Without fail, just about every year now for the past decade, one or more musician friends ask me after-the-fact: “Dude, why didn’t you tell me about the New Times Music Awards?”
Well here it is, unequivocally: The Sun and New Times is currently accepting entries for the 10th annual New Times Music Awards, which we also call the NTMAs. So no excuses!
The NTMAs are the Central Coast’s premier competition for local singer/songwriters, bands, and rappers who write and record original music. Got a new album? We want to hear it. Maybe it’s just a track or two? We want those too.
The competition began in 2008 after the New Times Media Group took a look around at all the live music going on across the Central Coast and wanted to celebrate it, Marketing and Events Coordinator Rachelle Ramirez explained.
“The NTMAs are all about supporting local music and bringing awareness to musical talent we have around here,” Ramirez said. “We do this for our local community to try and bring everyone together. I feel like every year, everyone who wins the awards, I personally start recognizing their names all around the Central Coast.”
Plenty of well-known local groups and performers have caught on and are racing to get their stuff entered.
The rules are pretty simple: Send in your music online or to one of our offices by Aug. 20 at 5 p.m., pay the $10 entry fee, and be ready to perform at the awards on Nov. 2 if you win first place.
OK, there’s a little more to it than that. We’ve got lots of categories: Rock/Alternative, Country/Americana/Folk, R&B/Blues, Hip-Hop/Rap, Open, and Youth. Single songs can be entered into each of those categories. You’re allowed to submit 10 single songs at the most. There’s also the Songwriting category, which accepts as many as three songs for consideration. You can also submit to the Album category, but it must have been released between July 1, 2017, and Aug. 20 of this year. Also, the artist or artists must primarily reside in SLO or Santa Barbara counties.
The Youth category is a relatively new addition, Ramirez explained, and is open to anyone under the age of 18, but they do need a parent to sign their entry form.
“They don’t have to assign it to a certain genre, so they can submit any kind of music they want,” she said. “And they compete against each other in the 18 and under category.”
Every performer who wins a first place in any of the categories wins a bronze Newtie Award and gets their music on the official NTMA CD and T-shirt. First place winners must also perform at the NTMAs on Nov. 2 at the Fremont Theater in downtown SLO. Those performers will compete in the showcase for the Best Live Performance award, which includes a platinum Newtie award. For those who win first place in the Songwriting category, they receive a special prize of studio time at The Sauce Pot.
At this point, there’s no excuse for you or your musician friend to not submit some music. It’s not complicated and can be a lot of fun, but don’t take my word for it!
Atascadero-based singer/songwriter Dulcie Taylor won a first place for her songwriting a few years ago, and is considering entering her new album, Better Part of Me, in this year’s competition.
“You enter online, so it’s not difficult,” Taylor said. “You’re notified if you’re one of the top three people, you go to the awards ceremony, it’s a lot of fun, and you perform the song live. It’s just a real nice evening.”
Managing Editor Joe Payne will be at the NTMAs to hear the winners live. Contact him at jpayne@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Aug 2-9, 2018.