It's no secret that Australia boasts a stack of pretty damn remarkable independent record labels, and the Australian Independent Record Labels Association has named a standout group as its nominees for this year's Best Independent Label prize at next week's AIR Awards.
This year, the labels with a shot at the trophy (or...statue? Do they get statues?) are Barely Dressed Records (Gold Class, Jim Lawrie, Jess Ribeiro and more), Elefant Traks (One Day, L-FRESH The LION, Sky'High and more), UNFD (Northlane, In Hearts Wake, Cursed Earth and more), Jazzhead (Trichotomy, Monique diMattina, Marc Hannaford and more), I OH YOU (Violent Soho, DZ Deathrays, Jack River and more) and Pieater (Airling, Big Scary, #1 Dads and more).
Held at Queen's Theatre, Adelaide, on Thursday 27 July, the 2017 AIR Awards will be hosted by one-time Recovery host and 2002 Celebrity Big Brother winner Dylan Lewis, and feature live performances from some diverse and truly excellent local talent, including A.B. Original, NGAIIRE, Henry Wagons, Russell Morris and Elizabeth Rose.
The party doesn't stop at the prize ceremony, however, with public after-parties being staged by a number of labels across several venues, including The Hotel Metropolitan (ABC Music, free entry), Jive Bar (Chugg Music, $15 at the door), Sunny's Pizza (Future Classic, free entry) and Rocket Bar (Golden Era x Bad Apples, $20 via Moshtix).
Concurrent with the AIR Awards, the country's first official independent music industry conference, Indie-Con, has announced its full program, including a closing keynote speech from The Wiggles co-founder Murray Cook. The two-day summit will be held at Tandanya, Adelaide, from 27-28 July.
Immediately after, Indie-Con attendees will have the chance to check out the talent on display at Scouted, a free event for delegates featuring 15 bands across five stages, before heading on to the official after-party at the Hotel Metro, hosted by Bedroom Suck.
There are also events such as The Beer & BBQ festival and Adelaide's Winter Reds event; so, basically, the city is going to be jam-packed with opportunity and alive with the sounds of live music next weekend — all you need to do is head along for the ride.
The full list of AIR Awards nominees is available at the association's website.
For more info about Indie-Con, head this way — or check the South Australia website for further details about everything else going on.
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