EXCLUSIVE: Steamtown Music Awards unveils nominees, voting process, and ceremony info in Scranton
Following Monday’s virtual nomination event, the Steamtown Music Awards is listing all the nominees and breaking down more details on the award ceremony and voting process today on NEPA Scene.
Step 1: The in-person award ceremony
The Steamtown Music Awards ceremony will take place on Sept. 10, 11, and 12 at The V-Spot in Scranton for the seventh consecutive year. This year’s ceremony will look different, though. There will be no tent outside, and we’ll be unable to have a large audience in the building.
The health and safety of our community is the No. 1 priority of both the Steamtown Music Awards and The V-Spot. Therefore, we will adhere to all local, state, and federal guidelines that are in place at the time of the ceremony. Whatever audience is allowed in the venue, per the designated legal capacity of The V-Spot (906 Providence Rd., Scranton), will be administered on a first-come, first-served basis.
We will adhere to and exceed safety precautions. Face masks and social distancing guidelines will be strictly enforced.
There will be live performances every night of the event.
What won’t change? We’re going to provide you with a quality award ceremony. Our No. 1 priority is to honor the area’s musicians and music industry professionals.
Also, The V-Spot still has some of the best bar food available in the area.
Step 2: The live streaming award ceremony
We’ve partnered with Scranton media production company Ionic Development, known for producing striking music videos, their Juicebox Sessions series, local live music streams, the Electric City Music Conference aftermovies, and the current iteration of the NEPA Scene Podcast, to make this the most high-quality live streaming experience available. This isn’t going to be a guy on stage talking into a cellphone. We promise to bring you a professional production.
Over three nights, we’ll live stream the event via Facebook and/or YouTube. We’ll make it as accessible as possible for you. There might be some other cool streaming site that Justin from Ionic knows about as well. He’s younger and cooler than we are.
Like I said previously, we’ll read the nominees and “present” the awards like we always do. We’ll also have live performances each night.
Our longtime partners NEPA Scene and 1120 Studios will again be involved in documenting the event as well. I have all the confidence in the world that photographer Keith Perks and journalist Rich Howells will be able to effectively document the event.
Step 3: The public online award voting process
Every year, a few of the awards are decided by online voting. This year and this year only, we will feature a live voting element for every award. We have found that the online voting polls get shared a lot and result in a lot of attention for the nominees. Our hope is that these online voting polls provide bands with a source of promotion in this difficult year.
We’re five months into quarantine and even the bands that are amazing at promotion are running out of content to excite their fans. The hope is that this allows them to excite their fan base and captivate their audience.
The online voting will not determine who wins the Steamtown Music Award – that will still be decided by a committee. The winners of the online voting will be crowned the “People’s Choice” in their respective categories. We will recognize them at the award ceremony and they will be presented with a special certificate of achievement.
All online voting will take place via Facebook polls in the 2020 Steamtown Music Awards’ Facebook event page.
Step 4: The award selection process
We’ll quickly recap the Steamtown Music Award process for those who are interested. The nominees which you can see below were all nominated by the public. Public nominations take place from Jan. 1-May 31 each year. The public can nominate their favorites, and artists can even nominate themselves through a self-nomination form.
To prevent the awards from turning into a “popularity contest,” the winners are determined by a nonpartisan committee. The members of this committee are members of the local music community, bar owners, venue owners, journalists, radio personalities, fans, and lifelong musicians. Members of the committee are not permitted to vote on any categories that they have a personal connection to. All voting takes place anonymously through an online system.
Step 5: The 2020 Steamtown Music Award nominees
Best New Artist
Channel 65
CJ Suprxme
Don’t Panic
Down By 5
Fatal Betrayal
Fatal Misconception
J3R1CH0
Starving Hysterical Naked
The Sorters
Theme for a Sinner
Tori Viccica
The Contact Collective
Mellifluous
Twin Lakes
RadioRiot!
Kay Kay
Flowers for You
Acoustic/Solo Artist of the Year
Christian Gratz
Dustin Douglas
Mike Elward
Sarah Carne
Shannon Marsayda
Chris Shrive
Derek Nowak
Tori Viccica
Blues/Funk/Soul Act of the Year
Brendan Brisk
Dustin Douglas & The Electric Gentlemen
JP Williams Blues Band
The Contact Collective
Moodswing
Teddy Young and the Aces
Country Act of the Year
Big Country
Flatland Ruckus
Jack’d Up Country
Runnin’ on Whiskey
The Wells River Band
Tommy Guns Band
DJ/Electronic Act of the Year
DJ Hersh
DJ Pat Moore
DJ Quoth
Cryptic
Lady Hectic
FlipSwitch
Duo/Trio of the Year
Five7Ohh
Friendly Frye Duo
Holy Sardine
The MDG Crew
Mr. Jones and Me
The Frost Duo
The Boastfuls Duo
Remedy Lights
Folk/Americana/Bluegrass Act of the Year
The Sorters
The Mule Team
Tedd Hazard
American Buffalo Ghost
Remedy Lights
Spud
Hip-Hop/Rap/R&B Artist of the Year
Joe Grizzy
Lucas Hex
Maine the Medicine
The KP
en7er-pr1ze
G Lyrekal
Indie Rock Act of the Year
Alma Mater
Joe Burke & Co.
Kali Ma and the Garland of Arms
The Cryptid
Don’t Panic
The Robinsonade
Jam/Reggae Act of the Year
Elephants Dancing
Myal Soul
The Tribe
Static in the Attic
Sterling Koch and Freeway Jam
Zayre Mountain
Metal Act of the Year
The Aegean
Black Nihil
Behind the Grey
Brotality
Paladin’s Death
Traverse the Abyss
Pop/Top 40 Act of the Year
Modern Ties
The MDG Crew
Flowers for You
TySoul
Nowhere Slow
Tatiana
Punk/Hardcore Act of the Year
AlphaAudio
Blind Choice
Cut Up Naked Teenagers
The Maguas
Theme for a Sinner
Starving Hysterical Naked
Rock/Alternative Act of the Year
Lifer
E57
The Boastfuls
University Drive
The Holtzmann Effect
Soul Satellite
Tribute/Cover Band of the Year
Bad Liars
Bing King Moose
Dance Hall Devils
Down by 5
Friendly Fyre
The Taxmen
Female Vocalist of the Year
Alecia Powell
Courtney Hahn
Leah Beth Evans
Shannon Marsyada
Tatiana Tell
Tori Viccicia
JoyLynne Raye Frie
Alyssa Fusaro
Male Vocalist of the Year
Derek Nowak
Richie Zackoski
James Barrett
Jordan Ramirez
Martin Monahan
Nick Montini
Tyler Zeiss
Steven Murphy
Guitarist of the Year
AJ Larsen
Christian Gratz
Dave Kline
Dustin Douglas
Jeff Symons
Matt Anneman
Rob Husty
Tyler Salak
Bassist of the Year
Ben Roper
Chris Benitez
Lenny Mecca
Luke Seeley
Mike Capwell
Mike Fedysky
Eric Novroski
Aaron Kovalich
Drummer of the Year
Chris Langan
Jerry Bruno
Mark Montella
Seth Mahaffey
Tanner Snyder
Tommy Smallcomb
George Pachucy
Sean Cunningham
Music Video of the Year
Don’t Panic – “Fall of 99”
Alma Mater – “Fade to Grey”
Cut Up Naked Teenagers – “Anything But a Tomorrow”
Dustin Douglas – “Santa Claus Is Back in Town”
Modern Ties – “Supernatural”
Maine the Medicine x Amanda Rogan – “I’m Tryin”
Soul Satellite – “Shindig”
The Maguas – “Actions Speak Louder Than Words”
The Tribe – “Highlights”
Toothless – “Grinner”
Song of the Year
The Aegean – “Arethusa”
Modern Ties – “Outside the Lines”
Patrick McGlynn – “The Man in the Cannon” (2020)
The Sorters – “Ocean Beach”
Zayre Mountain – “Into the Fire”
Anytime Soon – “End of an Era”
Lifer – “The Start of Something Else”
Lucas Hex – “Bloodshot”
The Boastfuls – “Tequila”
Kali Ma and the Garland of Arms – “Something Else”
Album/EP of the Year
Tom Flannery and the Shillelaghs – “Peace and Love and Dollar Pints”
Adam Farley – “Disrupt the System”
Christian Gratz – “1979”
James Barrett – “The Price of Comfort”
Gus the Savage – “Savage ’20”
Tori Viccica – “Tori V”
Canedy – “Warrior”
Brendan Brisk – “Relaxylvania”
Maine the Medicine – “B.U.T.C.H.”
A Fire With Friends/Sweetnest – “Bearings” split EP
Recording Studio of the Year
The Stude
After Image Studios
JL Studio
Papa Bear Studio
Republic Audio Studio
SI Studios
Saturation Acres
Soundmine Recording Studio
Windmill Agency
The Goat Lair Studio
Producer/Recording Engineer of the Year
AJ Larsen
Bret Alexander
Cliff Evans
Clyde Rosencrance
Daniel Malsch
Eric Novroski
Eric Ritter
Jay Preston
Joe Loftus
Joe Wegelski
John Rogniski
Tom Ferranti
Music Publication/Blog of the Year
The Weekender
NEPA Scene
Highway 81 Revisited
Direct Access World Wide
Access NEPA
5-7-0 Press
Music Journalist/Reviewer of the Year
Alan K. Stout
Rich Howells
Alonna Weaver
Eric Schlittler
Pat Kernan
Michael Lello
Music/Concert Photographer of the Year
Emily Sulkowski
Emma Black
Jason Riedmiller
Keith Perks
Tom Bonomo
Dominique Kożuch
Alex Seeley
Local Radio Station of the Year
105 The River
88.5 WRKC
97.9x
98.5 KRZ
Alt 92.1
Rock 107
90.3 WESS
91.7 VMFM
Local Radio/Podcast/Streaming Personality of the Year
Alan K. Stout
Duffy
Hoover
Popko
Lazy E
Lissa Kranke
Prospector
Ferg
Live Performer of the Year
Dustin Douglas & The Electric Gentlemen
University Drive
The Boastfuls
Runnin’ on Whiskey
Threatpoint
Alma Mater
Joe Burke & Co.
Mr. Jones & Me
Local “Sound Guy”/Sound Engineer of the Year
Ben Bush
Darren Fernandes
Joseph Wegleski
Matt Kester
Mike Magdon
Michael Snopkowski
Steve Zampano
Will Perna
New category – Live Performance/Concert of the Year
Behind the Grey – “Treason” EP release show at The Place in Scranton
E57 – “Heavy Seas and Smashing Skies” anniversary show at the Border Bar in Pittston
The Boastfuls – “Tequila” release show at Stage West in Scranton
James Barrett – “The Price of Comfort” release show at Stage West
Elephants Dancing and Bumpin Uglies at Stage West
Nowhere Slow on Thanksgiving Eve at The V-Spot in Scranton
Toothless at Karl Hall in Wilkes-Barre
Joe Burke & Co. at Karl Hall
New category – Local Podcast/Streaming Series of the Year
Alt-Natives on Alt 92.1
Rock This Way Podcast
Juicebox Sessions
NEPA Scene Podcast
Lissa’s Live and Local Podcast
NEPA Lime Light
97.9X Locals Only
Music on the Menu with Alan K. Stout
New category – Best Place to See a Concert/Show
Border Bar
Finnegan’s IRC
Karl Hall
River Street Jazz Cafe
Stage West
The V-Spot
The Sherman Theater
F.M. Kirby Center
New category – Videographer/Video Producer of the Year
Justin Goreschak / Ionic Development
Jon Edwards / Contention Media
Markie Dennebaum / TwentyFiveEight Studios
Stephen Reuther / Reuther Productions
Jeffrey Jaremko / Party on the Patio
Michael Belardi
Matthias Claflin
Luis Medina / Kolo TV
See NEPA Scene’s photos from the 2019 Steamtown Music Awards ceremony at The V-Spot here.
Photo by Keith Perks/1120 Studios/NEPA Scene
