What a year this has been. We have been overwhelmed with the quality of music created by indie artists in 2018, and by the public support of their craft. This cycle of nominations has generated 745 comments and 5,366 views from 63 countries, 23 of which generated at least 10 views each. In addition, our blog has been viewed a total of 8,826 times since the nominations were announced on December 7. We are so proud of each and every artist and their fans and thank you sincerely for this accomplishment.
The winner of the Icon Award will be announced at the Winners Showcase on June 18, 2019 at The Mint in Los Angeles. Please save the date and come out to see the winners perform.
Without further delay, here are the winners for the second half of 2018:
BEST EP (Male) – Zach Callison (A Picture Perfect Hollywood Heartbreak)
BEST EP (Female) – Lauren Jaimes (Here to Stay)
BEST EP (Group) – Shelby Texas (We are Shelby, Texas)
BEST EP (International Artist) – Paolo Preite (An Eye on the World)
BEST EP (International Group) – The Fisherman & The Sea (I Can’t Alone)
BEST CD (Male) – Hadden Sayers (Dopamine Machine)
BEST CD (Female) – Brigitte Rios Purdy (Still I Rise)
BEST CD (Group) – Birds and Arrows (Arbitrary Magic)
BEST CD (International Artist) – Kate Reid (The Heart Already Knows)
BEST CD (International Group) – Crack of Dawn (self-titled)
BEST VIDEO (OFFICIAL) (Male) – Everlast (“Don’t Complain”)
BEST VIDEO (OFFICIAL) (Female) – Dree Mon (“Dance Like I Want To”)
BEST VIDEO (OFFICIAL) (Group) – Fanny Walked the Earth (“When we Need Her”)
BEST VIDEO (FOR A CAUSE) – Kim Kline (“Stand Tall”)
BEST VIDEO (LYRIC) – The Spider Accomplice (“Epilogue”)
BEST VIDEO (COVER) – CALICO the Band (“California Dreaming”)
BEST VIDEO (COLLABORATION) – Seawaves & Jerad Finck (New Kids)
BEST VIDEO (INTERNATIONAL) – Ziggy Alberts (“Stronger”)
BEST SINGLE (Male) – Curtis Peoples (“Castaways”)
BEST SINGLE (Female) – Kris Angeles (“Stained Glass”)
BEST SINGLE (Group) – Honey River (“Peace, Love”)
BEST SINGLE (INTERNATIONAL) – Vanessa Zamora (“Malas Amistades”)
BEST SINGLE (HOLIDAY) – Mustangs of the West (“Everybody Wants Peace on Earth”)
BEST BLUES ARTIST – Brigitte Rios Purdy
BEST BLUES BAND – Michelle D’Amour and the Love Dealers
BEST BLUES (TRADITIONAL) ARTIST – Lawrence Lebo
BEST BLUES (TRADITIONAL) BAND – Julianne Q and the Howl
BEST BLUEGRASS ARTIST/BAND – Tellico
BEST CHILDREN’S ALBUM – Ruth and Emilia (The Spaceship That Fell in my Backyard)
BEST COMEBACK ARTIST – The Textones
BEST COMEDY ALBUM – Brad Wenzel (Sweet Nothings)
BEST COMPILATION ALBUM – A Blue Élan Christmas (various Blue Élan Records artists)
BEST COUNTRY ARTIST – Hilary Scott
BEST COUNTRY BAND – Robbie Fulks & Linda Gail Lewis
BEST EDM/DANCE ARTIST/BAND – TNEO
BEST FOLK ARTIST – Lauren Balthrop
BEST FOLK BAND – The Skiffle Players
BEST HARD ROCK/METAL ARTIST/BAND – Rebel Rampage
BEST HIP-HOP/RAP ARTIST/BAND – Everlast
BEST HOLIDAY ALBUM – Mindi Abair and the Boneshakers (All I Got for Christmas is the Blues)
BEST INTERNATIONAL ARTIST – Abby Zotz
BEST INTERNATIONAL BAND – Norway Reloaded
BEST INSTRUMENTAL ARTIST/BAND – Andrew Abaria
BEST JAZZ ARTIST – Slim Gambill
BEST JAZZ BAND – CeCe Teneal and Soul Kamotion
BEST LATIN ARTIST/BAND – Constanza Herrero
BEST LIVE ALBUM – Shari Puorto (Live at Bogie’s)
BEST POP ARTIST – Jordan Siwek
BEST POP BAND – My Brothers and I
BEST POP/ROCK ARTIST/BAND – KT Tunstall
BEST PUNK ARTIST/BAND – Taco Mouth
BEST R&B/SOUL ARTIST – Candace Devine
BEST R&B/SOUL BAND – Diane Durrett & Soul Suga
BEST ALT ROCK ARTIST – Trevor James
BEST ALT ROCK BAND – The Upstart Crows
BEST ROCK ARTIST – K. Michelle DuBois
BEST ROCK BAND – The Guess Who
BEST REGGAE ARTIST/BAND – Sean Paul
BEST ROOTS/AMERICANA ARTIST – Jeffrey Foucault
BEST ROOTS/AMERICANA BAND – No Dry County
BEST SINGER-SONGWRITER – Gaelynn Lea
BEST SOUTHERN ROCK ARTIST/BAND – Moonshine Saints
MOST UNIQUE ARTIST/BAND – Grave Danger
RISING STAR – Sofia Evangelina
FAN FAVORITE – Once again, the fans have spoken, and 25 artists were nominated for this award. YYNOT was the early favorite, with Reloaded Norway, Paper Gliders, Jordan Siwek and Mindi Abair close behind. All of a sudden a dark horse appeared in the final week that changed everything. When the dust had settled, LAUREN JAIMES overtook YYNOT by a score of 184 votes to 170 votes. Jordan Siwek took third place with 140 votes. Reloaded Norway (64 votes) and Mindi Abair ( 42 votes) rounded out the top five. Congratulations to you all.
2 replies on “Announcement of LA Music Critic Award winners for second half of 2018”
The Guess Who? Probably not the Canadian super group from the seventies.
The same but with a new group. The drummer is the only original member.