The 2016/17 WAM Song of the Year Awards Party is over, and there’s a new crop of local talent to get excited about. Singer-songwriter Sydnee Carter remarkably took out the Grand Prize at just nineteen years of age with When We Were Young. It marks a prodigious rise and a growing list of accolades for Carter, including a previous SOTY nomination, a stint on X-Factor, a grand finalist on Telstra’s Road to Discovery and a big hit with Slumberjack currently climbing the charts. When We Were Young is the first track released from her forthcoming EP and vividly describes memories of her childhood and transition to adulthood. Now with the acclaim and exposure that comes with a SOTY Grand Prize, we can only expect Sydnee Carter’s rise to accelerate further into new and exciting possibilities.
The WAM SOTY Awards are independently and anonymously judged by a panel of music industry experts across multiple genres that reflect the depth and variety of talent we enjoy in Western Australia. The winners list for this year also included Dan Howls, Ralway Bell, Tobacco Rat, The Intenso Band, Riley Pearce, Nucleust, Harry Mitchell, The Brownley Gospel Singers, Codee-Lee, Rag N’ Bone, High Horse, Farraday’s Cage, Burdiya Mob, Macshane and Jere Sosa.
It was the first time the WAM SOTY Awards were held at the WA Maritime Museum in Fremantle. Over $40,000 worth of prizes were awarded on the night making it one of Australia’s largest and most esteemed songwriting competitions. The awards are independently and anonymously judged by a panel of music industry experts from the likes of triple j, The Drones, Pendulum, Mix 94.5, RTRFM, X-Press Magazine, Perfect Pitch Publishing, TheMusic.com.au, Spotify, Nannup Music Festival, Pilerats, Radio Birdman and many more.
The full list of winners (drum roll…) is:
GRAND PRIZE WINNER: Sydnee Carter When We Were Young
BLUES/ROOTS WINNER: Dan Howls The Prince
COUNTRY WINNER: Ralway Bell Caught In The Crossfire
ELECTRONIC WINNER: Tobacco Rat Infra
EXPERIMENTAL WINNER: The Intenso Band As Steadfast As The Ether Itself
FOLK WINNER: Riley Pearce Seasick
HEAVY/METAL WINNER: Nucleust Of King & Tree
JAZZ WINNER: Harry Mitchell Ignacio
OUTSTANDING INDIGENOUS WINNER: The Brownley Gospel Singers The Man Of Calvary
OUTSTANDING REGIONAL WINNER: Codee-Lee Heart Is A Compass
POP WINNER: Sydnee Carter When We Were Young
PUNK/HARDCORE WINNER: Rag N’ Bone Pissy Flow
ROCK WINNER: High Horse Carbon Copy
SCHOOLS 14 & UNDER WINNER: Farraday’s Cage Meaning Of Life
SCHOOLS 15 – 17 WINNER: Burdiya Mob Djarliny
URBAN/HIP HOP WINNER: Macshane Meant To Do
WORLD WINNER: Jere Sosa Taste Of Honey
