2014 New Mexico Music Awards Finalists Announced

The preliminary judging is complete and the finalists for the 27th Annual New Mexico Music Awards program have been announced. No surprise that long time veterans Breaking Blue, Kito Peters, Jono Manson, Jamie Michaels, Syd Masters, Lisa Carman, Michael Anthony and Jeffery Mettling are among the finalists in several categories. Newer faces include the bands American Jem, Man Full of Holes, Jove's Hand, The Gregg Daigle Band and Soulshine. Two of our recent Eric Larson Endowment recipients, Haley Baysinger (with her band, The Brush Strokes) and Sean Trauth (with his band, repel the robot) have also made the cut as well as a host of great solo artists including Mikey Junchaya and John Cousins.

We had so many entries this year we had to break several combined genre categories in half to accommodate everyone. Now the final judging process begins. For a complete list of finalists, please click on the ABOUT tab and follow the link to Finalists.

The Eric Larson Endowment at the University of New Mexico provides scholarship money to currently enrolled juniors or seniors who have declared music or a related field as their major. To find out more or to donate, go to http://ericlarsonendowment.com. To donate directly, Please make your check payable to:

UNM Eric Larson Endowment/UNM Foundation

700 Lomas NE 7 Woodward Center Albuquerque, NM 87131

The Railyards Marketplace in the Barellas neighborhood in Albuquerque is looking for musicians to play every Sunday from May 4th through November 2nd. Artists will be paid for their performance. The Railyards music committee is looking for a variety of music. To apply and to find out more, go to railyardsmarket.org.

Our free Marketing workshop will be held on Saturday, May 3rd at the Candyman in Santa Fe as part of our ongoing educational outreach programming for New Mexico musicians . We will hold additional programs throughout the year on topics such as Understanding Contracts,  Songwriting, How to find and keep a gig, Recording and Mastering basics. Our thanks to Cindy and Rand Cook of the Candyman, ASCAP and Ernie Ball for their support.

We will also begin presenting a program for veterans this fall entitled Songwriting as a Therapeutic Process to help those who have served our country honorably communicate their experiences in the theater of war. We will be expanding these programs beyond New Mexico to the southwestern and western US beginning in June of 2014.  We are currently looking for sponsorships to cover artist fees, travel and other expenses. Music is a powerful tool and should be used to educate as well as entertain.