A St. Albert resident will be inducted into the 2018 Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame at an awards ceremony in Hamilton on Sept. 8.
Jackie Rae Greening, CFCW Radio program director and manager of operations, will be only the third woman to receive honours as a Builder Inductee at the CCMA Awards.
A Builder Inductee works behind the scenes mentoring country artists, promoting their work, organizing music events and throwing support behind the Canadian Country Music Association.
As a past chair of CCMA, she organized and hosted two award ceremonies in Edmonton.
“I was born and raised in St. Albert. If you were to ask me as a student at Sir George Simpson in the 1950s if I’d be inducted, I would have said ‘you’re out of your tree.’ But it’s just starting to hit me. It was announced in June, but now that it’s so close, it’s weird. I’m hoping this will only be the middle. There’s more to come from me,” said Greening.
A high-energy personality, Greening started her career in Red Deer in 1982, working at various stations across the province. In 1989, Greening found her niche as marketing director at CFCW, Canada’s first country station.
She later went live with West Montgomery earning an On-Air Personality Award, the first of four CCMA Awards. In 2017, she was inducted into the Alberta Country Music Hall of Fame.
“She’s such a bubbly person. Country music just flows out of her. She eats and breathes music and makes artists shine. We’re so proud to be working with Jackie Rae. She’s not in it for herself. She’s in it for the artists,” said co-worker Brent Shelton, marketing and promotions director for Newcap Edmonton.
All inductees are permitted to select their presenter and Greening chose Brett Kissel. Greening first saw the singer-songwriter perform at the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village as a kid and began promoting him at the station’s parking lot parties and radio booths across town.
They bonded and when Kissel, 18, first moved to the area from Flat Lake, he bunked with Greening for a year in between tours.
“I’ve known him for a decade and he’s grown into a great entertainer, a great singer and a great songwriter. But I’m more proud of the man he’s become, a good husband and father.”
When Greening was asked about career highlights, she paused for a moment.
“Honestly I have to sit back and think for a few minutes. There have been so many. I just love to come to work, talk to people, meet with artists and play their music.”
In support of Greening, several of her most celebrated friends and singer songwriters are hosting “A Toast to Jackie Rae” on Wednesday, Sept. 12, at the Arden Theatre.
“I think it’s going to be more of a roast,” she laughed.
Event performers are the artists Greening has mentored and promoted over the years. However, their names are being kept secret until the event. Rumour has it Danny Hooper will host.
Proceeds will go to support The Little Miracles Trust Fund, a Newcap Radio initiative that has been around for 20 years.
The toast starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $55 and are available at the Arden box office, 780-459-1542.
