Nominations for the 2019 Steamtown Music Awards now open, with new categories and nomination changes
Starting today, nominations for the 2019 Steamtown Music Awards are open from now until Thursday, June 30.
The public can nominate their favorite acts for the sixth annual local music awards ceremony, which will be held on Thursday, Sept. 12 and serve as the opening ceremony for the Electric City Music Conference in Scranton.
Nominations will close on Sunday, June 30, and online voting for the award categories that allow public voting will open shortly after that.
“The online voting is always a nightmare, but we think it’s important to involve the public. We’re implementing yet another system this year. We’ll see how it goes,” noted co-organizer Ken Norton.
Nominations are accepted by visiting electriccitymusicconference.com/awards.
Local music industry professionals will vote on all other awards in addition to the voting committee comprised of music industry professionals from across the country.
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.
Nominations for individual awards are as follows: Male Vocalist, Female Vocalist, Guitarist, Bassist, Drummer, and Best Auxiliary Musician (Keyboard, Piano, Saxophone, etc.).
Local music industry professionals will again be honored in the following categories: Recording Studio, Music Publication, Music Journalist, Radio Station/Podcast, Radio/Podcast Personality, and Music Photographer.
New in 2019, Local Sound Engineer of the Year and Local Producer/Recording Engineer of the Year have been added to this year’s ceremony.
Also new to 2019, artists can now self-nominate for the awards.
“The public nominations will always make up the majority of the nomination process. However, this year, we wanted to test out an additional system, so we’re going to allow artists to nominate themselves for the musician categories. We’re hoping to find a diamond in the rough and prevent anyone from being overlooked,” explained co-producer Joe Caviston.
Applications to perform at the 2019 Electric City Music Conference, which runs through Saturday, Sept. 14 in various venues throughout the Scranton area, opened last week.
Last year’s conference featured performances by over 150 bands from five states in 10 venues throughout the Scranton area, the Steamtown Music Awards ceremony with many new awards and special performances of its own, and free panel discussions and mentoring sessions for local musicians, professionals, and music fans. As the largest event of its kind in Northeastern Pennsylvania, this celebration of the diverse local music scene is much more than a music festival, bringing hundreds of artists and music industry professionals together annually to meet and network while recognizing and showcasing established and up-and-coming musicians.
Organized by music promoter Joe Caviston and Graces Downfall singer Kenneth Norton, the ECMC worked with Scranton media production and web development company Ionic Development to produce the 2018 aftermovie, which premiered on NEPA Scene two weeks ago:
The conference also released its timeline of events for its sixth year.
Electric City Music Conference 2019 timeline:
Monday, Feb. 25: Electric City Music Conference performance applications open
Monday, March 4: Steamtown Music Award nominations open
Saturday, June 29: Steamtown Music Award nominations close
Sunday, July 14: Nominee and lineup announcement event
Thursday, Sept. 12: Steamtown Music Awards
Friday, Sept. 13 and Saturday, Sept. 14: Electric City Music Conference
See NEPA Scene’s photos from the 2018 ECMC announcement party here, the 2018 Steamtown Music Awards here, and the entire Electric City Music Conference here. Listen to Caviston and Norton talk about the conference and the awards in depth in Episode 75 of the NEPA Scene Podcast:
Photo by Keith Perks/1120 Creative/NEPA Scene
