Get ready -- the 2018 San Diego Music Awards kick off in a matter of months. The 27th annual gala will take place March 19 at House of Blues San Diego at 7 p.m. and will feature performances by P.O.D., Trouble in the Wind, Whitney Shay, Berkley Hart, the Surefire Soul Ensemble and Parker Meridien.
Proceeds from the event will go to benefit, as usual, the San Diego Music Foundation’s Taylor Guitars for Schools program, which has put instruments into the hands of over 55,000 students across San Diego County in an effort "to enrich San Diego’s diverse and creative music community through music education for youth, professional development for current and emerging industry professionals, live performances for the San Diego public and recognition for San Diego artists of exceptional merit or service."
For nearly three decades, the SDMAs have honored some of San Diego's hardest working musicians in more than 20 categories. While nominees are determined in advance by the San Diego Music Academy (which includes members of the music community, music media and talent buyers), the winners are chosen by the public (except for album categories, which are voted on solely by academy members). Speaking of which, voting opens Jan. 28 and closes Feb. 23 at www.sandiegomusicawards.com.
This year's nominees include some familiar names, from the Verigolds to Birdy Bardot, the Midnight Pine, Odessa Kane and our own J. Smith aka 1019 The Numberman. But there are also some fresh faces this time around, like Bad Kids, who are nominated for Best Indie/Alternative and coincidentally are the artists behind our new SoundDiego TV theme song, which debuted Sunday night.
So, here's to another wild SDMA ceremony, but hopefully with a little less bass guitar debris flying around (don't forget to get tickets!). Without further ado, here's the full list of 2018 SDMA nominees (don't forget to vote!):
Best Singer/Songwriter
- Grampadrew
- Jimmy Ruelas
- Lindsay White
- Sarah Rogo
- Lee Coulter
- Shane Hall
Best Jazz
- Danny Green
- Euphoria Brass Band
- Jason Hanna
- Montalban Quintet
- Nathan Hubbard
- Sue Palmer & Her Motel Swing Orchestra
Best Blues
- Bill Magee Blues Band
- Black Market III
- Mercedes Moore
- Missy Andersen
- Stoney B Blues Band
- Whitney Shay
Best Country or Americana
- Berkley Hart
- Morgan Leigh Band
- Nena Anderson
- Sara Petite
- Shawn Rohlf
- The Moves Collective
Best Hip-Hop/Rap
- DJ Pnutz
- Odessa Kane
- C-Hecc
- Riston Diggs
- TC Doe
- Vokab Kompany
Best Indie/Alternative
- Authentic Sellout
- Bad Kids
- Buckfast Superbee
- The Bassics
- The Heavy Guilt
- The Verigolds
Best Pop
- Birdy Bardot
- Ki
- The Ordeal
- Tolan Shaw
- The Phantoms
- The Midnight Pine
Best Rock
- Bossfight
- Earthless
- The Farmers
- The Oxen
- The Routine
- The Schizophonics
Best World Music
- B-Side Players
- Doornob Collective
- Hirie
- Split Finger
- Todo Mundo
- Tribal Theory
Best Live Performer
- Joshua White
- Mrs. Henry
- Surefire Soul Ensemble
- The Creepy Creeps
- The Schizophonics
- Trouble in the Wind
Best New Artist
- Belladon
- Jumbotron
- Sights & Sages
- Well Well Well
- Stephanie Brown & the Surrealistics
- The Goldettes
Artist of the Year
- Casey Hensley Band
- Parker Meridien
- Gilbert Castellanos
- The Redwoods Collective
- The Schizophonics
- Trouble in the Wind
Best Jazz Album
- Dave Scott - "One Big Beautiful World"
- Lori Bell & Ron Satterfield - "Blue(s)"
- Matt Smith Neu Jazz Trio - "I Am Calm"
- Patrick Yandall - "A Journey Home"
- Rebecca Jade & Peter Sprague - "Planet Cole Porter"
- Wayne Riker - "Soulfully Sliding"
Best Blues Album
- Chickenbone Slim - "The Big Beat"
- Fuzzy Rankin - "The Blues"
- Robin Henkel - "Slippery Like a Watermelon Seed"
- John January & Linda Berry - "Chemistry 101"
- Mohavi Soul - "Hometown Blues"
- Nathan James - "What I Believe"
Best Country or Americana Album
- Jeff Berkley - "Whore House, Hot Sauce & Souvenirs"
- Nancarrow - "Hot Chicken"
- Ryan Hiller - "Big Medicine"
- Sara Petite - "Road Less Traveled"
- Tim Flannery - "Last of the Old Dogs"
- Trouble in the Wind - "Pineapple Moon"
Best Hip Hop/Rap Album
- 1019 The Numberman - "Solus Superstes"
- Audio Cord - "Stanz the Six 9teener"
- Biggie Babylon - "Hash Tag Hip Hop N Dance"
- Bloodstone - "Rapolutionary"
- No1MC - "Conditional Struggle"
- Saviorself - "Nasty City"
Best Indie/Alternative Album
- Aviator Stash - s/t
- Grizzly Business - "Spanish Old Fashioned"
- Imagery Machine - "Skydriver"
- Sights & Sages - "Double Plus"
- Skyterra - "Over the Edge"
- Splavender - "Hallucinations & Hospitalizations"
Best Pop Album
- Marie Hadad - "Stories From Atlantis"
- Nina Francis - "Between Dreams"
- Astra Kelly - "Chasing the Light"
- Michael Tiernan - "Love & a G"
- Sister Speak - "The Stand"
- Steven Ybarra - "The American Dream"
Best Rock Album
- Electric Mud - "Dangerous Promises"
- Mittens - "Endlessly"
- Superunloader - "Twice in Half"
- Taken by Canadians - s/t
- The Paragraphs - "It's Always Never"
- Dirty Sweet - "Once More Unto the Breach"
Best Local Recording
- Ambassadors of Soul - "Just Make It Funky"
- Comanche Moon - "Derailed"
- Sham Saints - "Out of Tune"
- The G. Burns Jug Band - "The Fever"
- Veronica May - "Awakened"
- Wish & the Well - "Darling Darling"
Best World Music Album
- B-Side Players - "California Brown"
- Mango Habanenro - "Live"
- Marujah - "Marujah Rising"
- Mike Pinto - "Hotel Rendezvous"
- Strictly Skunk - s/t
- Tribal Seeds - "Roots Party"
Album of the Year
- Cindy Lee Berryhill - "The Adventurist"
- Jack Tempchin - "Peaceful, Easy Feeling"
- Joshua White - "13 Short Stories"
- Ariel Levine - "Let the Machine Get It"
- Little Hurricane - "Same Sun, Same Moon"
- Parker Meridien - "Fists Like Gott"
Song of the Year
- Ariel Levine - "Sunshine Part 2: On My Color TV"
- Aviator Stash - "Lazy Summer Days"
- Buckfast Superbee - "Sex It Sells"
- Little Hurricane - "OTL"
- P.O.D. - "Soundboy Killa"
- Switchfoot - "If the House Burns Down Tonight"
Rutger Rosenborg was almost a Stanford poet-neuroscientist before he formed Ed Ghost Tucker. Whoops. He now fronts the Lulls and makes music on his own when he's not writing. Follow his updates on Instagram and Twitter (@RArosenborg), add him on Facebook or contact him directly.
