Nominations for first half of 2019 (Updated)

This transition has been kicking our butts.  So sorry it has taken us so long to announce the nominations for the LA Music Critic Awards for the first half of 2019, but with the new job and long hours, there hasn’t been a lot of free time.  Not only that, we are still crashing at our brother’s house, so we have to work off the laptop instead of the desktop.  Thanks for your patience while we work things out.

As always, fans are encouraged to vote for the Fan Favorite Award.  To vote for your favorite,  simply leave a comment below in the following format:  “I vote for (name of artist) for Fan Favorite.”  No other comments will be counted toward the Fan Favorite Award, and each reader may only vote once.   Comments made on other social media sites will not count.

Fans are also encouraged to comment on other award nominations, and those comments will be reviewed by the Awards committee.  However, they will not count for the Fan Favorite Award unless the comment specifically says that the artist is being nominated for the Fan Favorite Award. 

The deadline for voting for the Fan Favorite Award is Wednesday, August 28, 2019, at midnight CDT.  The full list of winners will be announced at 2 p.m. CDT on Friday,August 30, 2019.

Without further delay, here are the nominations.

BEST EP (Male) – PAehNE (beautyandpain Part 1), Shayfer James (Hope and a Hand Grenade), Shane Guerrette (Shane Guerrette)

BEST EP (Female) – Ariel Gold (Grace), Kat Holland (Retrovision)

BEST EP (Group) – NIIGHTS (Hellebores Part One & Two), Illiterate Light (Sweet Beast), Ballroam Boxer (A Little Wild), The Reverend Shawn Amos (Kitchen Table Blues Vol. 1)

BEST EP (International Artist) – Marcus Haran (A True Story:  A Soundscape to In-Difference)

BEST EP (International Group) –The Fisherman & The Sea (The Hurt & the Humour), Brother Brad (Get Around), Leading Edge (Ghost), Jet Plane (Falls Feather), Iridea (Agitationist)

BEST CD (Male) – Joshua Powell (Psycho/Tropic), Chris Koza (Sleepwalkers Part 1), The Suitcase Junket (Mean Dog Trampoline), Tony Campanella (Taking it to the Streets)

BEST CD (Female) – Kathryn Grimm (Blues Tools), Susan Santos (No U Turn), Sydney Wright (Seiche); Diana Rein (Queen of my Castle)

BEST CD (Group) – Cold Weather Company (Find Light), The Empty Pockets (Tanglewoods), Jeffrey Halford & the Healers (West Towards South), Authority Zero (Persona Non Grata), WANK (White Knuckle Ride)

BEST CD (International Artist) – Ronny Morris (Sweet Silence), Kinnie Starr (Feed the Fire)

BEST CD (International Group) –Bahuki (Tell it to the Worms), LeBarons (Summer of Death),

BEST VIDEO (OFFICIAL) (Male) – Jerad Finck (“Home”), Banners (“Got it in You”), Keaton Simons (“A Chance in the World”), Fred Hostetler (“Heart Radio Part 1”)

BEST VIDEO (OFFICIAL) (Female) –Diana Rein (“Queen of my Castle”), Kensington Moore (“I Don’t Like you Anymore”), Brooke Moriber (“Cry Like a Girl”), Dayla (“Closer”), Alice Wallace (“The Blue”), Kris Angelis (“Reappear”)

BEST VIDEO (OFFICIAL) (Group) – Riddle the Sphinx (“Lullaby”), Falling Through April (“Recover // Relapse”), Aly & AJ (“Church”), We Three (“Lifeline”), The Spear Shakers (“Leaving it all Behind”), Taco Mouth (“The White House”)

BEST VIDEO (LYRIC) – Kevin McHale (“Help Me Now”), Paige Peel (“The Crown”), Jess McAvoy (“Do What you Want”), Whisperado (“Band One Out”)

BEST VIDEO (COLLABORATION) – Red Wanting Blue and Liz Brasher (“I Got a Feeling it Hurts”), Americana Kitchen Band (“All Dressed Up”)

BEST VIDEO (COVER) – Cherié Currie & Brie Darling (“The Motivator”), PaperDolls Band (“Billy”), Fuel on Fire (“With or Without You”), Olivia Millerschin (“New Year’s Day”)

BEST VIDEO (INTERNATIONAL) – Girl Crush (“Blame Girls”), Ivan and the Parazol (“When I was 17”), Augustine (“Luzon”)

BEST SINGLE (Male) – Titus Calderbank (“Mistakes”), Rusty Young (“Listen to Your Heart”), Keifer Sutherland (“Something to Love”), Tony Lucca (“Restless Heart”), Aqualung (“Complicated”)

BEST SINGLE (Female) – Chanel Lóran (“Pretend”), Car Astor (“Hush”), Eden Espinosa (“Bed for 2”), Lucy Gallant (“Not Normal”), Brigitte Purdy (“Blue Collar Woman”), Kat Holland (“The One”)

BEST SINGLE (Group) – The Rembrandts (“Broken Toy”), West Coast Weekend (“Heart Attack”), Cherié Currie & Brie Darling (“The Motivator”), Southern Halo (“Sunshine”), Skiver (“No Goodbyes”)

BEST SINGLE (INTERNATIONAL) – The Black Fever (“No Work”), Theo Bard (“The Gift”), Belle and the Beats (“Qetesh”), Straw (“Perfectly Fine”), Philip la Rosa (“Fable”)

BEST SINGLE (COLLABORATION) – William Shatner, Jeff Cook & Neal McCoy (“Why Not Me”)

BEST BLUES ARTIST – Diana Rein, The Reverend Shawn Amos, Kathryn Grimm, Susan Santos, Niecie, Vin Mott, Tony Campanella

BEST BLUES BAND – Benny Turner & Cash McCall, Dee Miller Band, Tiffany Pollack & Eric Johanson, Trevor B. Power Band, Head Honchos, Karen Lawrence and Blue by Nature

BEST BLUEGRASS ARTIST/BAND – Balsam Range, Chris Jones & the Night Drivers, The Cleverlys

BEST COLLABORATION – Al Jourgensen & Beauty in Choas, Americana Kitchen Band, Ali Handal and Debby Holiday

BEST COMEBACK ARTIST – Aqualung, The Rembrandts, Cherié Currie & Brie Darling

BEST COMPILATION ALBUM – Born to Uke (Various Artists)

BEST COUNTRY ARTIST – Jimmy Charles, Kamber Cain

BEST COUNTRY BAND – Lowdown Drifters, The Vegabonds, Cliffs and Caves

BEST EDM/DANCE ARTIST/BAND – Dree Patterson, Kim Cameron, Blue Angels, Lavender Fields, Daiju, TNEO

BEST FOLK ARTIST – Joshua Powell, Chris Peace, David Huckfelt

BEST FOLK BAND –   Bettman & Halpin, Eric Brace Peter Cooper & Thomm Jutz, Cold Weather Company, The Empty Pockets, The Well Pennies

BEST INTERNATIONAL ARTIST –Ronny Morris, Kinney Starr, Marcus Haran, Will Jacobs

BEST INTERNATIONAL BAND –Belle and the Beats, Straw, The Black Fever, Iridea, The Fisherman & The Sea

BEST INSTRUMENTAL ARTIST/BAND – Tommy Emmanuel & John Knowles, Hugh Marsh

BEST JAZZ ARTIST/BAND – The Odd Dogs, The Charlie Wooton Project

BEST LATIN ARTIST/BAND – Orkesta Mendoza, Constanza Herrero

BEST POP ARTIST – Eden Espinosa, Sydney Wright, Derek Smallman, PAehNE, Sarra

BEST POP BAND – We Three, Royal Canoe, Bahuki

BEST POP/ROCK ARTIST/BAND – Curtis Peoples, Car Astor, Tony Lucca, Jordan Siwek

BEST PUNK ARTIST/BAND – Taco Mouth

BEST R&B/SOUL ARTIST/BAND –Waxcat, Billy Price

BEST ALT ROCK ARTIST/BAND – Illiterate Light, Neverwonder

BEST ROCK ARTIST/BAND –Beauty in Chaos, After-Death Plan, Odds Lane, Cherié Currie & Brie Darling

BEST ROOTS/AMERICANA ARTIST – Billy Craig, Chris Koza, Ted Russell Kamp, Alice Wallace, Jason Robert

BEST ROOTS/AMERICANA BAND – Jeffrey Halford & the Healers, Harrison Country, Jason Robert Band

BEST SINGER-SONGWRITER – Ariel Gold, Melissa Phillips, Fred Hostetler

RISING STAR –Katile, Rachel Ariana, Amy Wilcox, Chelsea Williams

FAN FAVORITE – Your choice goes here