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CBC: Silence to song: Jaylene Johnson’s Juno nod comes after serious vocal cord injury

February 8, 2017 — 

As CBC reports, alumna Jaylene Johnson [BEd/2001] is nominated for a Juno.

Not long ago, Manitoba’s Jaylene Johnson was ready to give up her musical career after surgery left her without a voice. Now, her solo album has been nominated for a Juno Award.

The nominees for the annual Canadian music prizes were announced on Tuesday, including four Manitoba musicians.

Johnson was nominated for contemporary Christian or gospel album of the year for her album Potter & Clay.

“This is very personal because first of all I never expected I’d be able to sing again, let alone make a record,” Johnson said on CBC Radio’s Up To Speed Tuesday.

“The fact that it’s being acknowledged in this way means a lot to me.”

The Winnipeg musician has released several albums, but a head-on collision in late 2004 took her off the stage for a number of years. During that time she started co-writing songs and in 2011 she was nominated for Juno for writing with Eagle and Hawk.

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