Wow. Color us impressed. The article revealing the nominations for the LA Music Critic Awards for the first half of 2017 has set records for Indie Voice Blog. During the past two weeks, the article alone generated 3,706 views in 36 different countries, who left a staggering 526 comments. Overall, our blog has seen 4,523 total views during the same two week period. We thank you for your support of indie music. Without further ado, here are the winners for the first half of 2017. The winner’s name is indicated in bold type.
BEST EP (Male) – Joe Goodkin (Record of Loss); Ed Prosek (Flesh and Blood Part 1); Ian Mahan (Rockford); Ray Goren (Free)
BEST EP (Female) – Meresha (Enter the Dreamland); Carrie Lane (California Freaks); Kris Angeles (Heartbreak is Contagious)
BEST EP (Group) – Gold Casio (Fever Dreams); Stereo Off (EP III); Echo Underground (Vows); Rococode (Young Ones); The Wild Now (Afterglow)
BEST CD (Male) – Chris Shifflett (West Coast Tour); Rod Melancon (Southern Gothic); David Ryan Harrris (Songs for Other People); AJ Hobbs (Too Much is Never Enough); Jared Tyler (Dirt on Your Hands)
BEST CD (Female) – Janey Street (In my Own Skin); Wendy Sweetlove (Dirty Sunday); Sara Petite (The Road Less Traveled); Jennifer Vazquez (Rediscovering Me); Amilia K. Spicer (Wow and Flutter)
BEST CD (Group) – The American West (The Soot Will Bring us Back Again); Jeffrey Halford and the Healers (Lo-fi Dreams); King Washington (Potential); The Dream Eaters (We are a Curse); The Show Ponies (How it all Goes Down); Breaking Grass (Warning Signs)
BEST VIDEO (OFFICIAL) (Male) – Curtis Peoples (“Damage Control”); Dario (“Good Morning World”); Jared Tyler (“Dirt on Your Hands”); Rod Melancon (“Different Man”); Chris Shiflett (“Sticks and Stones”); Michael Hornbuckle (“Angel”)
BEST VIDEO (OFFICIAL) (Female) – MILCK (“Quiet”); Alice Wallace (“The Same Old Song”); Shannon Hurley (“Someday”); See (“Green Line Killer”); Marina V (“Born to the Stars”); Cindy Alexander (“Deep Waters”)
BEST VIDEO (OFFICIAL) (Group) – Backbone (“Supa Waz Guy”); The Wild Now (“Run for Your Life”); The Show Ponies (“Kalamazoo”); Halo Circus (“Band Aid”); King Washington (“My Reflection”)
BEST VIDEO (LIVE) – Jerad Finck (“Pieces of April”); The Spider Accomplice (“User”); Chelsea Williams (“Boomerang”); Gabe Dixon (Balcony TV) (“Holding Her Freedom”); Lucy and La Mer (Balcony TV) (“Honey, Put Your Weapons Down”)
BEST VIDEO (LYRIC) – The Spider Accomplice (“Atmosphere”); Gerry Beckley (“Serious”); Jennifer Vazquez (“Rocked”); Jennifer Vazquez (“Worst Enemy”); Gigi Rich (“All in my Head”)
BEST VIDEO (COVER) – Alexis Keegan (“When Doves Cry”/”Purple Rain”); The Daybreaks (“Nothing Compares 2 U”); Dave Yaden (“Humble”); Frank Shiner (“Rainy Night in Georgia”)
BEST VIDEO (COMEDY) – Scout Durwood (“All the Pretty Bottles”); Scout Durwood (“Take One Thing Off”); Un5Gettable (“Honest Singing Telegrams – part 2”)
BEST VIDEO (COLLABORATION) – Curtis Peoples & Marie Digby (“Not Enough Drugs”); Frank and Lindsay Shiner (“When Something is Wrong With my Baby”); DJ Polique (ft. Snoop Dog, Follow Your Instinct and Jacob Luttrell) (“Dimes Only”)
BEST SINGLE (Male) – Curtis Peoples (“Damage Control”); Frank Shiner (“Rainy Night in Georgia”), Jerad Finck (“New Kids”)
BEST SINGLE (Female) – Susan Calloway (“No Time for This”); Marina V (“Born to the Stars”), Kanisha K (“Bet on Me”); DANI Le Rose (“I’ve Told Lies”); Wendy Sweetlove (“Delilah”)
BEST SINGLE (Group) – Brit Royal (“Change”); Basement Revolver (“Tree Trunks”); FlecHaus (“What We’ve Got”); Breaking Grass (“Annie”); Birds and Arrows (“Stay Down”)
BEST COUNTRY ARTIST – Alice Wallace, Jennifer Vazquez, Rod Melancon, AJ Hobbs, Warren Sellers, Tara Dente
BEST COUNTRY BAND – Calico the Band, Honey County
BEST BLUES ARTIST – Janiva Magness, Gina Sicilia
BEST BLUES BAND – Polly O’Keary & the Rhythm Method, Papermoon Gypsys
BEST FUSION ARTIST/BAND – Mitre, Nancy Sanchez, San Miguel
BEST POP ARTIST – Shannon Hurley, David Ryan Harris, Wendy Sweetlove, Meresha, Ian Mahan
BEST POP BAND – Lovers and Poets, The Dream Eaters, The Wild Now, Rococode, Single by Sunday
BEST ROCK ARTIST – Janey Street, Lizard McGee, Jack Spann
BEST ROCK BAND – The Spider Accomplice, Desert Culture, Husky, Hayride Casualties, Banditos
BEST R&B/SOUL ARTIST – Ray Goren, Derek Davis
BEST ROOTS/AMERICANA ARTIST – Amilia K. Spicer, Sara Petite, Chris Shiflett, Jared Tyler, Pi Jacobs
BEST ROOTS/AMERICANA BAND – The Show Ponies, The American West, Imaginary Friends, Jeffrey Halford and the Healers
BEST BLUEGRASS BAND – Breaking Grass
BEST JAZZ ARTIST – Dave Yaden, Irene Diaz
BEST REGGAE BAND – Roots of Creation, 9 Mile Roots
BEST COMEDY – Scout Durwood, Jeff Simmermon, Un5Gettable
RISING STAR – Meresha, Jamey Geston, Bess, Kaylee Keller, Ray Goren
MOST SUPPORTIVE INDIE LABEL – Blue Élan Records
MEGHAN TRAINOR AWARD (Indie Artist Most Likely to Become a Household Name) – Jerad Finck
FAN FAVORITE – What a flurry of opinions for this year’s Fan Favorite artist. In all 38 artists were nominated, but the focus seemed to be on five of them. Honorable mention goes to Rod Melancon, Sara Petite, Breaking Grass, Pi Jacobs, Warren Sellers, The Spider Accomplice, Roots of Creation and DJ Polique, each of which garnered at least 10 votes. When the smoke cleared, however, FlecHaus squeaked out a victory over Dario by only two votes, with Polly O’Keary and Janey Street tied for third and just six votes behind. Wendy Sweetlove rounds out the Top Five vote getters.
Thanks again for all of your support of indie music. Now it’s time to get back to reviewing the CDs submitted for the second half of the year, along with live performance reviews and our weekly Monday Mashup column.
