Pedal Pusher, a rap number by Abdominal (Andy Bernstein) about whizzing around Toronto on a bike, has won the ECHO Songwriting Prize.
Bernstein, who co-wrote his song with Rodney Pleasant, received the $5,000 award before a performance at Pop Montreal on Thursday. Pedal Pusher pulled ahead of four other contenders by Montreal's Besnard Lakes, Calgary's Chad VanGaalen, the Winnipeg band Nathan, and Toronto's Feuermusik.
Catherine Leduc took the French-language version of the ECHO Prize, for her song L'ours, as performed by Tricot Machine.
The short lists for both prizes were compiled by panels of music journalists and producers. The winners were determined by an online poll, in which repeated voting was permitted.