Boston Music Awards tout many homegrown artists and one major label star

By conventional measures, Noah Kahan swept the Boston Music Awards. The Vermont singer-songwriter, now a Watertown resident, became an unlikely star with his breakout album “Stick Season,” which earned him a Grammy nod for Best New Artist. But the night’s biggest winner wasn’t at the awards, and his name hardly elicited a reaction when his four wins — for Artist of the Year, Album/Ep of the Year (1 million+ streams), Song of the Year (1 million+ streams) and Folk Artist of the Year — were announced during the ceremony at Big Night Live.

The incongruity was familiar to anyone who has followed the BMAs in its 36-year existence. The awards once touted huge acts like Aerosmith and Tracy Chapman, but as Boston’s national influence waned, the BMAs struggled to connect with local musicians. BMAs owner Paul Armstrong alluded to the tension in a short speech.

“People rightfully reminisce about the era of Aerosmith, New Kids on the Block and Bobby Brown,” Armstrong said. “I believe it's time to give our current generation of stars the same level of recognition and respect.”

In recent years, the awards have attempted to split the difference by creating separate categories for music that performs well on streaming services. At Wednesday night's BMAs, regional musicians were mostly spared from competing against major label artists like Kahan. Locals got their flowers in categories like New Artist of the Year, Live Artist of the Year and fields reserved for specific genres.

By that measure, the night was a huge success for local independent artists. The evening’s lineup was dominated by young musicians with regional followings. Pop singer Maeko opened the show, followed by North Shore emo rockers Cape Crush and Boston indie-pop band Shallow Pools. Boston rapper NEEMZ brought the energy up with a magnetic performance that celebrated her Palestinian identity. (She later took home the award for Video of the Year.) NEEMZ was followed by Boston rock band Divine Sweater and rappers Clark D and Nay $peaks, who all claimed prizes as well.

As in the past, a few winners seemed to have been tipped off ahead of time, and were ushered out from the wings immediately after their names were announced. Only a handful of artists were offered the chance to give acceptance speeches, which kept the 3-hour ceremony running on time.

Clark D was arguably the night’s breakout. The Mattapan rapper was up for several awards and took home Album/EP of the Year for his LP “Propaganda.” Clad in a fitted leather jacket and a giant fur hat, he delivered an effusive set that featured guest appearances by several local rappers, including SeeFour and Song of the Year-winner Kei. Clark D closed out with a heartfelt rendition of his 2021 song “Grateful,” inviting the crowd to sing along on the chorus: “It’s better than me feeling down bad/ But I’m grateful/ I’m grateful.”

“Every time I'm onstage, it feels like a Negro spiritual,” the rapper said in an interview with WBUR after his performance. “My goal is always, always to help bring people close to their god or whatever higher power or energy they believe in. And whenever I get to channel that, and bring people together to celebrate music, something as timeless as music, it feels like a win.”

Though the general fields featured a mix of nominees in pop, rock, folk and hip-hop, it was once again rappers who took home the major prizes.

“It's a renaissance. People are going to talk about this in 15 years from now, and reminisce on how simple it used to be,” said Clark D, predicting that the city’s rap scene was on track for a big shift as “labels, companies, and corporations buy in.”

Notably, Live Artist of the Year went to The Elovaters, a reggae band with a national following.

“The Boston reggae scene over the years has blown up,” said Mighty Mystic's Kevin Holness, whose band was up for Reggae/Ska Artist of the Year. (That award also went to The Elovaters.) “The festival scene, in my opinion, is at an all-time high. And reggae is riding that wave.”

It was the biggest crop of BMAs hopefuls ever, with a whopping 47 categories featuring 10 nominees each. Six new fields were focused on the production side of the music business, with prizes for Lighting Technician of the Year and Stage Manager of the Year, among others. The new categories seemed designed to honor behind-the-scenes work that often goes unnoticed, though it led to an awkward moment when Big Night Live, the venue where the awards were held, was announced as the winner for Box Office Team of the Year.

“Boston is not New York,” said Kristina Latino, who won Artist Manager of the Year. “So having this new category that honors a bunch of us and kind of gathers names, it's great because it not only shows that there are great artist managers in Boston, but it also helps connect us to each other across genres.”

But ultimately, the night belonged to the artists.

Singer-songwriter Mark Erelli was among the nominees for Album/EP of the Year for his album “Lay Your Darkness Down.” The record, which was written in the aftermath of Erelli’s diagnosis with a degenerative retinal disease, did not win. But it was the first time the folk singer was nominated in a general category in over 25 years of making music in Boston.

“There were times when it was like, ‘Should I move to Nashville? Should I go somewhere else?’ And I always chose to be here, for personal reasons, but also I really believe in this community,” Erelli said. “To be recognized in a more general way, especially as the only singer-songwriter in that category, feels pretty special.”

It was a big night for 19-year-old rapper Nay $peaks, who was riding a wave of local buzz since releasing her debut album “Nayborhood Healer.” She paused mid-performance to take it all in.

“Last year I was in the audience,” she told the crowd, “and I said ‘I’m going to be on that stage next year.’”

Here are all the winners:

ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Noah Kahan

NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Nay $peaks

ALBUM/EP OF THE YEAR (1 million+ streams)
Noah Kahan - “Stick Season”

ALBUM/EP OF THE YEAR
Clark D - "Propaganda"

SONG OF THE YEAR (1 million+ streams)
Noah Kahan - "Dial Drunk"

SONG OF THE YEAR
kei - "Berserk"

VIDEO OF THE YEAR
NEEMZ - "I Choose Myself"

LIVE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
The Elovaters

ALT/INDIE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Divine Sweater

BLUES ARTIST OF THE YEAR
GA-20

COUNTRY ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Ward Hayden & The Outliers

DANCE/ELECTRONIC ARTIST OF THE YEAR
HONEYCOMB

DJ OF THE YEAR
DJ 4EIGN

FOLK ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Noah Kahan

HIP-HOP ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Millyz

JAZZ ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Club d'Elf

LATIN ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Fabiola Mendez

METAL ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Chained To The Bottom of the Ocean

POP ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Coi Leray

PUNK/HARDCORE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Fiddlehead

R&B ARTIST OF THE YEAR
ToriTori

REGGAE/SKA ARTIST OF THE YEAR
The Elovaters

ROCK ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Pile

SINGER-SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR
Ezra Furman

SPOKEN WORD ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Amanda Shea

VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
Miranda Rae

MUSIC NIGHT OF THE YEAR
SILK R&B Party

LIVE MUSIC VENUE OF THE YEAR (1000+)
MGM Fenway

LIVE MUSIC VENUE OF THE YEAR (250+)
The Sinclair

LIVE MUSIC VENUE OF THE YEAR (UNDER 250)
Grace By Nia

MUSIC PROMOTER OF THE YEAR
Bowery Presents

TALENT BUYER OF THE YEAR
Josh Smith

PRODUCTION MANAGER OF THE YEAR
Marc Picard

STAGE MANAGER OF THE YEAR
Kat Tevnan

LIVE AUDIO ENGINEER OF THE YEAR
Francesca Cecala

LIGHTING TECHNICIAN OF THE YEAR
Ryan Baker

BOX OFFICE TEAM OF THE YEAR
Big Night Live

RECORDING STUDIO OF THE YEAR
The SoundLab Recording Studios

STUDIO PRODUCER OF THE YEAR
StoopKid

STUDIO ENGINEER OF THE YEAR
Annie Hoffman

SESSION MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR
Jonathan Ulman

ARTIST MANAGER OF THE YEAR
Kristina Latino

LIVE MUSIC PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
Faith Nguyen

MUSIC VIDEOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
Darby

MUSIC PUBLICATION OF THE YEAR
Sound of Boston

MUSIC JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR
Victoria Wasylak

MUSIC PODCAST/RADIO SHOW OF THE YEAR
CWTFB Radio