BMAde Betterz
Hump Day News helps the 2023 Boston Music Awards do Best Live Artist better.
Didja see? The Boston Music Awards nominations started rolling out in September.
BMA Nominating CommitteeWhat are the BMAs? Well, the annual music awards ceremony is presented by the whiskey drink Jack Daniels. It’s held at Big Night Live on December 20th. Tickets are sold for seats you sit in. And the logo looks like Paul Revere on a horse, carrying a boombox?
The website says the nominations were pinned down by September 18th.
If you have the time and prolific output, do what Pile did this year: release a killer album (All Fiction) earlier in the year, reap the extra attention won in a relatively quiet time of the year for album announcements, then drop a short & sweet EP (Hot Air Balloon) in the last quarter to remind everyone that you’re still alive and you’re awesome.
Evil genius!
If you want to vote, vote here.
LIVE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Hump Day News covers a ton of live music.
Better to spend time listening to live music than combing through an inbox full of press releases from publicists. How do you want to live your life?
It’s too easy to make a recording sound slick. Catch an artist in situ for the genuine product.
Make the music ecosystem work – get out there. Go hear a band you’ve never heard at a venue you’ve never been to.
Here’s the list of BMA nominees:
Divine Sweater, GA-20, Kei, Millyz, Noah Kahan, Oompa, Pile, Ripe, The Elovaters, and The Q-Tip Bandits.
Hump Day News has been on the Track, Album, and Live Review beat for Pile. We almost dropped in for the Ripe gig at the legendary Fillmore when Hump Day News Went West to San Francisco. And we loved the old Millyz intro to the Locked On Celtics podcast with John Karalis and the rest of the Rainin’ Js before it got subbed out for nefarious reasons. All that counts as coverage!
Let’s improve the list with a few adds. Trust us, we know what we’re talking about!
How about Gut Health?
The Worcester post hardcore band knows how to put on a show. Never at a loss for energy, with a kind of gazey texture to their sonic assault, and showmanship up the wazoo.
How about Battlemode?
The chiptune duo rides the 8-bit waves. The artists exert a gravitational pull on any kind of bill they find themselves on. Rock, electronica, hip hop, soul. It doesn’t matter. It’s a Battlemode night.
How about Muzzins?
A party in a box that builds community through art and art through community. Whether it’s fashion runways, makeup stations, or doodling tables, Muzzins are trying things with live events that most bands don’t have the guts or imagination for. Also, no fear in scheduling their bills with radically different artists, and still they make it work.
How about DJ WhySham?
Maybe the hardest working artist in Boston and beyond. If you didn’t see DJ WhySham spin live, you didn’t leave the house in 2023. And she’s an artist that builds bridges for other artists to showcase their talent. The best kind of artist.
How about Makeout Palace?
There’s a footloose esprit in the air when Makeout Palace takes the stage. You’ve got to be there to feel it. Be there.
How about Jean Paul Jean Paul?
A rock n roll band with post punk flavor. Their sound pulls in different directions, but the vibe is always fun and the room is always full. What more would you want from a live show?
How about Electric Street Queens?
Some bands play music and some bands fuck shit up. Protopunkers Electric Street Queens fuck shit up. Spitfires across the board, with wigs. Shades of Hammered Saint.
How about Walter Sickert & the Army of Broken Toys?
The carnival has come to town every time this crew puts on a show. You feel the steampunk meets goth meets artcore meets E Street Band vibe rising up like manhole vapor for a radius of about three city blocks around every Walter Sickert & the Army of Broken Toys show. Soak it in and get down.
Music Publication Of The Year
