Sure, Vancouver Island may be full of hippie wildlife artists, burnt-out students, and retirees driving around with their left signals perpetually blinking, but there is no denying that when it comes to music, the residents of the western world's last bastion have impeccable taste. One need look no further than folk trio The Gruff, winners of the 2007 Vancouver Island Music Awards' Artist of the Year, to see that those moose-painting, weed-smoking, slow-driving music fans know what time it is.

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