Local up-and-coming musicians rub elbows with the veterans

Logan Broyles | Downtown News

It’s that time of year again, time for the city’s annual awards show for the best of the best the local music industry has to offer.

The 23rd annual San Diego Music Awards (SDMA) will be held at Humphreys by the Bay, located at 2303 Shelter Island Dr. in Point Loma Wednesday, Oct. 16, with all proceeds going to the Guitars for Schools Program. ** Note this date was previously advertised as Oct. 9 – it was changed to Oct. 16. 

As always, there will be live performances by several of this year’s nominees. Sara Watkins, Tristan Prettyman, Sara Petite, The Heavy Guilt, The Palace Ballroom, and Blackout Party will all be taking the stage.

“I feel very fortunate to have grown up in San Diego, where the music community is so strong,” said Prettyman, a Song of the Year headliner. “Anytime there is some sort of acknowledgement from the community, I always take it to heart. As an artist, all we want is someone to connect to our work, so winning this award would be an honor.”

The Silent Comedy leads the pack this year with five nominations, including a bid for Artist of the Year, followed by Wavves and The Heavy Guilt with four each.

In addition to these three groups, other Artist of the Year nominees include Family Wagon, Gilbert Castellanos, Little Hurricane, Pinback, and The Burning of Rome.

“It’s an honor to be acknowledged among a talented and eclectic group of musicians,” said Alfred Howard of The Heavy Guilt. “I’ve been a Pinback and Gilbert fan forever, and Little Hurricane, Silent Comedy and Family Wagon are all friends. However it turns out, we’re proud to be linked with fine artists in a great music town.”

There were 28 categories this year and the majority of them were open to public voting until Sept. 16. A new category will be Best Live Band, with nominations going to the Burning of Rome, Gilbert Castellanos, Little Hurricane, The Creepy Creeps, The Styletones, The Silent Comedy, Lady Dottie & the Diamonds, and The Heavy Guilt.

“The most important recognition we got this year is the new ‘best live band’ category, that one has a lot of meaning to us because we put our bodies on the line when we play,” Howard said. “We feel like very deserving underdogs, we play a lot of shows, write constantly and everyone in the band has chops.”

Local pop-funk band Hills Like Elephants is up for Best Rock Album, while nationally acclaimed stars P.O.D. are up for Album of the Year and Song of the Year for their hit track “Beautiful” which has been making daily rounds on all the local radio stations since its release.

The SDMAs serve as a wonderful vehicle for the local music industry, allowing the city to recognize its most successful and influential bands while also giving newer arrivals, like The Palace Ballroom or Barbarian, a chance to take their seat at the table among some of the best local artists.

“We’ve been overwhelmed by the response our music has received over the past year,” said Timothy Joseph of the Palace Ballroom. The local five-piece band is up for Best Rock Album – their first SDMA nomination ever – for their work on “This is the Plan …”

“To be recognized by our peers for our work is an honor, if the academy feels that we deserve an award for our debut record it would give us a sense of validation,” Joseph said.

The Best New Artist nominees are Barbarian, Chess Wars, Flaggs, Soda Pants, Teenage Burritos, The Filthy Violets, The Midnight Pine, and The Phantoms.

“It’s always nice to get official recognition for being an artist, most creative types aren’t exactly sure why we need to create but we sacrifice a lot to put something of meaning out there,” said Tim Lowman of Low Volts, the one-man band up for Best Blues Album.

“I’m not the competitive type, but being nominated for an award alongside such great musicians really proves that people are being moved and long-lasting impressions are being made,” Lowman said.

This year’s lifetime achievement award will be presented to Daniel Jackson, a staple of the local San Diego jazz scene for over 60 years.

For tickets and a full list of the 2013 SDMA nominees, visit:

sandiegomusicawards.com.

Contributing writer Logan Broyles is the former managing editor of Pacific San Diego Magazine and editor-in-chief of Construction Digital magazine. He likes to write about music and news, and can be reached at [email protected].