AUSTIN, TEXAS – February 28, 2019 – The Austin Chronicle, SXSW, and Austin City Limits Live at the Moody Theater are proud to announce the 2019 award winners from the 37th annual Austin Music Awards (AMAs) that took place last night, Wednesday, February 27 at ACL Live at the Moody Theater. To honor the continued success and significance of this annual event and further solidify its importance in this community, Mayor Steve Adler announced the proclamation of February 27 as Austin Music Awards Day at the 37th rendition of the annual event.
The Austin Music Awards celebrates the winners from The Austin Chronicle Music Poll, managed by the locally owned and operated alternative newsweekly that reflects the heart and soul of Austin, Texas. The awards revealed the winners from 52 different categories, 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. The full list of the 2019 Austin Music Awards winners can be found below.
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
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
Following suit from the previous 36 years, the 37th annual awards ceremony featured performances from genre-spanning talent representing both Austin’s renowned musicianship and nationally recognized acts alike. 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 and the Tosca String Quartet won the crowd over, followed up by a fun set from “Austin’s Best New Band” The Black Pumas. John Doe, Jakob Dylan and Alejandro Escovedo teamed up to leave the audience wanting more. The previous trio paved the way for the hip-hop portion of the night with a 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. 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. Additionally, Rick McNulty and Laurie Gallardo of KUTX returned to host the awards ceremony.
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. The AMAs would like to thank all of their incredible community partners who continue to help make this event possible. Contributions to the Austin Music Awards can be made through the 501(C)(3) the Society for the Preservation of Texas Music and are tax deductible.
For more information on the 37th annual Austin Music Awards and to stay updated on next year’s event, please visit www.austinmusicawards.org.
