Austin Music Awards Casts Spotlight On Local Artists

AUSTIN, TEXAS — In a town that rightly bills itself as "the live music capital of the world," the Austin Music Awards on Wednesday night did the city proud.

The 37th annual awards ceremony was staged at ACL Live at the Moody Theater in the city's downtown, honoring musicians who serve as nothing short of musical ambassadors buttressing the lofty municipal claim.

The awards celebrated the winners of the Austin Chronicle music poll, managed by the locally owned and operated alternative newsweekly. Winners from 52 different categories were honored, including winners of “Best of the Year” categories for Austin band Shinyribs; musician Shakey Graves; song Black Moon Rising by The Black Pumas; album Blood and Bones by Bob Schneider; and best new Austin band Black Pumas. Other winners included “Best Austin Musician” selections, encompassing the categories of female and male vocalist (Gina Chavez and Bob Schneider); guitar player Jackie Venson; bass player Roscoe Beck; keyboards Emily Gimble; strings Carrie Rodriguez; horns Grupo Horns; and the “Songwriter of the Year” award presented to Bob Schneider.

Between distribution of awards, the ceremony featured performances from genre-spanning talent representing both Austin’s renowned musicianship and nationally recognized acts alike. As guests artists ended their performances, folks took to the darkened stage to prepare it for the next act — adding or subtracting instruments and hooking up amps in deftly, quietly and quickly — like a pit crew at a car race but under cover of darkness.

Tosca String Quartet kicked off the night with Jon Dee Graham, Ricky Ray Jackson, Glover Gill, Chris Maresh and Kevin Lovejoy. A Dianne Scott tribute followed with Tomar Williams, Rosie Flores and The Peterson Brothers accompanying. Special guest and Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Ryan Bingham gave a memorable performance on the cusp of his recent album release.

Suzanne Vega joined the Tosca String Quartet in splendid fashion. An 80s fixture, Vega showed she still had some powerful pipes, stunning stage presence and sartorial style as walked on stage sporting a top hat while belting out her classic "Tom's Diner." She later performed one of her newer songs.

Suzanne Vega wows the crowd at the Austin Music Awards.

Vega was followed with a fun set by “Austin’s Best New Band” The Black Pumas. John Doe, Jakob Dylan and Alejandro Escovedo teamed up to enliven the crowd of music aficionados. Hip hop was well represented with an impressive set by budding artist Abhi the Nomad. This year’s event closed with an MC Overlord tribute featuring Smackola and DJ Crash of Dirty Wormz, Tee Double, Traygod Tha MC, Bavu Blakes of Hip-Hop Hump Day the MC Overlord Collective and Grooveline Horns.

Legendary Charlie Sexton served as music director for the 2019 awards, leading the Mayor’s House Band throughout the night with Michael Ramos, John Michael Schoepf, Ricky Ray Jackson, and Ramy Antoun. In a reprise, Rick McNulty and Laurie Gallardo of KUTX served as hosts of the awards ceremony.

Music fans climb steps leading up to Moody Theater.

2019 AUSTIN MUSIC AWARD WINNERS BY CATEGORY:

• BEST MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR — Shakey Graves
• BEST AUSTIN BAND — Shinyribs
• BEST NEW AUSTIN BAND — Black Pumas
• BEST SONG OF THE YEAR — Black Pumas, “Black Moon Rising”
• BEST ALBUM OF THE YEAR — Bob Schneider, Blood and Bones (Shockorama)
• BEST NONE-OF-THE-ABOVE — Bob Schneider & The Moonlight Orchestra
• BEST ROCK — Bob Schneider
• BEST MALE VOCALIST — Bob Schneider
• BEST SONGWRITER — Bob Schneider
• BEST AVANT GARDE/EXPERIMENTAL — The Octopus Project
• BEST BLUES/SOUL/FUNK — Guy Forsyth
• BEST MISCELLANEOUS INSTRUMENT — Guy Forsyth (Harmonica)
• BEST COUNTRY — Willie Nelson (his niece accepted the award on his behalf)
• BEST ELECTRONIC — Ghostland Observatory
• BEST FOLK/BLUEGRASS — Wood & Wire
• BEST HIP-HOP/RAP — Magna Carda
• BEST JAZZ — White Ghost Shivers
• BEST LATIN -- Gina Chavez
• BEST FEMALE VOCALIST — Gina Chavez
• BEST METAL — Black Heart Saints
• BEST PUNK — Sailor Poon
• BEST WORLD MUSIC — Grupo Massa
• BEST BASS — Roscoe Beck
• BEST DRUMS/PERCUSSION — Brannen Temple
• BEST GUITAR — Jackie Venson
• BEST HORNS — Grupo Horns
• BEST KEYBOARDS — Emily Gimble
• BEST STRINGS — Carrie Rodriguez
• BEST RADIO STATION — KUTX
• AUSTIN MUSIC HALL OF FAME — Ruthie Foster
• TOWNES VAN ZANDT SONGWRITING AWARD — Alejandro Escovedo
• MARGARET MOSER WOMEN IN MUSIC AWARD — Dianne Scott

A DJ spins records ahead of the Austin Music Awards start time.

The Austin Music Awards are presented by The Austin Chronicle, SXSW, and are produced in partnership with Louis Black Productions, ACL Live at the Moody Theater and Margin Walker. Additional patrons of the Austin Music Awards include the Circuit of the Americas, sponsor of the Margaret Moser Women in Music Award, Hotel Van Zandt, sponsor of the Townes Van Zandt Songwriter Award, Austin Music Movement, Creative Action, Prosperity Bank, C3, Skull Island Studios, YETI, Tito’s Vodka, Lyft, the Clifford Antone Foundation, Treaty Oak Distilling, Hotel San Jose, Arts+Labor and Yep Roc Records.

For more information on the 37th annual Austin Music Awards and to stay updated on next year’s event, please visit www.austinmusicawards.org. The Austin Music Awards also can be followed via social media:

• Facebook: @AustinMusicAwards
• Twitter: @ATXmusicAwards
• Instagram: @austinmusicawards

ABOUT THE AUSTIN MUSIC AWARDS

The Austin Music Awards recognizes the accomplishments of local bands and musicians by honoring them just prior to South by Southwest at an annual event unique to the city of Austin. The event reflects Austin’s outstanding live music achievements of the previous year as voted on by Austin Chronicle readers in the publication’s annual Music Poll. From its earliest years, the Austin Music Awards has presented numerous genres of music emanating from Texas, including rock, country, blues, Latin, folk, punk, pop, jazz, hip hop, world, and classical.
Musicians who first attracted critical attention by winning Austin Music Awards and later went on to win Grammys include Stevie Ray Vaughan, Asleep at the Wheel, Grupo Fantasma, Lucinda Williams, Spoon, and Joe Ely.

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>>> Photos by Tony Cantú/Patch staff