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
Twitter @georgevarga
Sign up for the Pacific Insider newsletter
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Pacific San Diego.