along with a love of hip-hop make Bearclaw’s creations unique.

“Some of the parts I play three or four parts and record it with a classical guitar plugged in, some of it sounds totally electric but I’m playing my classical through a bit of distortion, a bit of ‘wah wah’.”

Bearclaw is making plans to attend the event, held this year at Rogers Arena in Vancouver on March 30.

Nanaimo is well-represented at the Juno’s this year, as David Gogo is one of five nominees for Blues Album of the Year. It’s his sixth career nomination for a Juno.

Also recognized is Christine Jensen, who is currently based in Montreal but grew up in Nanaimo.

She and her jazz orchestra were nominated in the Jazz Album of the Year category.

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