Jason Mraz, P.O.D., Hot Snakes among top 2019 San Diego Music Awards nominees

Grammy Award-winning troubadour Jason Mraz is one of the top nominees for the 2019 edition of the San Diego Music Awards, which will be held March 11 at downtown’s House of Blues. Tickets go on sale Monday.

Mraz, who will perform at the all-ages awards fete, is nominated for Artist of the Year, Album of the Year (for “Know”) and Song of the Year (for “Have It All”).

The veteran San Diego bands P.O.D., The Frights and Hot Snakes are nominated in the same three categories as Mraz, while The Redwoods Revue is nominated for Artist of the Year and in two other categories. Hot Snakes, co-led by Rocket From The Crypt mainstay John Reis, last year released its first new album in 14 years.

Among the artists who earned two nominations apiece are Slightly Stoopid, blues vocal dynamo Whitney Shay, Earthless (whose drummer, Mario Rubalcaba, is a Rocket From The Crypt alum), Schizophonics, Peter Sprague, The Havnauts, boogie-woogie pianist and band leader Sue Palmer, and Trouble in the Wind, which topped the 2018 San Diego Music Awards with three wins.

In addition to Mraz, P.O.D., Hot Snakes and Slightly Stoopid, the other Artist of the Year nominees include Shay, The Frights and The Redwoods Revue. A complete list of nominees in all 23 categories appears below.

The recipient of the Country Dick Montana Lifetime Achievement Award has not yet been announced.

The winners of the 2019 San Diego Music Awards — the event’s 28th edition — will be announced at the March 11 House of Blues ceremony. Confirmed performers include The Redwoods Revue, Vokab Kompany, Veronica May, Ariel Levine, the Casey Hensley Band and Shane Hall, all of whom will perform at the Awards show for the first time.

Also set to perform is the newly formed Java Joe’s All Stars, featuring Mraz, Gregory Page, Jeff Berkley and Billy Galewood, who until 2016 performed under the name Bushwalla and is a longtime friend of Mraz’s.

“I called Jason to see if he’d like to present an award, and he replied: ‘How about if we play’?” said San Diego Music Awards founder Kevin Hellman. “I said: ‘Sure!’ ”

The San Diego Music Awards are sponsored by Taylor Guitars and — for the first time — Ballast Point Brewing Company.

Online voting for this year’s edition will run from Jan. 28 through Feb. 17 at sandiegomusicawards.com. The public can vote in every category except the nine best album categories. Those are voted on by members of the nonprofit San Diego Music Academy, which includes area concert promoters, talent buyers, radio station veterans and other industry professionals.

The awards show is presented is presented under the auspices of the academy, which was launched in 1991. It has thus far raised $615,317 for the foundation’s Guitars for Schools program, according to Hellman. Over the past three decades, the program has provided free instruments and lessons for 57,200 students in 71 San Diego County schools.

Tickets for the 2019 San Diego Music Awards are priced at $36 (standing room) $40 (reserves balcony seats) and $75 (reserved table seats in front of stage), plus service charges. They go on sale Monday at sandiegomusicawards.com/buy-tickets and, starting Tuesday, at the House of Blues box office.

2019 San Diego Music Awards nominees

Artist of the Year

Hot Snakes

Jason Mraz

P.O.D.

Redwoods Revue

Slightly Stoopid

The Frights

Whitney Shay

Song of the Year

Earthless, “Gifted By The Wind”

Hot Snakes, “Six Wave Hold Down”

Jason Mraz, “Have It All”

P.O.D., “Listening for the Silence”

Slightly Stoopid, “Too Late (Stick Figure Remix)”

The Frights, “Over It”

The Petty Saints, “Troublemaker”

Album of the Year

Earthless, “Black Heaven”

Hot Snakes, “Jericho Sirens”

Jason Mraz, “Know”

Peter Sprague & Randy Phillips, “Sparks and Seeds”

P.O.D., “Circles”

Planet B, “Planet B”

Slightly Stoopid, “Everyday Life, Everyday People”

Best New Artist

Babydoll Warriors

Julia Sage & The Bad Hombres

Miss New Buddah

Pocket Hole

The Color Forty Nine

The Havnauts

Tularosa

Best Singer-Songwriter

Evan Diamond

Jessica Lerner

Missy Alcazar

Jimmy Ruelas

Nina Francis

Sarah Rogo

Shane Hall

Best Jazz

Ed Kornhauser

Erika Davies

Euphoria Brass Band

Sue Palmer & Her Motel Swing Orchestra

Gilbert Castellanos

Joshua White

Nathan Hubbard

Best Jazz Album

Christopher Hollyday, “Telepathy”

Danny Green Trio Plus Strings, “One Day It Will”

Ira B. Liss Big Band Jazz Machine, “Tasty Tunes”

Joe Garrison, “The Broken Jar”

Mattson 2, “A Love Supreme”

Montalban Quintet, “Under the River”

Peter Sprague String Trio, “Samba Andaluza”

Best Blues

Bill Magee Blues Band

Casey Hensley

Box Car Chief

Low Volts

Mercedes Moore

Robin Henkel

Stephanie Brown & The Surrealistics

Best Blues Album

Black Market III, “Dashboard Jesus”

Blue Largo, “Before The Devil Steals Your Soul”

Low Volts, “Roam With You”

S. Mathias, “Boxcar Road”

Sue Palmer, “Gems, Vol. 1”

The Wayne Riker Trio, “Blues Breakout”

Whitney Shay, “A Woman Rules The World”

Best Country or Americana

Blind Mountain Holler

Enter The Blue Sky

Nancarrow

Nathan Raney

Sara Petite

Stephen El Rey

Trouble in the Wind

Best Country or Americana Album

Barbwire, “Long Hard Ride”

Berkley Hart, “ While the Night is Still Young”

Jonny Wagon and The Tennessee Sons, “Feels Good To Be Alive”

Nitro Express, “Country Style”

Shakedown String Band, “In the Key of OB”

The Color Forty Nine, “The Color Forty Nine”

Trouble In The Wind, “Hammer On”

Best Hip Hop/Rap

Bloodstone

Direkt Message

DJ PNutz

DND & Rick B

Parker Meridian

The Microphone Doctors

Vokab Company

Best Hip Hop/Rap Album

Def Shon, “Preppin’ My Time Machine”

DreCat, “Made in Daygo”

ill Nicky, “Alto”

Parker Meridien, “Twentyfist Street Sessions”

Riston Diggs, “Supreme Confidence”

Rob $tone, “Young Rob $tone”

Tulengua, “Baja Funk”

Best Indie/Alternative

Ariel Levine

Aviator Stash

Coral Bells

Dead Feather Moon

Imagery Machine

The Bassics

Wild Wild Wets

Best Indie/Alternative Album

Nights Like Thieves, “Sophomore Slump”

The Frights, “Hypochondriac”

The Gift Machine, “New Tangles”

The Gloomies, “Romance”

The Silent Comedy, “Enemies Multiply”

The Verigolds, “Sea of Zebras”

Warsaw, “Wires”

Best Pop

Birdy Bardot

Creature Canyon

Dani Bell & The Tarantist

Jara

The Mittens

Tori Rose & The Hot Mess

Well Well Well

Best Pop Album or EP

Becca Jay, “Queen of Hearts”

Corina Rose, “Our Love is Freedom”

Daytrip, “Daytrip”

Lee Coulter, “Earthlee”

Pocket Hole, “Marine Layer”

Tory Roze & The Hot Mess, “Baggage Claim”

Veronica May, “Teaser”

Best Rock

Great Electric Quest

The Routine

Schizophonics

Taken by Canadians

The Oxen

The Slashes

The Strawberry Moons

Best Rock Album or EP

Bad Kids, “Pensive”

Creature Canyon, “Did You Want That”

Electric Mud, “Highway Refugees”

Stone Horse, “Gotta Get Back”

The Donkeys, “Sun Damaged Youth”

The Farmers, “Farmers SD”

The Frets, “The Frets”

Best World Music

B-Side Players

Bi-National Mambo Orchestra

Hirie

Psydecar

Tribal Seeds

Split Finger

Tribal Theory

Best World Music Album

Boostive, “Fried Neck Bones”

Crucial Blend, “Enough Already”

Fluid Foundation, “Slo Ryde”

Marujah, “Bad Hombres Live at Brando’s Paradise”

Yale Strom’s Broken Consort, “Shimmering Lights, Hanukkah Music”

The Camarada Tango Quintet, “Tango San Diego”

The Amalgamated, “Premium Quality”

Best Local Recording

Forest Grove, “Forest Grove”

MC Flow, “Her Highness”

Spice Pistols, “Life’s A Drag”

Finnegan Blue, “Finnegan Blue”

Dirty Pennies, “Dirty Pennies”

The Havnauts, “Go For It!”

The Tighten Ups, “Tighten It Up”

Best Live Performer

Schizophonics

Sully & The Souljahs

The Creepy Creeps

The Redwoods Collective

Sure Fire Soul Ensemble

The Sleepwalkers

Whitney Shay

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