With another year, we welcome with open and eager arms another edition of the Music Victoria Awards.
These awards are an absolute stand-out celebration of the past 12 months of local music, and the sheer amount of nominees and awardees are indicative of the thriving local music industry in the area, which is certainly a cause for celebration.
Sweeping the floor this year were blues connoisseurs The Teskey Brothers who, after taking out Best Breakthrough Act in 2017, have gone on to win a massive $16,000 cash collectively for Best Album, Best Regional/Outer Suburban Act and Best Song, along with the publicly-voted title of Best Band. Well-deserved wins for the guys, who are seriously taking on the world.
Back-to-back winners Sampa The Great and Courtney Barnett have held on to their titles of Best Hip Hop Act and Best Solo Artist respectively, G Flip took home the $5,000 Premier’s Prize for the Best Breakthrough Act award and newcomer Tones And I was awarded a special Outstanding Achievement Award in recognition of her unprecedented achievements domestically and internationally over the past year including taking out number one on the official music charts of 23 countries.
In a couple of Awards milestones, Music Victoria recorded the largest count of female winners in the genre categories, and Naretha Williams became the first-ever First Nations and First Nations Female artist to win Best Experimental or Avant-Garde Act.
Check the full list of winners below and open up your Spotify… these are the acts you NEED to know.
PUBLIC-VOTED WINNERS
The Premier’s Prize for the Best Victorian Album of 2019 – $10,000 Cash Prize
The Teskey Brothers – Run Home Slow
Best Band
The Teskey Brothers
Best Song – $3,000 APRA AMCOS Cash Prize
The Teskey Brothers – So Caught Up
Best Solo Artist
Courtney Barnett
Best Male Musician
Paul Kelly
Best Female Musician
Erica Dunn (Tropical F*ck Storm, Palm Springs, MOD CON, Harmony)
The Premier’s Prize for the Best Victorian Breakthrough Act of 2019 – $5,000 Cash Prize
G Flip
Best Live Act – $5,000 Lyrical Road Travel Voucher
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
Best Small Venue (under 500 capacity)
Northcote Social Club, Northcote
Best Large Venue (over 500 capacity)
Forum, Melbourne
INDUSTRY-VOTED WINNERS
Best Festival
Golden Plains
Best Regional/Outer Suburban Act – $3,000 Bendigo Bank cash prize
The Teskey Brothers
Best Regional/Outer Suburban Venue (Over 50 gigs per year) – $3,000 Bendigo Bank cash prize
Theatre Royal, Castlemaine
Best Regional/Outer Suburban Venue (Under 50 gigs per year) – $3,000 Bendigo Bank cash prize
Meeniyan Town Hall, Meeniyan
Archie Roach Foundation Award for Emerging Talent – $2,000 Archie Roach Foundation Cash Prize
Key Hoo
Best Blues Album
Opelousas – Opelousified
Best Country Album
Matt Joe Gow – Break, Rattle And Roll
Best Electronic Act
Sui Zhen
Best Experimental or Avant-Garde Act
Naretha Williams
Best Folk or Roots Album
The Maes – The Maes
Best Heavy Album
Suldusk – Lunar Falls
Best Hip Hop Act
Sampa The Great
Best Intercultural Act
Përolas
Best Jazz Album
Andrea Keller – Transients Vol. 1
Best Reggae and Dancehall Act
Echo Drama
Best Rock/Punk Album
Tropical F*ck Storm – Braindrops
Best Soul, Funk, Gospel or RnB Album
Allysha Joy – Acadie: Raw
HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES
PBS 106.7FM and Vika & Linda Bull
More info via musicvictoria.com.au
Photo by Nick Mckk
