South Australian Music Awards announce 2020 nominees, ceremony details

Just under two months since submissions for their 2020 event opened, the South Australian Music Awards have officially announced their full list of nominees.

Having closed the voting for their People’s Choice Awards just last Friday, the South Australian Music Awards have now unveiled the full list of finalists for this section, in addition to the artists, creatives, managers, studios, festivals, and venues that are up for recognition at this year's event as part of the Industry Voted Awards.

Having brought in over 8,000 votes at for their People’s Choice Awards, the run of finalists include a number of winners from the 2019 event, including TOWNS, Jess Day and Horror My Friend, alongside plenty of fresh faces, including Chelsea Manor, The Lizards, and East AV3.

Meanwhile, the full list of nominees for the Industry Voted Awards see a vast amount of talented names making the cut, including first-timers such as J-Milla and SEABASS.

Notably, the SAM Awards have also announced the venue details for their 2020 event, with this year's ceremony set to be held at the University of Adelaide’s Cloisters and Lawns alongside the UNIBar on November 3rd. Moving the event from an inside format to a semi-outdoor affair, the change provides safety for everyone involved during a year in which a global pandemic has shuttered most of the industry.

"In such an uncertain environment, we weren’t sure if we would be able to hold an event this year," explained General Manager of Music SA, Kim Roberts. "I’m thrilled that we can catch up in person for a COVID-safe SAM Awards. While the eligibility stretches back to last August, it’s lovely to be able to acknowledge great music, events and achievements during such a rough year.

"To highlight the resilience within our community and celebrate a wider variety of industry roles, we’ve also included some new awards, including Best Innovation, Best Live Technician and Best Educator. It’s such a diverse spread of talent – I don’t envy the judging panel and the public voting on such excellent nominees."

The full list of winners will be unveiled at the official award ceremony on November 3rd.

Check out 'Le Labo' by East AV3:

2020 South Australian Music Awards Nominees

Industry Voted Awards

Best Studio ​(Presented by Adelaide Music Collective)

Adelaide Recording Studios Ghostnote Island Recording Studios Spare Second Studio Stone Shed Studio Wundenbergs Recording and Rehearsal Studio

Best Studio Engineer ​(Presented by SAE Institute Adelaide)

Chris Panousakis Kiah Gossner Jimmy Balderston Lewis Wundenberg Mario Spate

Best Live Technician ​(Presented by Novatech)

Lisa Lane-Collins Luke Hancock Noni Espinosa Patrick Lockwood Peter Wing

Best Major Festival/Event (Presented by Pirate Life)

Day of Clarity Porchland St Jerome’s Laneway Festival - Adelaide Thebartonia

Best Small Festival/Event (Presented by UniBar Adelaide)

Field Good Festival Freefall Festival PAK: Live at Wundenbergs Stonecutters The Porch Sessions

Best Venue ​(Presented by AHA - SA Branch​)

Crown and Anchor Hotel Grace Emily Hotel Jive Lion Arts Factory The Wheatsheaf Hotel

Best Cover Art ​(Presented by Version Design)

Dave Court (DyspOra)- AUSTRALIEN Jack Fenby (Cat Lucky) - Pressure (Everybody Wants To Know You) Jack Fenby (The Empty Threats) - $2 Julie Thornberg-Thorsoe (Kaurna Cronin) - Glitter or Dust Todd Fischer (Lost Woods) - Shaping Distant Memories

Best Manager ​(Presented by Association of Artist Managers)

Alex Karatassa Diana Sautelle Matthew Khabbaz Planet shhh! Sue Germein

Best Music Video (Presented by Channel 44)

Bottleneck Studios (Uomo) - All I Hear EAST AV3 - Le Labo Harry Nelli (Venice Queens) - Punchdrunk Lonelyspeck - My Angel Goes Before Me Motez, Pilot Studio, Mapped Design, Daggers Production, Kelsee Pedler (Motez) - Soulitude

Best Song ​(Presented by APRA AMCOS)

EAST AV3 - Le Labo Jess Day - Affection Naomi Keyte - Travelling Woman Stellie - How Do We Look So Good? St Jacques - In Faith

Best New Artist ​(Presented by WOMADelaide)

Cat Lucky EAST AV3 SEABASS Siberian Tiger Slowmango

Best Group ​(Presented by Derringers Music)

EAST AV3 Slowmango SEABASS TOWNS Venice Queens Wing Defence

Best Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander Artist (Presented by Centre for Aboriginal Studies in Music - CASM)

J-Milla Jessica Wishart Nathan May Sonz of Serpents Tunu

Best Solo Artist​ (Presented by Adelaide Festival Centre)

Jess Day Kaurna Cronin Lonelyspeck Motez Ollie English Stellie

Best Release ​(Presented by themusic.com.au)

EAST AV3 - Rugrats Lonelyspeck - Abyssal Body Motez - Soulitude Ollie English - Reality of Love Wing Defence - Friends

Best Music Educator (Presented by SAMII)

Grayson Rotumah Kultar Ahluwalia James Alberts Naomi Keyte Nick O’Connor

Best Innovation​ (Presented by CityMag)

Mosaic Audio Visual Play/Pause/Play Space Jams Sunny Side Uploads Thursday Night Knock Offs – Sparkke at the Whitmore WheatyLIVE

People’s Choice Awards Finalists

Blues & Roots ​(Presented by Radio Adelaide)

JimmyBay Lucky Seven Ollie English Rat Tamango The Streamliners

Country ​(Presented by Grace Emily Hotel)

Cassidy Rae Gaiter Cookie Baker Jessica Wishart Matt Ward Nathan May

Electronic (Presented by Moshtix)

Hartway Jethro Lonelyspeck Motez Zac Eichner

Experimental ​(Presented by Ancient World)

Heinous Crimes Slowmango SODA Sons of Zoku The Empty Threats

Folk​ (Presented by The Wheatsheaf Hotel)

Katie Pomery Loren Kate Naomi Keyte Siberian Tiger Tom West

Heavy ​(Presented by Enigma)

Alt. Dirty Pagans Hidden Intent NO NO NO NO NO Terminal Zero

Hip Hop (​Presented by The Gov​)

DyspOra East AV3 Laitisi Diesa Outside Lines We Move Like Giants

Jazz​ (Presented by Elder Conservatorium)

Alex Taylor Django Rowe Er@ser Description Nick Pennington & Angus Mason The Boys Club

Pop ​(Presented by Jive)

Ashton Fraser Germein Jess Day MANE The Montreals

Punk​ (Presented by Three D Radio)

Bitchspawn Chelsea Manor Collateral Damage The Lizards Wing Defence

Rock​ (Presented by Crown and Anchor)

Horror My Friend Oscar the Wild SEABASS TOWNS Venice Queens

Soul/Funk/R&B​ (Presented by Woodville Town Hall)

Elsy Wameyo Isaac Thomas Legs of Ivar Leni Wanderers

2020 South Australian Music Awards

Tuesday, November 3rd, 2020 UniBar Adelaide, Cloisters and Lawns, Adelaide, SA Kaurna Land Tickets: Moshtix