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Dropkick Murphys score big wins at the Boston Music Awards
Musicians and fans gathered at Big Night Live on Wednesday evening for the Boston Music Awards, the annual ceremony that began in 1987.
The punk rock band The Dropkick Murphys took home three awards: Artist of the Year, Song of the Year (1 million+ streams) for their protest anthem, “Who’ll Stand with Us?” and Music Video of the Year for the same song.
The video shows images of everyday people being blindfolded and kidnapped: a postal carrier, a construction worker, a cook, a woman doing laundry, a young girl on a swingset.
Leader Ken Casey spoke with WBUR about the new release in July. “Silence is complicit at this point,” he said. “So to be making fluff music about stuff that isn’t of importance at the moment, I really just think is shirking away from the fight, you know?”
The band made national headlines when they announced that they would no longer play any events for the traveling festival Punk in the Park after they alleged the festival’s organizer, Brew Ha Ha Productions, had donated to the Trump campaign.
The Dropkick Murphys are no strangers to the BMAs. The band won Club Band and Punk Band of the Year in 2002 when the show was held at the Orpheum Theatre. Three years later, the band won Act of the Year when the ceremony was held in a smaller, more informal fashion at the now closed Avalon club.
Seven-member band Couch took home two awards: Live Artist of the Year as well as Pop Artist of the Year. The Boston-based act has toured internationally and opened for acts such as Corey Wong and Lake Street Dive. They are currently touring their first album, “Big Talk,” which was released in October.
Couch played their biggest show to date last month to a sold-out crowd at Roadrunner. In a conversation with WBUR upon the album’s release, Couch drummer Jared Gozinsky shared the band’s excitement for playing for the 3,500 crowd. “ There's always a very special energy to those shows,” he said. “The Boston community is so rich, and the music culture here is so strong. It's always an absolute party and we would love to see.”
New Artist of the Year went to ISHA!, who some may know as Ishafromthe978. Song of the year went to Justin Clancy for “Holy.”
Here are all the winners:
Artist of the Year
Dropkick Murphys
New Artist of the Year
ISHA!
Album/EP of the Year (1 million+ streams)
Token – “I’m Not Supposed to Be Here”
Album/EP of the Year
EXITFAME – “Last Shall Be First”
Song of the Year (1 million+ streams)
Dropkick Murphys – “Who’ll Stand With Us?”
Song of the Year
Justin Clancy – “Holy”
Video of the Year
Dropkick Murphys – “Who’ll Stand With Us?”
Live Artist of the Year
Couch
Afro/Caribbean Artist of the Year
Echezona
Alt/Indie Artist of the Year
Hallelujah the Hills
Americana Artist of the Year
Kier Byrnes & The Kettle Burners
Blues Artist of the Year
GA-20
Country Artist of the Year
Samantha Rae
Dance/Electronic Artist of the Year
Freezepop
DJ of the Year
DJ Real P
Folk Artist of the Year
Tiny Habits
Hip Hop Artist of the Year
Token
Jazz Artist of the Year
Jared Sims
Latin Artist of the Year
Lia Nicole
Metal Artist of the Year
TREE
Pop Artist of the Year
Couch
Punk/Hardcore Artist of the Year
Haywire
R&B Artist of the Year
Yanna G
Rock Artist of the Year
Megan From Work
Singer-Songwriter Artist of the Year
Ezra Furman
Vocalist of the Year
Miranda Rae
Spoken Word Artist of the Year
Yessmaa
Music Festival of the Year
Boston Calling
Music Night of the Year
SILK R&B Party
Music Venue of the Year (1000+ capacity)
MGM Music Hall at Fenway
Music Venue of the Year (250+ capacity)
The Sinclair
Music Venue of the Year (Under 250 capacity)
Deep Cuts
Box Office Team of the Year
Big Night Live
Production Manager of the Year
Marc Picard
Live Audio Engineer of the Year
Jesse Vengrove
Lighting Technician of the Year
Brittany Trymbulak
Promoter of the Year
Bowery Boston
Talent Buyer of the Year
Justine Faucher
Graphic Designer of the Year
Liz Walshak
Publication of the Year
The Boston Globe
Journalist of the Year
Victoria Wasylak
Photographer of the Year
Faith Nguyen
Videographer of the Year
Nicole da Silva
Artist Manager of the Year
Ikenna Ndugba
Session Musician of the Year
Matt Zappa
Recording Studio of the Year
The SoundLab Recording Studios
Studio Producer of the Year
Akachi
Studio Engineer of the Year
J. Rose
Podcast of the Year
“CWTFB Radio”
Radio DJ of the Year
DJ Pup Dawg
The Margaret Stewart Lindsay Music Non-Profit of the Year
Boston Music Project
