Damn record companies -- always trying to keep the artist down.

It's the case even during what should be the musician's time in the spotlight, like the Grammys.

Take Rick Moranis, SCTV alum, who's nominated this year in the comedy album category for his independently released comic country record The Agoraphobic Cowboy.

Moranis, the performer, probably would have loved to have travelled from his New York home to tonight's L.A. ceremony.

But Moranis, the record label and manager, put a kibosh on it.

"Especially since the artist wants to go first-class ..." Moranis says. "And the record company, me, is like 'Who the hell does he think he is?' "

Moranis -- both of them -- admits it would be something of a wasted trip anyway, considering the competition he's up against -- Larry the Cable Guy, Chris Rock, Lewis Black and the producers of The Family Guy.

In fact, he expects it to go something like the last time he was nominated, in 1982, with fellow SCTVer Dave Thomas for their classic Bob and Doug McKenzie record, which lost out to Richard Pryor's Live on the Sunset Strip disc.

But, like many, he considers it an honour to even be nominated.

"It certainly was a surprise," he says. "I don't have any expectations that I'm going to win, but it was very nice to hear.

"But this thing has been full of surprises on a daily basis."

That The Agoraphobic Cowboy was even made is astounding.

Moranis, who had pulled back from showbiz with the exception of vocal work in Disney's Brother Bear and its sequel, merely had a handful of songs he'd play over the phone to friends in the business, who encouraged him.

"There was no idea behind this to reinvent a career or start anything going," he says. "It was just a bunch of people saying 'You should do something with these songs' -- so I did."

Originally it was only to be sold online -- www.rickmoranis.com -- but in a bit of fortuitous luck, the day it went onsale, he also had a satirical oped appear in the New York Times, and the after-credit mentioned the disc.

Of course, the web being the web, word spread and pretty soon interviewers were calling, people were buying, Grammy was nominating, and Canadian distribution was possible -- the album hit national stores yesterday.

"Country immediately got it -- they saw that it was done with reverence, respect for the genre, that I was not mocking country, that I just clearly loved country music, and just wrote some songs," Moranis says.

As to what he'll do to follow up The Agoraphobic Cowboy, Moranis the artist and Moranis the record executive are undecided.

The former has already written a few more songs and the latter may release them just online or as another record.

"There are a lot of possibilities," both say.

"I've never known where this was going to go -- and I still don't."