Photo: Dom Flemons | By Jessica Brandon, IAMA | Registration is now open for the 21st Annual IAMA (International Acoustic Music Awards)! This is great opportunity for music artists everywhere. IAMA is the preeminent awards for musicians, promotes excellence in acoustic music performance and artistry. Acoustic artists in various genres can gain exciting radio and web exposure through this competition. Music artists stand a chance to win awards in eight different categories: Best Male Artist, Best Female Artist, Best Group/Duo Folk, Americana/Roots/AAA, Instrumental, Open (any musical style or genre), Bluegrass/Country, etc. There will also be an Overall Grand Prize winner awarded to the top winner worth over US$11,000, which includes radio promotion to over 250 radio stations in US and Canada.
IAMA is sponsored by: PreSonus, New Music Weekly, Loggins Promotion, Solid State Logic (SSL), Airplay Access, Ditto Music, Sirius XM Radio, Ditto Music, Acoustic Café Radio Show, Paige Capo, and Kari Estrin Management & Consulting.
In its 21st year, IAMA has a proven track record of winners going on to get signed and hit the Billboard Charts. Meghan Trainor was discovered by IAMA ten years ago and is now a global superstar with #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 Charts with “All About That Bass” (#1 for 8 weeks) and #1 on The Billboard 200 Charts with her debut album “Title”, won for a Grammy award for Best New Artist in 2016. Meghan has a staggering 11 songs so far on the Billboard Hot 100 Charts so far, enough to release a “Greatest Hits Album” in her young music career. [Please note that Ms. Trainor was signed by Big Yellow Dog Publishing after her appearance at the Durango Songwriters Expo.]
Other past winners of IAMA include: Ellis Paul, Jonatha Brooke, Liz Longeley, Ryan Sheridan (from Ireland), David Francey (from Canada), Charlie Dore (from UK), Carl Wockner (from Australia), AJ Croce, Rod Abernethy, Tim Schou (from Denmark), Buffalo Rose (Folk group), and many more. Liz Longley was signed to Sugar Hill/Rounder Records 4 years after her top win at IAMA. All of the above mentioned winners have received radio airplay after their win.
Critically Acclaimed folk-acoustic artist Dom Flemons (pictured) won top honors in the 20th Annual IAMA (International Acoustic Music Awards). He also won Best Folk/Americana/Roots Award as well. He also made history as the first African-American to win the top award in IAMA’s 20 year history.
“It is a great honor to win the Overall Grand Prize as well as the Best Folk/Americana/Roots category at the International Acoustic Music Awards. Over the past 25 years, it has always been my goal to create music that entertains, educates and inspires people of all communities. Using a variety of instruments and old-time music styles it has also been my mission to make sure the music that I inherited from my friends and mentors lives on into the present. Thanks to my team and Smithsonian Folkways Recordings for all of their support in making this prize a reality”, said Dom Flemons, the top winner.
The deadline to enter is November 8th. For more information, go to: https://www.inacoustic.com/
More past winners include Buffalo Rise, Bertie Higgins & Bellamy Brothers. This is a great opportunity for the musician to take that all-important step to enter the awards.
https://www.inacoustic.com
Photo: Don Flemons (Photo by Rory Doyle)