Just two days after the full list of nominees for the MAMAs was revealed, the Milwaukee-based Wisconsin Area Music Industry released its slate of nominees for its upcoming 27th set of awards known as the Café pending a "major announcement early this summer.")
There were several other nominations for Madison-based musicians (and a studio) in this year's WAMIs. These include Ladies Must Swing (in the Big Band/Swing category), West Side Andy and Mel Ford (Blues), Madison County (Country), Sunspot (Pop/Adult Contemporary), Geoff Brady (Special Instrumentalist), the High Noon Saloon (Venue), Maximum Ink (Print Media) and Smart Studios (for Studio, of course), among others.
Sunspot is one Madison group enjoying a string of success at this awards show, winning Artist of the Year in Rock there in 2004 and overall Artist of the Year in 2005.
The WAMIs is also awarding a Peoples' Choice award for fan-nominated bands in four quadrants of the state; the southwest region covers "Madison and surrounding area, north to Sauk County, east to Watertown, and south and west to the state line." These awards are scaled back from previous years, "further collapsing the statewide awards into the Milwaukee area," Tvedt comments.
The WAMIs awards show is scheduled for Monday, Apr. 30 -- a month earlier than usual -- at the Northern Lights Theater at Potawatomi Bingo and Casino in Milwaukee.
