Jon Plett has been nominated for the Drummer of the Year by the Manitoba Country Music Awards. However, Plett says the biggest honour is the artists are nominated by their colleagues. "I really like that."

He notes the professional drummers in the gig circuit are a close-knit community. Oftentimes drummers will refer bands to another drummer if they can't make a certain date. "Everybody knows each other."

For the last number of years, Plett has travelled and played with bands like Petric, High Valley and Doc Walker. And while transitioning between bands can be challenging, Plett says the most difficult aspect is the changing role of the drummer.

"You're not just playing drums anymore, you're often the musical director or controlling tracks and doing samples at the same time. What's often the hardest is, I'll often play with four or five bands at a time and they'll all use different software... you just need to know how to operate these different pieces of software."

Looking ahead, Plett will be drumming across the country from Vancouver to Regina and Halifax, before heading south to the US in the new year. "There's often not a lot of heads-up, sometimes you get a gig two weeks before... you often gotta be ready and juggle a bunch of things... that's often where those calls with other drummers happen."

It's those times when he's thankful the community isn't marked by cutthroat competition, "there are so many great players out there," Plett says.

And despite his experience and drumming pedigree, Plett says an award nomination is always nice, "it feels good, it helps to put your self-doubt at rest, at least for a couple minutes."

The awards will be handed out November 10.