Nominations for 2021 Steamtown Music Awards in Scranton are now open
Starting today, nominations for the 2021 Steamtown Music Awards are open from now until Tuesday, Oct. 5.
The public can nominate their favorite artists and music industry professionals for the eighth annual local music awards ceremony, which will be held on Thursday, Nov. 18 and serve as the opening of the Electric City Music Conference in Scranton.
Nominations are accepted by visiting electriccitymusicconference.com/awards.
“It’s been a tough year for everyone, but great music was born of it. That being said, we pushed the nominations back until Aug. 2 to give time for more music and performances to get out there,” ECMC co-founder Joe Caviston said.
“Unfortunately, for this year only, due to limitations brought about due to the pandemic, we had to scale back on a few of the awards offerings.”
Nominations will close on Oct. 5, and online voting for the award categories that allow public voting will open shortly after that.
A panel that consists of local music industry professionals and past award recipients will vote on all awards.
Nominations are being accepted for the following categories: Acoustic/Solo, Best New Artist, Blues/R&B, Country, DJ, Duo/Trio, 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 Station of the Year, Radio/Podcast Personality, Sound Engineer of the Year, Local Producer/Recording Engineer, and Music Photographer.
As was the case last year, artists and professionals can once again self-nominate for the awards.
“Sometimes hidden gems get overlooked. We’ve had great success with the self-nomination process. It gives everyone a fair chance to be recognized,” Caviston noted.
Applications to perform at the 2021 Electric City Music Conference in various venues throughout Scranton opened last month. Those applications will close on Monday, Sept. 20.
“We’re excited to have many new bands, old friends, and a handful of new venues participating in this year’s event. A lot has changed after being locked up inside for a year and a half. We’re ready to get back at it, and we have some major surprises in store for everyone,” Caviston said.
“Stay tuned for major announcements, coming to you via NEPA Scene, of course.”
Electric City Music Conference 2021 timeline
Monday, July 12: Applications to perform opened
Friday, July 16: Nominations for the Steamtown Music Awards opened
Monday, Sept. 20: Applications to perform close
Friday, Sept. 24: Nominations for the Steamtown Music Awards close
Thursday, Oct. 14: Online voting for the Steamtown Music Awards opens
Monday, Nov. 1: Online voting for the Steamtown Music Awards closes
Thursday, Nov. 18: Steamtown Music Awards
Friday, Nov. 19 and Saturday, Nov. 20: Electric City Music Conference
Photo by Keith Perks/1120 Studios
