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Syracuse Area Music Awards announce nominees for 30th annual SAMMYs

Musical artists and a host prepare for a news segment with camera equipment and musical instruments.
Carol Thork-O'Leary
/
SAMMYs
The SAMMYS announces its annual nominees from SubCat Studios, along with special musical guest Stephen Phillips, Feb. 7, 2023.

The Syracuse Area Music Awards, or SAMMYs, revealed its nominees Tuesday for the upcoming 30th annual ceremony to he held in March.

The reveal of the nomineesfor this year's Syracuse Area Music Awards, or SAMMYs, kicked off Tuesday with a live performance by Stephen Phillips at SubCat Studios.

The SAMMYs received 233 recordings from 177 individual artists, which are then judged by an independent panel. But the public will also get to play a key role.

Local radio personality Skip Clark from 92.1 The Wolf said audiences get to decide the People’s Choice Awards portion of the annual music competition.

“Each year they host this web-based competition to see who’s fans are psyched about their favorites in each of four categories: artist or band, event or music series, academic or musical organization and venue," Clark said.

Three men sit in a music studio control room with laptops.
Carol Thork-O'Leary
/
SAMMYs
Tim Fox from News Channel 9, Skip Clark of 92.1 The Wolf and Bob Brown from the Dinosaur announced the nominees.

The online voting system has received millions of votes since it was implemented in 2007. One of the nominees in the Best Alternative category is Steven Page, the former lead singer of Barenaked Ladies, for his album "Excelsior."

There are 14 different musical categories. Radio

The SAMMYs will be held at the Palace Theater at 7 p.m. on March 3. Tickets for a livestream performance will also be available.

Nominees include:

BEST JAZZ
London McDaniel, The Christmas Album
Shawn Seals & SMX, Color
Test Kitchen, Wings of Dreams

BEST AMERICANA
Brian and the Beautiful Birds, Brian and the Beautiful Birds
Christian Parker, Every Passing Mile
The Dirty Doves, Bumblebee Brandywine
John Cadley, I Never Knew
The Rollin’ Rust, Road Rats

BEST OTHER STYLE
Jeff Tripoli, Wabi Sabi
Jim Elenteny, Twelve String Acoustic Guitar Music
Max Scialdone, Christmas Songs
Tom Rasely, Nylon
The Turbulents, Stick to the Script

BEST JAM BAND
Adam Brooks, Ain’t All About You
Anthony Saturno, Mixed Bag of Beans, Vol. 1
Master Thieves, Wanderlust

BEST POP
Amoreena, The Garden
Cloey TiernoI, Fell in Love with the Rain
DreaMe, Chapter 22 New Beginnings
Jess Novak, Bad Bitch
Keith Calveric, Untold

BEST HARD ROCK
Gainer, A Blackened Embrace
Head Underwater, It Gets Worse
No Blush, No Blush
Our 11th Hour, Of Halos & Hand Grenades
Stone Thrower, This is Permanent

BEST R&B
FB, For U
FB, For U Too
Nate Glyn, Greatest Hits (2017-22)
Shawn Seals & SMX, Session Files #1

BEST ALTERNATIVE
Bell & Sgroi, Candy Apple
The Kiwis, Strange Danger
Sound Discard, Riptide
Steven Page, Excelsior
Trauma Cat, The Truth Doesn’t Live Here

BEST ROCK
Ben Wayne, spectator
Bradford Allen, Selfishly Empathetic
Glass Image, Mixed Emotions
Irv Lyons Jr., What Are We Fighting For
O T B (Old Tall Buildings), Lost In The Loud

BEST HIP-HOP OR RAP
Blackman Preach, 12 Years Gone
Christenelle Diroc, With Synchronosity & Serendipity
FB and Exoticz, The Round Table
Slick Fashionz & Queeto ABF, The World Is Yours
The WiZdom G.O.A.T., Perseverance

BEST COUNTRY
Lisa Gentile, Start Flying
Mike Gibson, Suburban Hillbilly
Steven Cali, Own Kinda Fix
Tink Bennett, Collaborations
Whiskey Hollow Rush, Linda Lu

HALL OF FAME
Carolyn Kelly
Doug Thaler
Larry Hoyt
Kevin Dorsey ,Music Educator
Irving Kaufman, Lifetime Achievement

Editor's note: WAER's John Smith will be a presenter at the awards.

This story has been edited to reflect the correct nominees for 2023.

John Smith has been waking up WAER listeners for a long time as our Local Co-Host of Morning Edition with timely news and information, working alongside student Sportscasters from the Newhouse School.