South Australian Music Awards announce 2021 nominees

With just under a month to go until its 2021 edition kicks off, the South Australian Music Awards have unveiled the list of nominees for this year's awards.

Following a year which saw the likes of Motez and Wing Defence named as big winners of the 2020 awards, the 2021 edition of the South Australian Music Awards is back, unveiling its list of nominees today.

This year sees a number of familiar faces amongst the finalists, in addition to a number of first-timers, including the likes of Teenage Joans, Bermuda Bay, Jess Johns, MARLON X RULLA, and Mum Friends, just to name a few. The incredible range of talent shows that even in another year on hold, South Aussie talent was able to shine brightly.

While the public voting for the People's Choice categories closed on Sunday, October 11th (attracting 11,604 votes), a local judging panel internally decided the 2021 Industry/Major award nominees that were put forward to a national panel of 15 national and local judges to decide on this year's finalists.

Set to take place at the Old Adelaide Gaol on November 18th, the ceremony will be hosted by South Australian media personality and presenter Shanelle Franklin (formerly SAFM, Jam LIVE and Rip It Up) who has worked with Music SA for many years, replacing triple j Good Nights host Bridget Hustwaite, who was forced to cancel her commitments due to border closures.

“I’m gutted that I am unable to make it as your MC for the SA Music Awards but I’ll still be cheering on from Victoria and I look forward to celebrating with everybody next year when hopefully, border restrictions are nothing but a distant memory!" Hustwaite said in a statement.

is thrilled that the SAM’s can go ahead to celebrate the achievements of South Australian musicians and industry workers this past year.

"Another difficult year for SA’s live music industry has inspired an incredible amount of creativity and perseverance from musicians and industry workers," said Chair of Music SA, Anne Wiberg, "from outstanding new music releases to COVID-safe events such as Summer Sounds and One12 Festival."

The full list of nominees can be found below.

Check out a recap of the 2020 South Australian Music Awards:

2021 South Australian Music Awards Finalists

Major/Industry Voted Awards Finalists

Best Studio (Presented by Adelaide Music Collective)

Chapel Lane Studios Electric Ant Records Stone Shed Studio Wizard Tone Studios Wundenberg’s Recording Studio

Best Studio Engineer/producer (Presented by SAE Institute Adelaide)

Cactus Cactus Sound (Ryan Martin John) Jarred Nettle Kiah Gossner Lewis Wundenberg Suture Mastering

Best Live Technician (Presented by Novatech)

Dagger’s Production (Nathan D’Agostino) Lisa Lane Collins Luke Hancock Michael Wickens Patrick Lockwood Peter Wing

Best Major Festival/event (Presented by MOSHTIX)

Adelaide Guitar Festival Beer & BBQ Homebrewed Summer Sounds Festival The Local WOMADelaide

Best Small Festival/Event (Presented by Pirate Life)

Folkloria Festival Garden Daze One12 Festival Space Jams South Coast Tour Utopian State

Best Venue (Presented by AHA)

Grace Emily Hotel Jive Lion Arts Factory The Wheatsheaf Hotel Unibar ADL Vintage Vulture

Best Cover Art (Presented by Version Design)

Wolf & Cub - Nil (Luke Byrne) The Mondays – No Sugar Sprite (Arkadia Visuals) Kaurna Cronin – Aloft In Blue (Julia Thornberg – Thorsoee) Heaps Good Friends – Up Close and Personal (Ashley Giles) Holas May – Block Letter (Angus Smith/Angvs) Teenage Joans – Taste of Me (Samuel Graves & Eve Burner)

Best Manager (Presented by Association of Artist Managers)

Planet Shhh Rachel Whitford Sebastian James Sian Walden (Little Acorn Music) Diana Sautelle

Best Music Video (Presented by Alpha Box & Dice)

Slowmango – Thairaide (Kaspar Schmidt Mumm & Emmaline Zanelli) Teenage Joans – Something About Being Sixteen (Jack Bielby & Thomas Schaefer) TOWNS – Swimming (Thomas Schaefer & Jack Bielby) Neofix – Freedom (Neofix) Glowing – Poppy (Harry Nathan)

Best Song (Presented by APRA AMCOS)

George Alice – Teenager Motez – Reset Stellie – 22 Pieces Teenage Joans – Something About Being Sixteen Wolf & Cub – Blue State

Best New Artist (Presented by WOMADelaide)

Teenage Joans Mum Friends Rocky’s Pride & Joy Tilly Tjala Thomas Jess Johns MARLON X RULLA

Best Group (Presented by Derringers Music)

Bermuda Bay Teenage Joans The Empty Threats TOWNS The Mondays

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

Dem Mob MARLON X RULLA Rob Edwards Tilly Tjala Thomas

Best Solo Artist (Presented by Media Arts Lawyers)

George Alice MANE Motez Stellie Tom West

Best Release (Presented by themusic.com.au)

MANE – Coping Mechanisms Motez – Reset Pinkish Blu – People Just Do Good Things Sometimes Stellie – Stellie (Self-titled) Teenage Joans – Taste Of Me Tom West – I’m Livin’

Best Music Educator (Presented by SAMII)

Abbey Howlett Alison Hams Ben Smith Jess Day Julian Ferraretto Paige Court

Best Innovation (Presented by CityMag)

Against The Grain – ATG Sessions Play/Pause/Play – The Sounds of South Australia Podcast Summer Sounds Festival WOMADelaide x NSS Academy Carclew Music At Work – BLKMPIRE

People's Choice Awards Finalists

Blues & Roots (Presented by UniBar)

Cal Williams Jr Mojo Dingo Sean Kemp Sturt Avenue Trav Collins

Country (Presented by Grace Emily Hotel)

Jimmybay Mark Curtis and the Flannelettes Matt Ward Michaela Jenke Ricky Albeck & The Belair Line Band

Electronic (Presented by Fat Controller)

Jack Truant Kelly Matejcic, Krunk & Restricted Motez Stace Cadet V O E

Experimental (Presented by The Lab)

Georgia Oatley Slowmango SODA Sons of Zoku The Empty Threats

Folk (Presented by The Wheatsheaf Hotel)

Alison Newman B.S Roberts Jess Johns Siberian Tiger Trent Worley

Heavy (Presented by ARMI)

alt. Dirty Pagans Kitchen Witch No No No No No SIGNV/S

Hip-Hop (Presented by The Gov)

Boffa Dem Mob EAST AV3 GOLDN Stefan Rossi

Jazz (Presented by the Gilbert St Hotel)

Chelsea Lee Christina Guala Saxophone Quartet ER@SER DESCRIPTION Max Grynchuk

Pop (Presented by Lion Arts Factory)

G-Nation George Alice Kyan Burns Lilac Cove Rachael Leahcar

Punk (Presented by Three D Radio)

AGAPANTHER Bitchspawn LOLA Teenage Joans Wing Defence

Rock (Presented by Jive)

Druid Fluids LILY ROSE Oscar The Wild TOWNS Wolf & Cub

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

Dino Jag Dojo Rise LilyMay Mum Thinks Blue Wanderers

2021 South Australian Music Awards

Thursday, November 18th Old Adelaide Gaol (18 Gaol Rd, Adelaide, Kaurna Land) Tickets: Moshtix