Boston Music Awards 2016 Nominees Include Meghan Trainor, JoJo
Left PHOTO BY LLOYD BISHOP/NBC; Right Photo by CLIFF LIPSON/CBS
The Boston Music Awards released its list of 2016 nominees on Friday morning and a few local mainstream stars made the cut.
Founded in 1987, the annual ceremony celebrates a mix of indie and high-profile acts from the area, as well as other aspects of the Boston music scene. This year’s show, which takes place at the House of Blues in December, will include four new awards, making for a total of 33 categories.
While it’s not quite the Grammys, the list of 2016 BMA nominees boasts a number of notable artists and bands, particularly in the pop category, as Meghan Trainor, JoJo, and Rachel Platten will all be going head-to-head to be crowned the city’s biggest hit maker. Perennial favorites such as Will Dailey, Speedy Ortiz, Bad Rabbits, and Air Traffic Controller also earned a slew of nominations.
The winners will be decided by the through an online voting system, which kicks off on Friday, September 23, while performers for this year’s BMAs will be announced on Monday, October 10.
Check out the full list of nominees below.
Artist of the Year
Cousin Stizz Marissa Nadler
Michael Christmas
Palehound
PVRIS
The Ballroom Thieves
Album/EP of the Year
Bearstronaut – Telecoast
Cousin Stizz – Monda
Julie Rhodes – Bound to Meet the Devil
Reks – The Greatest X
The Hotelier – Goodness
Worshipper – Shadow Hymns
Song of the Year
Air Traffic Controller – “On the Wire”
Contact – “Never Stop”
Cousin Stizz – “Where I Came From”
Marissa Nadler – “Janie in Love”
PVRIS – “You and I”
Speedy Ortiz – “Death Note”
New Artist of the Year
Animal Flag
Julie Rhodes
Lady Pills
Salem Wolves
Token
Weakened Friends
Live Artist of the Year
Cousin Stizz
The Ballroom Thieves
The Devil’s Twins
Tigerman Woah
Walter Sickert and the Army of Broken Toys
Worshipper
Video of the Year
Air Traffic Controller – “The House”
Kyle Bent – “Supplier”
Palehound – “Molly”
PVRIS – “You and I”
Ruby Rose Fox – “Dance of Frankenstein”
Slaine – “Pusher”
Female Vocalist of the Year
Abbie Barrett
Casey Sullivan (Air Traffic Controller)
Julie Rhodes
Lyndsey Gunnulfsen (PVRIS)
Ruby Rose Fox
Sadie Dupuis (Speedy Ortiz)
Male Vocalist of the Year
Chris Cote
Dietrich Strause
Evan Kenney
Louie Bello
Walter Sickert
Will Dailey
Americana Artist of the Year
Honeysuckle Julie Rhodes
Session Americana
The Ballroom Thieves
These Wild Plains
Tigerman Woah
Blues Artist of the Year
Barrence Whitfield and the Savages
Matthew Stubbs and the Antiguas
Peter Parcek
Shor’ty Billups
The Silks
Willie J. Laws Band
DJ/Producer of the Year
DJ Knife
DJ Slipwax
Frank White
Joe Bermudez
Kon
Leah V
Electronic Artist of the Year
Bearstronaut
CMB
Contact
Freezepop
Party Bois
Radclyffe Hall
Folk Artist of the Year
Dan Blakeslee
Darlingside
Honeysuckle
Tall Heights
The Ballroom Thieves
The Novel Ideas
Hip Hop Artist of the Year
Cousin Stizz
Dutch ReBelle
Michael Christmas
REKS
Slaine
STL GLD
International Artist of the Year
Debo Band
Dub Apocalypse
Rebecca Zama
Roberto Morbioli
Shun Ng
Ubuntu Band
Jazz Artist of the Year
Alison Keslow
Amanda Carr
Esperanza Spalding
Grace Kelly
La Vie en Rose
Yoko Miwa
Metal Artist of the Year
Converge
Gozu
I Am Become Death
Protean Collective
Revocation
Worshipper
Pop Artist of the Year
Clinton Sparks
Contact
JoJo
Meghan Trainor
PVRIS
Rachel Platten
Punk/Hardcore Artist of the Year
Actor|Observer
Ascend/Descend
Choke Up
Rebuilder
Somos
The Hotelier
R&B Artist of the Year
Bad Rabbits
Barrence Whitfield and the Savages
Jesse Dee
Marcela Cruz
Nancia
Shea Rose
Rock/Indie Artist of the Year
Black Beach
Palehound
Pile
Speedy Ortiz
The Devil’s Twins
Vundabar
Singer-Songwriter of the Year
Abbie Barrett
Lori McKenna
Marissa Nadler
Nate Leavitt
Ruby Rose Fox
Will Dailey
Studio Producer of the Year
Benny Grotto
Brian Charles
Dave Brophy
Ed Valauskas
Sean McLaughlin
The Arcitype (Janos Fulop)
Live Production Engineer of the Year
Benjamin Stoppelman
Brendon Downey
Chris Johnson
Dan Gonzales
David Hughes
Reid Calkin
Best Live Music Photographer
Ben Stas
Coleman Rogers
Eddy Leiva
Johnny Anguish
Joshua Pickering
Rich Gastwirt
Best Music Photo of the Year
Will be announced online in October.
Best Promoter
Aaron Gray – Grayskull Booking
Alyssa Spector – Lysten Boston Jason Trefts – Illegally Blind
Lisa Finelli – Xperience Creative
Randi Millman – Atwood’s Tavern
Ryan Agate – RTT Presents
Best Music Night
Corrosion at Brighton Music Hall
Emo Night at the Sinclair
Fresh Produce at Good Life
Heroes at Middle East
Soulelujah at ZuZu
The Workout KBX at Laugh Boston
Best Live Music Venue
Brighton Music Hall
House of Blues
Paradise Rock Club
Royale
The Middle East Downstairs
The Sinclair
Best Live Intimate Music Venue
Club Passim
Great Scott
Lizard Lounge
O’Brien’s Pub
Once Ballroom
Toad
Best Live Ongoing Residency
Baker Thomas Band at Toad
Dennis Brennan at the Lizard Lounge
OldJack’s Last Saturdays at the Lizard Lounge
The Blue Ribbons at Toad
The White Owls at Toad
Tim Gearan at Atwood’s
Session Musician of the Year
Dave Brophy
Duke Levine
Jonathan Ulman
Lyle Brewer
Matthew Girard
Paul Ahlstrand
Best Music Blog
Allston Pudding
Boston Hassle
Guestlisted with Jed Gottlieb
Killer Boom Box
Red Line Roots
Vanyaland
The 2016 Boston Music Awards take place Thursday, December 8 at the House of Blues. Tickets are on sale now. For more infomation, check out bostonmusicawards.com.
