The Boston Music Awards 2022 ballot is out, and it’s a doozy. But first, some details: This year’s BMAs party goes down December 14 at Big Night Live, making the jump to the larger North Station venue after a few years at the more intimate Brighton Music Hall in Allston. There, the winners will be announced alongside a host of guest performers, which we assume will be revealed in the coming weeks. As we await, here’s who scored a nomination on this year’s ballot — the BMAs’ largest ever, we think, with a whopping 10 nominees across 41 categories, including some new ones like Reggae/Ska Artist of the Year and Spoken Word Artist of the Year.
In the top-shelf categories, BIA, Boy Harsher (pictured), Millyz, Token, and Van Buren scored multiple nominations, and that Alt/Indie Artist of the Year category is just absolutely stacked top to bottom. Hell, every category feels appropriately packed-out this year.
On the home front, we are honored that Vanyaland scored an 10th-straight nomination for Music Publication of the Year, and our own Editor-In-Chief Michael O’Connor Marotta and Music Editor, Boston Victoria Wasylak were both nominated for Music Writer of the Year for the fifth straight time, since the category’s inception (past contributors Candace McDuffie and Rob Duguay also scored noms).
Always important to note: Since 2015, the BMAs are owned and operated by our parent company Redefined, but the nominees are assembled through an independent Nomination Committee of several hundred members within the Boston music community (writers, bookers, tastemakers, etc.), and winners are decided by public vote. So don’t @ us.
Voting is now open through bostonmusicawards.com/vote.
Boston Music Awards 2022 Ballot
ARTIST OF THE YEAR
BIA
Boy Harsher
Charlotte Sands
Converge
Cousin Stizz
Ezra Furman
Lake Street Dive
Millyz
Token
Van Buren Records
NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Alisa Amador
CHYLD
Dino Gala
Eph See
going222jail
HAAWWS
kei
Little Fuss
STEFAN THEV
Winkler
ALBUM/EP OF THE YEAR (1 million+ streams)
Boy Harsher – “The Runner (Original Soundtrack)”
Cave In – “Heavy Pendulum”
Charlotte Sands – “Love and Other Lies”
Converge: “Bloodmoon: I”
Cousin Stizz – “Just For You”
Ezra Furman – “All Of Us Flames”
Lake Street Drive – “Fun Machine: The Sequel”
Millyz – “Blanco 5”
Tall Heights – “Juniors”
Token – “Pink Is Better”
ALBUM/EP OF THE YEAR
CHYLD – “Be Patient”
Eph See – “g*rlhood”
GA-20 – “Crackdown”
Hush Club – “Fingerprints & Stains”
Kal Marks – “My Name Is Hell”
Lady Pills – “What I Want”
Mint Green – “All Girls Go To Heaven”
Rat Tally – “In My Car”
The Q-Tip Bandits – “Melancholy Flowers”
Van Buren Records – “DSM”
SONG OF THE YEAR (1 million+ streams)
BIA – “LONDON ft J. Cole”
Charlotte Sands – “Dress”
Cousin Stizz – “Blessings”
Joyner Lucas – “Ye Not Crazy”
Lake Street Dive – “Nick Of Time”
Millyz – “Love/Hate ft Gio Dee”
PVRIS – “My Way”
Ripe – “Settling”
The Rare Occasions – “Notion”
Vundabar – “Time”
SONG OF THE YEAR
Dino Gala – “British”
Layzi – “Ego”
Rat Tally – “Spinning Wheel”
Rilla Force – “Feels”
shallow pools – “everything is fine”
Squirell Flower – “your love is a disaster”
The Elovaters – “Gimme Love”
The Q-Tip Bandits – “Daisy”
Van Buren Records – “FOUL”
Winkler – “Mona”
VIDEO OF THE YEAR
BIA – “LONDON ft. J. Cole”
Boy Harsher – “Machina Ft. Ms. BOAN – Mariana Saldaña”
Cousin Stizz – “Blessings”
Ezra Furman – “Forever In Sunset”
House of Harm – “Feel My Heart Beat”
Maeko – “Cool pt. 1”
Millyz – “Closure”
Padma – “I’m So Cool”
Token – “Boom ft. J.I.D”
Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys – “GOTH BEACH”
LIVE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Clairo
Cousin Stizz
Dalton & The Sheriffs
Dinosaur Jr.
Lake Street Dive
Oompa
Ripe
Squirrel Flower
The Q-Tip Bandits
Van Buren Records
ALT/INDIE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Born Without Bones
Divine Sweater
Ezra Furman
Future Teens
Lady Pills
Squirrel Flower
The Rare Occasions
Valleyheart
Vundabar
Weakened Friends
AMERICANA ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Amanda Adams
Ash & Eric
Autumn Hollow
Erica Mantone
Jake Swamp and the Pine
Jessye DeSilva
Lenny Lashley’s Gang of One
Session Americana
The Wolff Sisters
Town Meeting
BLUES ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Ali McGuirk
Anthony Geraci
Danielle Miraglia
GA-20
Julie Rhodes
Peter Parcek
Sonya Rae Taylor
Tedeschi Trucks Band
Tokyo Tramps
Veronica Lewis
COUNTRY ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Annie Brobst
Chris Moreno
Chris Ruediger
Dalton & The Sheriffs
Elisa Smith
Lauren Weintraub
Matt York
Monica Rizzio
Scarlett Drive
Ward Hayden and the Outliers
DANCE/ELECTRONIC ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Amadeezy
Boy Harsher
Casey Desmond
Freezepop
House Of Harm
Lightfoot
Rilla Force
Saucy Lady
Snøw
Steve Darko
DJ OF THE YEAR
Baby Indiglo
DJ Knife
Dj Papadon
DJ Real P
Dj Sisko
DJ Slick Vick
DJ Snax
DJ Stamz
DJ Towfu
SuperSmashBroz
FOLK ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Alisa Amador
Anjimile
Darlingside
Heather Maloney
Honeysuckle
Hush Club
Izzy Heltai
Jesus the Dinosaur
Tall Heights
The Ballroom Thieves
HIP-HOP ARTIST OF THE YEAR
BIA
Cousin Stizz
Gio Dee
Joyner Lucas
Millyz
Neemz
Oompa
Termanology
Token
Van Buren Records
JAZZ ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Club d’Elf
Couch
Grace Kelly
Jerry Bergonzi
Lake Street Dive
Makaya McCraven
Really From
Terri Lyne Carrington
Tim Carman Trio
we broke the weather
LATIN ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Carlos Odria
Elion Virtuoso
Fabiola Mendez
Manolo Mairena
Nino Francis
Partywithrami
Sonn de mi Tierra
Veronica Robles
Yelena Rodriguez
Zayra Pola
METAL ARTIST OF THE YEAR
babychaos
Blood Lightning
Cave In
Converge
Elder
Karate Steve
Officer X
Revocation
SEA
Vaulted
POP ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Charlotte Sands
Clairo
Justin Clancy
Layzi
PVRIS
Ripe
shallow pools
The Q-Tip Bandits
Yavin
Zola Simone
PUNK/HARDCORE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Actor|Observer
Already Dead
Baabes
Big D and the Kids Table
Crescent Ridge
Duck & Cover
Landowner
Linnea’s Garden
Rebuilder
The Chelsea Curve
R&B ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Cyrus Deshields
Destiny Claymore
Eph See
Eva Rawlings
Khamari
l.ucas
MyCompiledThoughts
Notebook P
Raiche
Timi O
REGGAE/SKA ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Buddahfly
Crooked Coast
Dub Apocalypse
Greg Roy
Long Arm Rex
Mighty Mystic
Naya Rockers
Roots of Creation
Soul Rebel Project
The Elovaters
ROCK ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Aaron and The Lord
Dutch Tulips
Kal Marks
Lurid Purple Flowers
Mint Green
Paper Tigers
Pile
Salem Wolves
The Devil’s Twins
We Demand Parachutes
SINGER-SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR
Anjimile
Chris Walton
Grace Givertz
Jill McCracken
Liz Bills & The Change
Maeko
Naomi Westwater
Senseless Optimism
Susan Cattaneo
Tory Silver
SPOKEN WORD ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Amanda Shea
Ashley Rose
D Ruff
Durane West
Dzidzor
Regie Gibson
Porsha Olayiwola
Tim Hall
Toni Bee
Tony Brown
VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
Aaron Perrino (Aaron and the Lord)
Ali McGuirk
Alisa Amador
Erica Mantone
Gray Bouchard (Salem Wolves)
Rachael Price (Lake Street Dive)
Robbie Wulfsohn (Ripe)
Tema Siegel (Couch)
Tyler Gaccione (Gatch)
Ward Hayden (Ward Hayden & The Outliers)
SESSION MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR
Chris Anzalone
Chuck Ferreira
Cody Nilsen
Dave Brophy
Ed Valauskas
Joe McMahon
Jonathan Ulman
Magen Tracy
Sam Checkoway
Tim Hall
LIVE MUSIC VENUE OF THE YEAR (1000+)
Big Night Live
Boch Center Wang Theatre
Fenway Park
House of Blues
Leader Bank Pavilion
MGM Music Hall
Roadrunner
Royale
TD Garden
The Palladium
LIVE MUSIC VENUE OF THE YEAR (250+)
Brighton Music Hall
City Winery Boston
Crystal Ballroom
Middle East Downstairs
ONCE at Boynton Yards
Paradise Rock Club
Shalin Liu
Sonia
Soundcheck Studios
The Sinclair
LIVE MUSIC VENUE OF THE YEAR (UNDER 250)
Atwoods Tavern
Club Passim
Faces
Lilypad
Midway Cafe
O’Brien’s Pub
The Burren
The Jungle
The Rockwell
Toad
MUSIC PROMOTER OF THE YEAR
24 Hours Concerts
Big Night Entertainment
Bowery Boston Presents
Crossroads Presents
Get2TheGig Boston
Grayskull Booking
Illegally Blind
Leedz Edutainment
Showoff Marketing
Vasjan Presents
TALENT BUYER OF THE YEAR
Aaron Gray
Alex Pickert
Alex Rossiter
Blake Pantalena
Dustin Labbe
Heather Timmons
Josh Bhatti
Josh Smith
Justine Faucher
Ryan Agate
PRODUCTION MANAGER / LIVE ENGINEER OF THE YEAR
Brittany Sirois
Chris Johnson
Dana Filloon
Jared Kennen
Jesse Vengrove
Johnny Dalton
Josh Sessler
Joyce In
Mike Green
Reid Calkin
RECORDING STUDIO OF THE YEAR
37′ Productions
Cybersound
GodCity Studio
Henley Row Studios
Mad Oak Studios
New Alliance Audio
Phoenix Down Recording
The Bridge Sound & Stage
The Record Co.
Woolly Mammoth Sound
STUDIO PRODUCER OF THE YEAR
Benny Grotto
Dan Nicklin
David Minehan
Ethan Haze (Haze)
Janos Fulop (The Arcitype)
Jarvis Adams Jr. (Jah Da God)
Jon Glass
Nick Papz
Sean McLaughlin
Tashim Zene Jr. (IamTash)
MUSIC PUBLICATION OF THE YEAR
Allston Pudding
Boston Compass
Boston Hassle
DigBoston
If It’s Too Loud
MusicBoxPete
Sound of Boston
The ARTery WBUR
The MUSEUM TV
Vanyaland
MUSIC JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR
Amelia Mason
Candace McDuffie
Dillon Riley
Harry Gustafson
Jed Gottlieb
Michael O’Connor Marotta
Noah Schaffer
Rob Duguay
Victoria Wasylak
Victor Infante
LIVE MUSIC PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
Adam Parshall
Angel “Hal” Ocasio
Ben Stas
Brent Goldman
Brittany Rose Queen
Corwin Wickersham
Emily Gardner
Greg Wong
Marika Belamarich
Omari Spears
MUSIC VIDEOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
Ben Proulx
Caroline Bailey
Colin Pagnoni
Connor Lenihan
Dom “Tanj” Bruno
Jay Hunt
Jimmy Del Ponte
Reko Lauren
Scott Sandonato
Yazi Ferrufino
MUSIC PODCAST/RADIO SHOW OF THE YEAR
Allston Pudding Presents The Puddcast
Boston Emissions with Anngelle Wood
CWTFB Radio
Everything You Know Is Wrong on Salem State WMWM
LFOD Radio
Lust For Live: Boston
On The Town with Mikey Dee on WMFO
Original Music Showcase on Mark Skin Radio
Show & Tell Boston Podcast
The Struggling Artist Podcast with Trev Allen