2007 Boston Music Awards, the 20th Anniversary

The Boston Music Awards is the longest running regional music awards in the United States. Since 1987, the BMAs have celebrated local musicians across multiple genres
Founded in 1987, The Boston Music Awards is an annual set of music awards that showcase the very best talent in and around the Massachusetts area. 2017 marks the 30th anniversary of the awards. The year 2007 marked the marked the 30th anniversary of the awards.

This was their official website in 2007.

The current website for the Boston Music Awards can be found t: http://bostonmusicawards.com



 

Boston Music Awards, 20th Anniversary, December 1, 2007
At the Orpheum Theater

Nominees are selected by our Nomination Committee Members (Nom Com). We send our Nom Com an open ballot form where they write in their picks across all award categories. The six artists in each category who receive the most write-in’s become nominees for that year.


Public voting ended on November 16, with more than 190,000 votes cast online. Winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on December 1. Thanks to all the fans for your support.

Our Nominating Committee is made up of people in the City who not only live and breathe music, but make a living at it.  

Our Nomination Committee currently consists of approximately 400 members including, but not limited to, Music Editors/Journalists, Promoters and Agents, Radio Programmers and DJs, Music Business Executives, Music Promotions/Publicists, Artist Managers, Music Producers, Tour Managers, Music Attorneys, Label Executives, and Professors of Music. Once the finalists are announced the voting begins. The vote is open to the public, who make up 50% of the vote. The other 50% is from the Nomination Committee. The finalist in each category with the most votes wins.

 



 

"I learned some amazing facts about these kinds of talent awards that seem sometimes insane even if they also make sense on another level. Like the Grammys or Academy Awards, members of the industry itself do all the nominating, voting and rule making. One thing about these specific awards was desire to include not only professionals but also judges who were totally outside the sphere of the profession. That is how Benjamin Pred became a judge. Granted he's a well known figure - a former Queens Assistant District Attorney and now an imminent NYC corporate lawyer - but he is admittedly ignorant regarding the standards that make for a great performance other than what turns him on. I guess that's what they were going for - someone's whose gut response could be used and perhaps calibrated to determine the most worthy of the award. Perhaps some day I'll be chosen if I'm famous or influential enough." Kirsty Hunt

 



Live performances by
Bobby Brown, Sully Erna of Godsmack, Augustana, JoJo, The Click Five, Lori McKenna, Matt Nathanson, Martin Sexton, Peter Gammons, James Montgomery, Monster Mike Welch, Johnny A, Special Teamz (featuring Edo G, Slaine, Jaysun), Township, and more, and Appearances by Special Guests Joey Kramer and Tom Hamilton of Aerosmith, Christopher Guest, the Dogmatics and others.

Congratulations to all the 2007 Boston Music Awards winners.

Outstanding Rock Band of the Year
Bang Camaro

Outstanding Singer/Songwriter of the Year
Josh Ritter

Outstanding Rap/Hip-Hop Act of the Year
Mr. Lif

Album of the Year (Indie)
Martin Sexton - "Seeds"

Album of the Year (Major)
Lori McKenna - "Unglamorous"

Local Female Vocalist of the Year
Sarah Borges

Local Male Vocalist of the Year
Ryan Montbleau

Outstanding Live Act of the Year
State Radio

Outstanding Folk Act of the Year
Chris Smither

Local Song of the Year
Bang Camaro - "Pleasure Pleasure"

National Male Vocalist of the Year
Matt Nathanson

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The stage at the Orpheum Theater in Boston was full of Berklee alumni as the 2007 Boston Music Awards celebrated their 20th Anniversary.

Best New Act of the Year: KID:NAP:KIN
Jamila Weaver '05, Dan Ellis '05, Patrick Hanlin '05

Outstanding Pop Act of the Year: The Click Five
Kyle Patrick, Ethan Mentzer '04, Ben Romans '03, Joey Zehr '04, Joe Guese '02

Local Song of the Year and Outstanding Rock Band of the Year: Bang Camaro
Maclaine Deimer '03, Glen Fant '05



Lori McKenna

Winner | 2007 | Album of the Year (Major)

McKenna started writing songs as a teenager, and became a professional songwriter at the age of 27, when she was already married and had three children. She began singing at open mike nights in Boston, notably at the Blackthorn Tavern in nearby Easton, and eventually at her own shows. At the time, close friend was working for a local moving company, and when the experienced Annapolis movers were hired by Gabriel Unger to move him from Maryland to Boston, the friend convinced Unger to listen to McKenna's demo, starting a chain of events that ultimately lead to a long term managerial relationship.

Working with her then manager Gabriel Unger, McKenna released four critically acclaimed independent CDs: Paper Wings and Halos(produced by Seth Connelly), Pieces of Me (produced by Crit Harmon), The Kitchen Tapes (self-produced demos), and Bittertown (produced by Lorne Entress). During this period she recorded for Signature Sounds, won awards from ASCAP and the Boston Music Awards, performed at the Sundance Film Festival, the Newport Folk Festival and played many sold-out venues in the Northeast.

In 2004 McKenna signed a publishing deal with Nashville’s Harlan Howard Music after fellow singer-songwriter Mary Gauthier shared McKenna’s Bittertown with Melanie Howard. McKenna gained more attention in 2005, when Faith Hill recorded covers of four of McKenna’s songs – three of which (including the title track) appeared on Hill’s 2005 release Fireflies, the fourth as an exclusive to the iTunes Store.

McKenna parlayed her contribution to Hill’s Fireflies into both an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show along with Hill, and a record deal with Warner Brothers Nashville. WB soon re-released McKenna’s Bittertown on its label. In 2007, McKenna toured with Hill and Tim McGraw on the Soul2Soul Tour, accompanied by singer-songwriter/instrumentalist Mark Erelli and guitarist Russell Chudnofsky.

In addition to her own albums, McKenna has contributed a cover of Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes” to the 2005 “High School Reunion” compilation. In 2007, McKenna recorded a cover of Neil Young’s “The Needle And The Damage Done” for the American Laundromat Records benefit CD Cinnamon Girl – Women Artists Cover Neil Young For Charity. Also in 2007, McKenna helped write “Most of Me”, “Latest Mistake” and “Can’t You Just Adore Her?” on Mandy Moore’s album Wild Hope. Also of note, Lori McKenna’s song “Bible Song” from Bittertown was recorded by country artist Sara Evans on her ‘Real Fine Place’ album released in 2005. Lori also contributed a song titled “I’m Workin’”, recorded by Tim McGraw on his Let It Go album, released in 2007, as well as a song entitled “True Believer”, recorded by Jimmy Wayne on his 2008 album, Do You Believe Me Now.

Her latest album, Unglamorous, was released on August 14, 2007, from Warner Bros. Nashville and McGraw and noted Nashville producer Byron Gallimore’s label, Stylesonic Records. The album has released two non-charting singles. McKenna parted ways with Warner Bros. in 2008.

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Crit Harmon

Local Producer of the Year

Crit Harmon is a songwriter and music producer, writing music for film and television, producing CD’s for recording artists, and consulting nationally on a variety of music related topics including production, song writing and publishing.

In 2007 he was named “Best Producer” at the Boston Music Awards, and in the same year the Martin Sexton CD “Seeds”, which he co produced with Martin Sexton, won ‘Independent Album of the Year”

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Killswitch Engage

Act of the Year
Killswitch Engage is an American metalcore band from Westfield, Massachusetts, formed in 1999 after the disbandment of Overcast and Aftershock. Killswitch Engage’s current lineup consists of vocalist Howard Jones, bassist Mike D’Antonio, guitarists Joel Stroetzel and Adam...

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Martin Sexton - Seeds

Album of the Year (Indie)
Sexton grew up the tenth of twelve children in a working class Irish-American family. He acquired his first guitar, a Sears & Roebuck acoustic, at the age of 14 and later played in local rock ‘n roll bands. Looking to find his own voice, he left home when he was 22 years old and began busking as a street performer in Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In November 1990, with $800 and some borrowed equipment, Sexton recorded a demo cassette In the Journey, eventually selling more than 20,000 copies, mostly at local gigs. His strong live performances won him a Boston Music Award for “Best New Artist” and led to.

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Kid.Nap.Kin

Best Act of the Year
KID:NAP:KIN will change the way you like your rock. Stop listening in vain for your next fix, the pounding odd-meter rhythms and jazz-infused melodies that make your soul turn, come from KID:NAP:KIN. Boston’s Aggro Rock Assault has been making a name for themselves on the scene for three...

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Sarah Borges

Local Female Vocalist of the Year
Sarah Borges is a rock and roll musician from Taunton, Massachusetts, signed to Sugar Hill Records. Her music is described as “walking that fine line between punk and country”. Borges grew up in Taunton, a city south of Boston in the third generation of a Portuguese (hence the hard...

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Ryan Montbleau

Local Male Vocalist of the Year
Ryan Montbleau was born and raised in the town of Peabody, Massachusetts. Although he received his first guitar at the age of nine, it was not until attending college at Villanova University that he seriously began to focus on his playing and songwriting. He began singing during the last.

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Bang Camaro Pleasure Pleasure

Local Song of the Year
Boston’s Bang Camaro is a four-piece band with a gang of anywhere from six to twenty lead singers at live performances. The Boston Phoenix describes them as “Headbanger’s Ball meets Polyphonic Spree.” The boys mix strut, energy, and arena rock hooks with indie-rock sensibilities, solid musicianship and blazing solos. They have been featured in Rolling Stone, Spin, Billboard Magazine, MTV News, Playgirl, as well as papers ranging from the Boston Globe to the Chicago Tribune. Their music has been heard at the MTV Movie Awards, in commercials, movie soundtracks, and is becoming a staple at Boston Celtics and Bruins games. This summer they were picked to kick off Lollapalooza 2008 in Chicago.
This truly independent band has been blazing a new path in the current unsure music industry. Songs from their first self-titled album have been included in video games such as Guitar Hero II and Rock Band. In 2007, it cracked the CMJ top 50. Their song “Night Lies,” the leadoff single from their forthcoming album “Bang Camaro II,” is featured in Rock Band 2. In addition, they are currently releasing music every other “Camaro Thursday” on their MySpace page and website through the end of 2008.
With help from international booking agency The Agency Group, Bang Camaro has completed more than three national tours and continue to bring their brand of rock mayhem to every big and small town across the US. “Bang Camaro II” will be released in the Northeast in mid-November 2008 and will be distributed nationally in early 2009. With the help of their national street team, The Bang Camarions, the band is poised to take over the world, one scream at a time

 

 

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