The Syracuse Area Music Awards, or SAMMYS, will celebrate its 25th anniversary this year with a Hall of Fame ceremony March 1 upstairs at the Dinosaur BBQ and the awards ceremony, March 2 at the Palace Theater in Eastwood. People’s Choice voting is now open online.
Online voting for the People’s Choice Awards began Tuesday, Jan. 9 at the SAMMYS website. The People’s Choice Awards name the favorite local artist, festival or music series and venue. Each week a round of finalists will be announced leading up to the ceremony with the winners announced at the awards ceremony on March 2. Last year’s winners included Cortland-area country band, Small Town Shade for Favorite Artist or Band; the Great New York State Fair for Favorite Festival or Music Series and the New York State Fair’s Chevy Court for Favorite Local Venue.
Tickets for both events go on sale Feb. 6, the same day as the press conference announcing this year’s nominees. The press conference will be held at the Palace Theater at 10:00 a.m. that day.
Last year’s Hall of Fame inductees included moe., Paul Case, Jukin’ Bone and Meegan Voss. Previous honorees for Lifetime Achievement include Phish drummer, Jon Fishman, a 1983 graduate of nearby Jamesville-Dewitt High School, one of metal’s most revered vocalists, Cortland native Ronnie James Dio, and Dick Clark, who got his start in broadcasting at Utica television station, WKTV.
SAMMYS categories include awards for Best Pop Artist (won by the Jess Novak Band last year), Best Country (Small Town Shade), Best Jazz (Second Line Syracuse), Best Hip-Hop or Rap (World Be Free), Best Blues (Tas Cru), Best Americana (Driftwood) and Best New Artist (Root Shock) among many others. The awards ceremony also features performances from area musicians from various genres.
NYS Music is a presenting sponsor of the SAMMYS and will be providing complete coverage of the Hall of Fame and Awards ceremonies in March. For more information on the SAMMYS, including ticketing information and list of past winners, visit the Syracuse Area Music Awards website.
In the meantime, check out the recap from last year’s ceremonies in the video below. You can read NYS Music’s coverage of last year’s event here.
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