Acts, initiatives and venue honoured at inaugural Northamptonshire Local Music Awards ceremony

Musicians, a live venue and others involved in the music scene in the county have been honoured at the inaugural Northamptonshire Local Music Awards.

The event was held at The Charles Bradlaugh pub in Northampton on Monday night, with 14 awards handed out.

Song Of The Year went to alternative new wave trio Phantom Isle for their track 1992 from their EP Out Of Blue, with Album or EP Of The Year awarded to Jennah for the LP Romance Is Dead.

Phantom Isle frontman Peter Marchant said: “I was speechless, as in I really was speechless - I had no speech prepared.

“I honestly didn’t expect to win this, we had some incredibly strong tracks in that category.

“My money was on Narcissist by Anti!i, such a brilliant track by an incredible artist.

“I think 1992 has an energy very few alternative bands have been able to capture, 90s trance has always been left to DJs and producers whereas this is a track by a live band.

“Thanks so much to everyone for getting behind us, we’re totally blown away.”

Music Video Of The Year Award went to Corby duo Flash Peasants for Three Day Week and Pop Artist Of The Year to Great Adamz.

FFSYTHO?! picked up the award for Rap / Grime / Hip-Hop Artist Of The Year with Tu-Kay & Ryan receiving Acoustic / Folk Artist Of The year.

R&B / Jazz / Blues Artist Of The Year went to Jazz Colossus and Sarpa Salpa picked up the Indie / Rock / Alternative Artist Of The Year accolade.

Dance Artist Of The Year was won by Carly Wilford and Cover Artist Of The Year Award by Pure Genius.

Lay It Down won The Live Event Or Initiative Of The Year with The Scratched Record Podcast picking up Specialist Music Show Or Podcast Of The Year award.

Joe Edwards, one half of The Scratched Record Podcast Team, said: “We’re really pleased to receive the award.

“We never expected to win awards when we started this project and the fact we received both public votes and the support of judges means the world.

“Everyone in Northampton has supported the podcast and Town Takeover massively all year and to get this recognition really does put the icing on the cake.”

Co-host Elliott Farrar added: “We have big plans for 2023. We will be releasing our 100th episode and so hopefully we can pull off something massive for that.

“Town Takeover was a resounding success and so it would seem a shame not to do it again, but go even bigger and better. So yeah, this won’t be the last you hear of TSRP.”

Producer Of The Year Award was won by Young Chencs and Local Music Venue Of The Year was won by The Black Prince.

Promotions manager at the Abington Square venue, Phil Moore, said: “Working at The Black Prince is a humbling privilege.

“That place has a rich history of nurturing talent and bringing great talent through its doors for more than 50 years.

“To achieve what we have since lockdown ended is a real team effort and one which seems to have struck a chord with the public. Thanks to everyone who voted.”

More than 2,500 people nominated musicians, venues, events and initiatives across the categories earlier this year following its launch.

Organisers then revealed a shortlist of candidates in each category before people were allowed to vote for the winners.

Talking about the ceremony, event organiser Tommy Gardner said: “The night had such a great atmosphere and it was brilliant to see so many members of the local music scene there to celebrate their and of course, others achievements.

“I feel very proud we have been able to come together to celebrate the amazing scene we have here in Northamptonshire.

“One thing that stood out among the nominees was the huge variety of music genres.

“We are very lucky that we have such a varied range of artists among the scene.”

The Outstanding Contribution To Local Music award, decided independently by the organisers, will be made at a future date.

Turning to the future, Mr Gardner said he was hopeful the event would return.

He said: “We are looking into how the event can evolve year on year while being sustainable and supporting the music scene. Watch this space.”

For more information about the Northamptonshire Local Music Awards, visit https://northamptonshiremusicawards.com