The producers of the Electric City Music Conference have announced that nominations are now open for the Steamtown Music Awards, which will take place on Sept. 13 and act as the opening ceremony for the Electric City Music Conference.
Members of the public can nominate their favorite acts in anticipation of the fifth annual local awards ceremony from now through June 17. Nominations can be made by the online at electriccitymusicconference.com/awards. Shortly after the closing of nominations, online voting for the categories that allow public voting will open.
In a press release from the Electric City Music Conference, co-organizer Ken Norton said, “We believe we found the best public voting system possible last year, and we’ll continue to use that until Russia starts tampering with is. As of yet, they haven’t intervened.”
A voting committee comprised of music industry professionals from across the country in conjunction with local music industry professionals will vote on all categories that are not open to the public.
According to a press release from event organizers, nominations are being accepted for the following categories: acoustic/solo, best new artist, blues/R&B, country, DJ, duo, electronic, folk/Americana, hip hop/urban, indie, jam/reggae, jazz/swing/big band, Metal, pop/Top 40, punk/hardcore, rock/alt-rock, tribute/cover, music video of the year, song of the year, and album of the year.
Individual awards will be issued in the following categories: male vocalist, female vocalist, guitarist, bassist, drummer, and best auxiliary musician (keyboard, piano, saxophone, etc.).
Local music industry professionals will be honored in the categories of: recording studio, music publication, music journalist, radio station, radio DJ/personality, podcast of the year, and music photographer.
The local music fan of the year award, new last year, will also return for 2018.
New this year are awards for virtual performer of the year and live performer of the year.
“With the ever-changing state of live music, we’ve seen more and more performers taking to various streaming services to perform live. We thought it was fair to honor those musicians that are taking different routes. But, we also believe that live performances are the bedrock of any local music scene, hence this year’s new awards,” co-organizer Joe Caviston stated in the release.
