Taylor Swift to attend CCMAs in Saskatoon, receive inaugural award

TORONTO – Taylor Swift will attend this year’s Canadian Country Music Association Awards in Saskatoon to accept the inaugural CCMA Generation prize.

Swift will be honoured at the award show on Sept. 9 for going “beyond the borders of the country music genre onto an international stage.”

CCMA board chairman Ted Ellis says Swift has been the top selling country artist in Canada since 2010, and has previously won three CCMA awards for top selling album.

The show will air on CBC-TV at 8 p.m., with encore airings on CMT.

Performers set to take the stage include Gord Bamford, Jason Blaine, Doc Walker, Emerson Drive, Eric Church and Miranda Lambert.

Scottish-born crooner Johnny Reid leads with eight nominations heading into the bash, while Dean Brody of Jaffray, B.C., has seven and Bamford is next with six.

Reid and Brody are also in the running for album of the year, competing against Doc Walker’s “16 & 1,” Paul Brandt’s “Give it Away” and Terri Clark’s Juno-winning record “Roots and Wings.”

The gala will be held at Saskatoon’s Credit Union Centre.