the 1st Annual Hoboken Music Awards

On April 25th, 2009 at 7pm, The Goldhawk Bar and Lounge in Hoboken,NJ will host the 1st Annual Hoboken Music Awards (HMA's). The movers and shakers of the local music scene in Hudson County will come together under one roof for one night to celebrate indie music and each other. The HMA's promise to shine a light on all the talented bands and singer/songwriters from the area and help create awareness among its participants, the public and the media.

The HMA's is the brain child of David Entwistle, a Hoboken resident, live music booker, sound engineer, host of the popular "People's Open Mic" and musician himself. After attending the Asbury Park Music Awards for the first time last year, David wondered why no one had thought to do the same thing in Hoboken. Along with Asbury Park, Hoboken has its own musical history and a talented assortment of unsigned music artists. A little exposure can go a long way for the ever persistant indie musician and networking is a must. The HMA's hopes to serve both of these needs.

The HMA's were born this year with a simple page on Myspace and word of mouth. There are ovr 100 bands and singer/songwriters from the local area who caught wind of the idea and signed up for a chance to be nominated in one of 12 categories:
1. Singer/Songwriter Male-Local
2. Singer/Songwriter Male-Surrounding Area
3. Singer/Songwriter Female-Local
4. Singer/Songwriter Female-Surrounding Area
5. Band(pop/rock/alt)
6. Band(hard rock/metal)
7. The Peoples Choice Award
8. Outstanding Contribution to the Indie Music Scene
9. Music Video Production
10. Indie Music Publication
11. Hip-Hop
12. Childrens Music

Musicians were able to qualify for nomination by simply becoming a "friend" on the HMA's Myspace Music page (www.myspace.com/hobokenmusicawards). All artists nominated are judged by a panel of Indie music proffessionals. The criteria is as follows: Artist History, Quality of Craftmanship, and Artist Potential. The cut-off date for qualifying this year was March 1st. The names of the nominees in each category will be chosen by April 1st and posted April 2nd on our Myspace page.