South Australian Music Awards 2019 Nominees

Music SA presents the finalists for this year’s South Australian Music (SAM) Awards, with the winners to be announced during a red-carpet ceremony at the end of November.

The SAM Awards are presented to leaders within the South Australian music industry who demonstrate the high level of excellence in local, contemporary music and the exceptional talent of the state.

The 2019 hopefuls include Electric Fields, Adrian Eagle, Wing Defence, MANE and Horror My Friend – who lead the nominations with recognition across six categories – representing a vivid cross-section of rock, punk, electronic, hip hop, heavy, jazz, folk, country, blues & roots, R&B, soul and funk, along with nominees from the fields of management, promotion, production and more.


“Our 2019 finalists are a true representation of the quality and diversity of artists coming from our local landscape,” Music SA CEO Lisa Bishop says.

“As a UNESCO City of Music, it is an exciting time to be part of the South Australian music scene. I congratulate all of our finalists and look forward to celebrating with everyone at the gala event.”

In addition to the usual line up of awards though, this year, APRA AMCOS’ annual, coveted The Emily Burrows Award will be presented at the SAM Awards. Award audiences will be entertained by DJ sets and live performances by local superstars Stellie, Jess Day, Horror My Friend and Jimblah.

scenestr congratulates all nominees for the 2019 South Australian Music (SAM) Awards, which will be staged at Bonython Hall (Adelaide University) 22 November.

2019 SAM Awards Finalists

Best Studio

Adelaide Recording Studios
Ghostnote Recording Studio
Mixmasters
Wizard Tone Studios
Wundenberg’s Recording and Rehearsal Studios

Best Live Engineer

Greg Sound
Kevin Farrant
Luke Hancock
Liam Roche

Best Studio Engineer

Alex Mader
Jimmy Balderston
Lewis Wundenberg
Mario Spate
Neville Clark

Best Music Festival / Event

Flipside Festival
Porchland
Spin Off Festival
Stonecutters
The Porch Sessions

Best Music Venue

Crown & Anchor Hotel
Jive
Lion Arts Factory
The Hotel Metro
The Wheatsheaf Hotel

Best Manager

Planet Shhh
Stormfront Productions
Sue Germein
Alex Karatassa
Little Acorn Music

Best Cover Art

Dress Code (Jack Fenby)
Horror My Friend (Sam Kolesnik)
Lost Woods (Todd Fischer)
Sleep Talk (Michael Belletti)
The Cameramen (Planet Lazuli)

Best Music Video

Beau Lightning (Matthew Schirripa and Benjamin Dowie)
Horror My Friend (Ryan Sahb)
Life Pilot (Eli Green & Alex Robertson)
Planet Self (Capital Waste Pictures)
Sleep Talk (Crystal Arrow Films)

Major Awards

Best Song

Collarbones - ‘A.I.’
Electric Fields - ‘2000 and Whatever’
Horror My Friend - ‘Turned Loose’
MANE - ‘Save Yourself’
Stellie - ‘Let’s Forget We Were In Love’

Best New Artist

Dead Roo
Dress Code
Jess Day
Stellie
Ukulele Death Squad

Best Aboriginal or Torres Strait Island Artist

Eskatology
UPK
Nancy Bates
Electric Fields

Best Group

Germein
Horror My Friend
Sleep Talk
The Montreals
Ukelele Death Squad

Best Solo

Adrian Eagle
Elsy Wameyo
Jess Day
Ollie English
Stellie

Best Release

Adrian Eagle - ‘A.O.K.’
Collarbones - ‘A.I.’
Horror My Friend - ‘Turned Loose’
MANE - ‘Save Yourself’
Wing Defence - ‘Hindsight’

The People’s Choice Awards Finalists

Blues & Roots

Bortier Okoe
Dieter Horvat
Jimmybay
Ollie English
Sturt Avenue

Country

Dead Roo
Matt Ward
Nancy Bates
Ricky Albeck & The Belair Line Band
The Cut Snakes

Electronic

China Roses
Electric Fields
Jethro
Luke Million
Theeves

Experimental

GIRL
My Chérie
SONS OF ZÖKU
The Dunes
The Empty Threats

Folk

Alana Jagt
Alison Newman
Anya Anastasia
Bromham
Ukulele Death Squad

Heavy

Audio Reign
Hidden Intent
Japam
Life Pilot
The Straight-Jacket Tailors

Hip Hop

Argus and The Liar
Elsy Wameyo
Richysand
Stefan Rossi
We Move Like Giants

Jazz

Adam Page
Mike Tilbrook
She Descends The Stairs
Thomas Voss/ Lauren Henderson Big Band

Pop

Germein
MANE
Paper Sunsets
Pinkish Blu
The Montreals

Punk

Bear Claw Camp
Chainsaw Preachers
Collateral Damage
Sleep Talk
Wing Defence

Rock

Horror My Friend
Indiago
TOWNS
Venice Queens
West Thebarton

Soul / Funk / R&B

BIG SEVENTIES BUSH
Dirtyfrank
Eliza Dickson
Isaac Thomas
Wanderers