Saturday, June 25, marked the biggest festival in the 22-year history of the Westword Music Showcase, which spanned more than a dozen stages around Denver’s Golden Triangle and featured nearly 100 local bands and artists across many genres. This lineup was drawn from the finalist nominees for the 2016 Westword Music Awards — and these performers proved they were worthy of the distinction and then some, coming full force for short sets in front of diverse audiences and making the most of technical glitches like a power outage, putting on shows on bar tops and sidewalks and supporting their fellow musicians.
How did these bands get nominated in the first place? Earlier this year, we asked over 200 of the state’s music experts, ranging from talent buyers to studio owners to fans, to nominate their favorite hometown acts. The results were overwhelming, with more than 800 bands and artists receiving votes. Those results represent a wide swath of Colorado music, including both well-known names and numerous bands and artists who have not been nominated before. More than 200 finalists from that nominating process are listed below (separated by genre, but read those designations with caution: Most musicians today draw from a variety of influences, and the “Denver Sound” is particularly unclassifiable).
The polls were open for months — until the day following Showcase, in case voters needed that last glimpse to solidify their choices — and in the end, more than 2,000 people cast their ballots. Some of the races were very close, with the margin between first and second determined by only a vote or two. [On June 30th] at the Westword Music Awards and Thank You Party at Larimer Lounge, we celebrated the nominees, winners and all the incredible work and support that they contribute to Colorado music.
Check out a full slideshow of the winners and party guests.
And now, the 2016 Westword Music Award winners, denoted in bold:
Hip-Hop — Group
Kitty Crimes
The Reminders
SF1
Stay Tuned
Turner Jackson’s Red Plastic Cup
Wheelchair Sports Camp
White Fudge
Hip-Hop — Solo
Bianca Mikahn
Catch Lungz
Ill Se7en
Kid Astronaut
Lily Fangz
Molina Speaks
Qbala
Trayce Chapman
Trev Rich
Blues
AJ Fullerton
Andy Sydow
Austin Young Band
Dan Treanor’s Afrosippi Band w/Erica Brown
Delta Sonics
Sammy Mayfield & His R&B Revue
Willie “The Bluesman” Houston
Rock
Aspen Hourglass
Emerald Siam
Hot Apostles
I’m a Boy
In the Whale
Rossonian
The Yawpers
By Westword Music
Read the whole article and see all the nominees and winners here:
http://www.westword.com/music/you-voted-here-are-the-2016-westword-music-award-winners-8059136