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2021 South Australian
Music Awards
Finalists Revealed

Record number of votes for People’s Choice categories!
Final tickets on sale now.

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Jess Day performing at the 2019 SAM Awards at Bonython Hall. Photographed by Nick Astanei.

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Today, the 2021 South Australian Music (SAM) Awards reveals all finalists for this year’s awards across both the Major/Industry Voted and People’s Choice categories.

The SAMs are a chance for the South Australian music community to get together to celebrate the achievements of musicians, producers, venues and workers across what has been another incredibly unpredictable and challenging 12 months for the music industry. This year’s event will be held on the evening of Thursday 18 November on the historic site of the Old Adelaide Gaol, with live performances from a number of finalists that will be announced soon.

Today’s announcement sees a broad range of genres represented in the Major/Industry award finalists, reflecting the incredible diversity that is South Australian music right now. While there’s plenty of familiar names amongst the finalists for the 2021 SAM Awards, there’s plenty of first-time finalists such as Teenage Joans, Bermuda Bay, Jess Johns, MARLON X RULLA and Mum Friends, highlighting the incredible talent still bursting out of South Australia despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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. These judges represent and work across various facets of the Australian music community and are well-respected for their overarching impact within the industry. View the full list of 2021 judges here.

Public voting for the People’s Choice award categories officially closed on Sunday 11 October with a record-breaking number of votes (all 11,604 of them!), revealing plenty of fresh faces including Dem Mob, LILY ROSE, Druid Fluids, Stace Cadet along with past winners and finalists such as Stellie, Motez, TOWNS, Wing Defence, The Empty Threats, Siberian Tiger, EAST AV3, Oscar The Wild, SODA, and many more.

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DyspOra and Elsy Wameyo performing at 2020 SAM Awards // Photo – Lauren Connelly

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Bridget Hustwaite, host of ‘Good Nights’ on triple j was programmed to host the 2021 event, however, she will, unfortunately, be unable to attend due to border restrictions between South Australia and Victoria.

She states, “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!”.

Replacing Bridget as the host of the 2021 SAM Awards is 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.

Minister for Innovation and Skills David Pisoni said that he is thrilled that the South Australian music industry can celebrate the best musical talent in Australia’s only designated UNESCO City of Music.

“The Marshall Government is proud to support the SAM Awards and South Australia’s outstanding local music industry which makes such an important cultural and economic contribution to our state, despite the challenges posed by the pandemic over the past two years,” Minister Pisoni said.

“Congratulations to all the finalists on pushing their creative boundaries and showing that our state regularly punches above its weight with the quality of our musical talent.”

Anne Wiberg, Chair of Music SA 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 – from outstanding new music releases to COVID-safe events such as Summer Sounds and One12 Festival”, she states.

Music SA’s General Manager Kim Roberts highlights the importance of the SAM’s to the South Australian music community.

“The continual challenges brought on due to the COVID-19 pandemic have had a devastating impact on local musicians, industry workers and live music venues over the past twelve months. It is so important that we can get together safely to celebrate the many wins that our incredible industry has had this year. Congratulations to all of the finalists! I can’t wait to celebrate with you!”.

Excited to be one of the only awards ceremonies that can take place with an audience during Australian Music Month, the organisers of the SAM Awards are looking forward to celebrating with the South Australian music community, while looking forward to 2021. As a UNESCO City of Music, Adelaide has become a hub of creativity for musicians in recent years, with national and international attention being drawn to the number of artists taking their art beyond SA out to the world.

Early-bird tickets have sold out for this year’s event, with limited full-priced tickets on sale now for $70 (plus booking fee) via Moshtix.  Tickets include food and beverages throughout the evening supplied by Bits N Bites, Paella Bar, Pirate Life Brewing and Alpha Box & Dice. Capacity is limited, so hurry!

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2020 – Jack Turner

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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

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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

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2021 SOUTH AUSTRALIAN
MUSIC AWARDS
Thursday, 18 November 2021
Old Adelaide Gaol

(18 Gaol Rd, Adelaide, Kaurna Land)
Entrance from Gaol Road

Tickets are available
via Moshtix for $70 + bf.

The SAM Awards is looking ahead to the future in continuing their commitment to celebrating the thriving community of musicians that really makes SA great.

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2020 – DyspOra and Elsy Wameyo // Photo – Lauren Connelly

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