The Capital Region Thomas Edison Music Awards announced nominees for the fifth annual honors, with soul-rock singer-songwriter Buggy Jive leading all nominees with four nominations of his own.
Six artists have three nominations, including Brick By Brick, Jim Gaudet & The Railroad Boys, Jocelyn & Chris, Michael Eck, Reese Fulmer & The Carriage House Band and Sydney Worthley. In all, 209 artists and organizations have been nominated in 34 categories.
The annual ceremony is 6 p.m. Sunday, April 30 on the MainStage at Proctors. Tickets are available now at proctors.org. A slate of performers will be announced in mid-April.
In addition to the finalists in the categories below, several honorees will be announced in the Merit Award category. “These are recognizing unique initiatives led by members of the music community in the recent past that don’t fit neatly into any other category,” explained Jim Murphy, Eddies Music Awards producer and founder. Judges–members of the 518-music community nominate and vote on all recipients annually.
With this year’s ceremony, more than 450 different individuals, groups and organizations have been nominated in the Eddies’ first five years. In addition, the Eddies have established a regional music Hall of Fame at Universal Preservation Hall in Saratoga Springs. Eight were inducted in a two-hour ceremony March 30: Martin Benjamin, Mike Campese, Felicia Collins, Wanda Fischer, George Frayne, Smokey Greene, Sister Mary Anne Nelson, CSJ and John Tichy.
“Our mission is to shine a light on as many people as possible; we’ve inducted 32 individuals into the Eddies Music Hall of Fame and have seen roughly 45 artists perform at our events. If you include the members of the bands and the staff of the organizations that have been nominated, it represents several thousand individuals.”
Jim Murphy, Eddies Music Awards producer and founder
Musical performances will be held by six of this year’s nominees. The line-up represents a range of musical styles including mainstream and indie rock, funk, singer-songwriter, outlaw country and jam band sounds. The emcee for the 6 p.m. show is Albany-based comedian/actor/producer Greg Aidala. Hosts are Eddies founder Jim Murphy and Eddies administrator Kelly Auricchio.
Featured artists are E.R.I.E., Annie in the Water, Jim Gaudet & The Railroad Boys, Heard, Sydney Worthley and Victory Soul Orchestra. Worthley will perform twice–with her own band and accompanying E.R.I.E.
You can’t have a music awards show without exciting musical performances. And we have no shortage of amazing local artists to choose from. It is both one of the most enjoyable tasks and one of the hardest decisions because there are always way more artists we would like to present than is possible.
Jim Murphy, Proctors Collaborative
New this year is an Eddies Advisory Council, created late last year, that will meet 5-6 times annually with Murphy and Eddies administrator Kelly Auricchio. Members from the music community are Julia Alsarraf, Greg Bell, Wanda Fischer, Andy Gregory, Mario Johnson, Jason Keller, Pete Mason, Matt Mac Haffie, Kevin McKrell, Keith Morales, Steve Nover, Truemaster Trimingham, Al Quiglieri, Paul Rapp, Zan Strumfeld, Alex Torres, Chris Wienk and Don Wilcock. Murphy adds that blues artist Thomasina Winslow, who passed away Jan. 13, was an inaugural council member. “She was very supportive of the Eddies Music Awards and remains in our thoughts.”
The Eddies Music Awards and Hall of Fame are an initiative of Proctors Collaborative. See a full list of nominees for the Fifth Annual Capital Region Thomas Edison Music Awards at theeddiesawards.com.
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