With yesterday’s release by the Country Music Association of Ontario of the final nominees list for the 2020 Ontario Country Music Awards, here’s a look at another of the categories. This time, let’s take a look at the nominees for Male Artist of the Year and a bit of history with that category.

Aaron Allen and Jade Eagleson are first-time nominees. Jim Cuddy, Eric Ethridge and Andrew Hyatt are previous nominees and were nominated last year. Last year’s winner, Tim Hicks, is also nominated once again. In fact, Tim holds the record for the most wins for Male Artist with 4 trophies, is the only artist to have repeat wins in consecutive years (2014 and 2015), and is the only previous winner to be nominated again this year.

Of note, this year is the first time in the history of this award that Jason Blaine hasn’t made the list of final nominees. That means none of this year’s nominees were nominees back in 2013 when the awards show began. Jason, a previous multiple-winner for Male Artist, Tim and Johnny Reid are the only artists to have won. Here’s the year-by-year winners’ list: Johnny Reid (2013); Tim Hicks (2014); Tim Hicks (2015); Jason Blaine (2016); Tim Hicks (2017); Jason Blaine (2018); and Tim Hicks (2019).

Congratulations to this year’s nominees! The Country Music Association of Ontario awards will be presented on October 4 in London. #CMAOntario