The Wammie Music Awards are organized by MusicianShip. They are organized in Washington DC. They are an effort to appreciate the work of artists and musicians across the Washington DC. This year The Wammie 35th Annual Wammie Music Awards took place at Capital Turnaround. They took place on 1 April 2023.
There were certain rules for the nominations. The awards were for work done from 1 January 2022
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to 31 December 2022. These were for artists or groups who are based in the DC Metropolitan region. The artists must have published on a minimum of 2 of these platforms- iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, Tidal, Deezer, SoundCloud, and BandCamp. The nominated albums should have at least 5 songs. The nominations and votes were submitted through the Wammie Awards platform.
The hosts for Wammie 35th Annual Wammie Music Awards were Allison Seymour and Darren Hayes. The award show
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had a pre-event VIP and reception with DJ 24/7. There were many live performances by MuMu Fresh, Perro Sambo, Rayshun LaMarr, Marc2Ray, and Nessa Dove. The event also paid tribute to the 50th anniversary of Hip-Hop. It was done by Beau Young Prince, Whistle, Innamet James, and DJ Reddz.
Event history
Wammie Music Award are basically The Washington Area Music Association (WAMA) Awards. It is a regional music industry in Washington DC. WAMA has a focus on bringing up the area’s cultural music. They help regional musicians get recognition on the national level. The WAMA gives its members seminars, networking services, and production of live music events.
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In July 2018, the WAMA was closed due to decreasing membership and financial constraints. And also because the tradition was losing importance among the region’s 35th Annual Wammie Music Awards & community. But the Wammies came back in 2019. They had a new mission and many goals. The musicians and artists work really hard. They produce great art and that is important to the DC. But they are also gaining importance nationally and internationally. They are getting signed by bigger brands. The WAMA was founded in 1984. In the early ‘80s, the DC had go-go and hardcore bands and artists. But later, there were folk, R&B, gospel, and jazz that came up. The creators of WAMA first started with charity concerts and music seminars. And that eventually led to the coming up of the WAMA, a regional music association. In the early ‘80s, there was a lot of discussion about music in the DC area. And then the need for a musical association was felt. In 1984, they had the idea of running WAMA for five years. Then, the first Wammies took place in 1985 at GWU’s Lisner Auditorium. The awards were given to The Nighthawks, Root Boy Slim, The Slickee Boys, and Emmylou Harris.
In 1986, the Wammies took place at the Kennedy Center. Simson was the main head before 1990. But in 1990, Schreibman became the leader. Then, the WAMA was closed in 2018. WAMA and the Wammies got backlash from media and the music community. In the later years, critics said that WAMA has not taken into account the area’s many of the artists that were new and critically acclaimed. In 2016, the Wammies were postponed because of a computer crash. Then, they took place on 10 April 2016. The location was The State Theatre in Falls Church. People are critical of the Wammies. So, there were some tough changes that came afterwards.
So, they came up with The MusicianShip. This was for nomination and voting process. The
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MusicianShip had a different process of nomination and voting than that of the WAMA. You don’t have to be a member of the The MusicianShip. Everyone can submit nominations for each category. The finalists are 7 artists and bands who get the most nominations. There is a set of
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judges, more than 60 in number. It includes local musicians, music journalists, RJs, and DJs. There are also some guidelines for the judges to come up with the winners. Now that there is technology and online things more and more, Stacey Williams, WAMA member believed that it was important to The MusicianShip to take over the Wammies. It is great to see that Wammies didn’t dissolve and this year hosted the 35th edition.
Wammies is all about the celebration of talent and music in the DC area. It is about the rejuvenation of the music community in the DC area. It is their recognition and appreciation. It is important to really give them a platform to the new artists and musicians so that their good work is recognized. Wammies are a local version of the Grammys. They are equally prestigious as the Grammys and also a motivation for the winners to win Grammys later at some point in life.
By Bhawna
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