The American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) held their 9th annual Libera Awards digitally today, out of New York City. The event, recognised as the largest Independent music award show in the world, capped off days of panels and one-on-one meetings as part of A2IM Indie Week, which moved onto a digital platform for the 2020 event. Over the course of the week, supported by Sounds Australia, 25 Australian professionals braved the time zones and actively participated in the virtual edition.
Sounds Australia wishes to congratulate the Australian artists who won at the awards:
Julia Jacklin took home Best Folk / Bluegrass album for Crushing (Polyvinyl Record Co.) and also performed the incredible ‘Don’t Know How To Keep Loving You’ as part of the award ceremony, which also included performances from the likes of Orville Peck (who won best Country Album and Breakthrough Artist/Release) and Wyclef Jean, who closed out the night.
Julia Jacklin has appeared at a number of Sounds Australia events including THE AUSSIE BBQ at SXSW, Liverpool Sound City and Sound Gallery @ Komedia at The Great Escape all in 2016.
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard won Best Metal Album for Infest The Rats’ Nest (ATO Records). They performed at the 2014 Canadian Music Week THE AUSSIE BBQ, at the iconic Horseshoe Tavern, alongside the likes of You Am I. They were also nominated in the Best Outlier Album category for Fishing For Fishies.
Amyl and the Sniffers won Best Punk / Emo Album for Amyl and The Sniffers (ATO Records), who performed with us in the UK at THE AUSSIE BBQ in London and Brighton’s The Great Escape, as well as The Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg in 2018.
We’d also like to congratulate the managers of the winning acts and acknowledge their tireless work for their artists – Alistair Burns (Julia Jacklin), Andrew Parisi & Simone Ubaldi (Amyl & The Sniffers) and Eric Moore (King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard).
These amazing Australian acts joined an impressive list of winners which included Mavis Staples, Sudan Archives, Weyes Blood, Fontaines D.C. and IDLES.
Although they didn’t receive an award (this time), it was fantastic to see Alex Cameron and Courtney Barnett nominated, further demonstrating the depth and talent of Australian music right now.
For the full list of winners and more details about the Libera Awards, head to liberaawards.com