Club Wagon Creek thought last year’s seven Manitoba Country Music Association award nominations might have been a one-time thing. Then the nominations started rolling in again.
The local band is once again well represented among the MCMA nominees, with recognition in several categories, including Group or Duo of the Year, Roots Artist, Duo or Group of the Year and Single of the Year for “Deadwood.” Bassist Jason Whitehead is also nominated for Bassist of the Year, while guitarist Max Dupas is up for Guitarist of the Year.
For Whitehead and Zak Cudney, the nominations are exciting, but there is also a bit of disbelief.
“Last year when we got nominated for seven, I thought that was just a flash in the pan,” Cudney says. “So we were hoping for one this year.”
They even joke that one nomination would be enough to get them into the VIP area and “hang out with the cool kids.”
Instead, they find themselves with another collection of nominations. Whitehead says being nominated for Bassist of the Year is surreal, especially given the other musicians in the category.
“I don’t know how the whole voting thing works, but I mean, I’m happy to be nominated,” he says.
Hear their fun conversation with Country 107 morning host Carly Koop.
A parking ticket becomes an award nominee
One of the biggest surprises for the band is “Deadwood,” which is nominated for Single of the Year.
The song has a somewhat unlikely origin. Cudney says it is based on a real experience involving a parking ticket in Deadwood, South Dakota. He still has the unpaid ticket.
“I have it on my shelf,” Cudney says, adding that the ticket dates back about a decade.
The story may be funny, but Whitehead believes the song connects with listeners because it is rooted in a real experience.
“I like songs that have a story to it,” he adds. “Especially ones that are actually true.”
Cudney says the song was also a departure from some of the band’s previous material, with a heavier, punchier sound and a bit of humour. That combination appears to have struck a chord with listeners.
Finding their own sound
Trying to fit Club Wagon Creek into one musical category is not easy, and the band is perfectly happy with that.
After playing festivals this summer, Cudney says people struggled to describe the band’s sound, mentioning everything from outlaw rockabilly to folk. Whitehead likes that listeners cannot easily put the band in a box.
“We’re not trying to be in a genre,” he says. “We’re writing what we like to write.”
That approach has taken the band to festivals across the Prairies, where they have found themselves playing for crowds they had never seen before.
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More music on the way
The band is carrying that momentum into the fall with more music on the way.
Club Wagon Creek has been working on new songs, including “Home,” which Cudney says audiences have been responding strongly to since the band began playing it live. A music video for the song is also coming.
The band recently released “Run Away From You” and continues to focus heavily on writing and recording.
For Cudney and Whitehead, that creative work is at the heart of what Club Wagon Creek is about.
“We can’t stop writing,” Cudney says.
The band is also preparing for several fall shows, including an October 2 appearance at Osborne Taphouse, an October 9 show in Brandon and an October 23 appearance at Times Changed High & Lonesome Club.
Cast your votes
Now, Club Wagon Creek is asking its fans to get involved on another front.
Voting for the 2026 Manitoba Country Music Awards is now open, with public voting available in select categories. The MCMA says fans can vote through its website, while industry members have voting access to the industry categories.
The awards are set for November 7 at Club Regent Casino and Event Centre in Winnipeg.
For a band that once wondered whether its first wave of nominations was simply a flash in the pan, another round of MCMA recognition is already something worth celebrating.
And for Club Wagon Creek fans, there is a chance to help make the band’s latest nominations count.