Adelaide rockers West Thebarton have stolen the show at tonight's South Australian Music (SAM) Awards (8 November), staged at a glittering ceremony at Adelaide Town Hall, walking away with four awards including Best Group and Best Song (for ‘Bible Camp’).
They also scooped up the gongs for Best Release - for their debut album 'Different Beings Being Different' - as well as the People’s Choice Award for the Best Rock Artist. Kudos to Reverend Ray and his gang of classy musos.
With veteran music journalist Zan Rowe hosting proceedings, other major category winners included MANE (Best Solo Artist), A.B. Original (Best Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Artist) and Adrian Eagle (Best New Artist).
In the Industry Award categories, Clarity Records’ A Day of Clarity won Best Event / Festival among tough competition from WOMADelaide and last year’s winner Porch Sessions, while the Crown and Anchor claimed Best Music Venue.
With a resume including collaborations with fellow award winners Tkay Maidza, MANE and Heaps Good Friends, Mario Spate was recognised as the Best Engineer. 5/4 Entertainment’s Craig Lock took home the award for Best Manager (for the fourth time) and Adelaide CBD establishment Ghostnote Recording Studio topped the category for Best Studio.
Jack Fenby was recognised with the Award for Best Cover Art for his work with Neon Tetra, while Best Music Video was awarded to ‘Better’ by Mallrat, directed by Rory Pippan/ YBY.
In other honours announced during the ceremony, the Zephyr Quartet was recognised with the UNESCO International Collaboration Award and Tam Boakes won the Music SA Lifetime Achievement Award for her enormous contribution to the Adelaide music scene through her work at iconic live music venue Jive.
The Ryan Freemen Live Music Achievement Award went to Max Savage, along with $4,000 towards his continued contribution to live performance.
Lisa Bishop, General Manager of Music SA, says the Awards were the perfect celebration of contemporary music in this state. “The South Australian Music Awards showcase the very best of our music scene and demonstrate why it’s in such fantastic shape.
"West Thebarton has had an incredible year: a truly local band that’s broken through around the country and internationally. Meanwhile, we have solo artists like MANE and Adrian Eagle who are really doing great things and we can also celebrate the ongoing success of last year’s winners A.B. Original.”
The People’s Choice Awards were also announced during the ceremony, following 157 entrants and 7,343 online votes cast across 12 genre categories.
Winners included Tkay Maidza, Motez, The Heggarties, Abbey Howlett, Heaps Good Friends, Adam Page, Young Offenders, Laura Hill, The Coconut Kids and a draw for the Most Popular Heavy Artist between Dirty Pagans and Hidden Intent.
