THE AGE MUSIC VICTORIA AWARDS 2016 NOMINEES REVEALED AND PUBLIC VOTING NOW OPEN!

The Age Music Victoria Awards are one of the largest publicly voted music awards in the country. Nominees in the 11 genre specific awards, including best country, blues and world music, were voted upon by a select panel of industry experts and have also been announced with the full list of nominees available at www.musicvictoria.com.au/agemusicvictoriaawards

It's been an exciting 12 months for Victorian Music with festivals, venues, new releases, debut albums, reformations and new artists making outstanding contributions to the strength and diversity of the Victorian music community.

Among this year's nominees, there's some amazingly talented new entries notably in the Emerging Artist category with Cable Ties, Camp Cope, Alice Ivy, Alex Lahey and Loose Tooth, while hip hop, alt-country, blues and post-punk genres have been well represented across several categories, highlighting the state's vibrant music scene.

''Victoria has done it again, what an incredible year it's been for local music. It's fantastic that some of the brightest stars have been emerging acts like Alex Lahey, Camp Cope and Cable Ties - now the public get to vote on their highlights from the past 12 months." Marty Boulton - The Age music editor

2016, sees the return of regular category favourites Best Live Band, Best Album, Best Song, and a change to the Best Venue category to represent the smaller venues with a capacity under 500, and the larger venues with a capacity over 500.

"We took the rare step of adding a new category to recognise that small venues face different hurdles to larger ones and should be recognised for overcoming them." said Patrick Donovan - Music Victoria CEO

The full lists of nominees are:

BEST ALBUM

Camp Cope "“ Camp Cope
The Drones "“ Feelin Kinda Free
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard "“ Nonagon Infinity
NO ZU "“ Afterlife
Olympia "“ Self Talk

BEST BAND

Camp Cope
Dorsal Fins
The Drones
Gold Class
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard

BEST SONG

Cable Ties "“ Same for Me
Camp Cope "“ Jet Fuel Can't MeltSteal Beams
The Drones "“ Taman Shud
Alex Lahey "“ You Don't Think You Like People Like Me
Teeth & Tongue "“ Dianne

BEST FEMALE ARTIST

Kylie Auldist Jess Cornelius Alex Lahey Olympia Ella Thompson

BEST MALE ARTIST

Briggs
Al Montfort (Terry, Total Control, Dick Diver, UV Race)
Remi
C.W. Stoneking
Henry Wagons

BEST EMERGING ACT

Cable Ties
Camp Cope
Alice Ivy
Alex Lahey
Loose Tooth

BEST LIVE BAND

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
King Parrot
The Drones
Eddy Current Suppression Ring
The Peep Tempel

BEST REGIONAL ACT

The Drones
D.D Dumbo
The Murlocs
Orb
C.W. Stoneking

BEST VENUE (OVER 500 CAPACITY)

170 Russell Corner Hotel The Croxton Bandroom Forum Melbourne Melbourne Recital Centre

BEST VENUE (UNDER 500 CAPACITY)

The Curtin
The Gasometer Hotel
Howler
The Old Bar
The Tote

BEST REGIONAL VENUE

The Barwon Club Hotel, Geelong
The Bridge Hotel, Castlemaine
Karova Lounge, Ballarat
The Loft, Warrnambool
Meeniyan Town Hall, Meeniyan

BEST FESTIVAL

Boogie Festival
Cherry Rock
Meredith Music Festival
Paradise Music Festival
Sugar Mountain

Public voting is open from 7 October until the 4 November. By registering your vote you automatically go into the draw to win an Awards prize pack, which includes: 2 x tickets to The After Party at 170 Russell, an Allans Billy Hyde voucher, a Night Out on Goat, a Moshtix Gift Voucher, 2 x tickets to The Age Good Food Month, 1 x double Star Lounge pass to Ben & Jerry's Open Air Cinema, a Music Victoria Individual Membership and a Crumpler bag.

THE AFTER PARTY

170 Russell
16 November 2016
Doors 8.30PM

Melbourne Ska Orchestra
Camp Cope
Tash Sultana

plus The EG All Stars joined by guest singers
Paul Dempsey
Gareth Liddiard (The Drones)
Kylie Auldist
Pierce Brothers
REMI
Alex Lahey
Gawurra
Freya Josephine Hollick