Austin Music Awards Happening Earlier this Year to Reclaim the Event for Locals
Since 1982, the Austin Music Awards show has been an annual celebration of Austin’s world-renowned music culture. Winners are chosen from the results of the Austin Chronicle Music Poll, which is released for public voting in the fall of the preceding year, as well as nominations from an expert editorial board.
The 2018 winners will be recognized at the 36th Annual Austin Music Awards show on Wednesday, February 28 at ACL Live at the Moody Theater. All proceeds go to support the SIMS Foundation and its mission of providing life-saving mental health and addiction recovery services to Austin musicians, music industry professionals, and their family members. Charlie Sexton will serve as musical director for the show.
For the first time in as long as most can remember, the awards show will not be held during SXSW, having been instead scheduled for two weeks prior. The reason for the shift was the realization that with SXSW’s increasing profile as an event attended mostly by visitors, the awards show’s ability to cater to its main audiences of local Austin music fans was becoming harder to maintain. As a result, this year’s event may not enable fans to see such surprise guests as Pete Townshend, Booker T. and the MGs, and Chrissie Hynde, who dropped in while also appearing at SXSW.
In some ways, the move of the Austin Music Awards away from SXSW is a sign of how big Austin’s profile as a global music nerve center has grown over the years. The AMAs were initially scheduled during SXSW to help raise the profile of Austin musicians in the eyes of SXSW’s out-of-town, music industry-connected registrants. Now, the effort has shifted to reclaim the event for local audiences.
Join in on the fun on February 28. Tickets are now available and range in price from $35-150. Sponsorship opportunities are available for interested businesses, too. For more information, including the performer lineup, visit the Austin Music Awards website.
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