Scottish Alternative Music Awards - Winners 2017

Words: Richard Cobb

Last Thursday (October 12) saw the annual Scottish Alternative Music Awards (SAMAs) pull another rabbit out of the Red Stripe filled hat with a hugely successful night at Glasgow’s Garage on Sauchiehall Street, showcasing the best of an extremely talented bunch.

If you’re unfamiliar with the awards, the SAMAs have been a yearly highlight of the Scottish Music calendar since its inception in 2009 after the brains behind the operation, Richy Muirhead, conjured up the idea whilst studying at university. Since then they’ve gone from strength to strength and managed to establish themselves as one of the biggest and most respected music awards in Scotland.

The Van T's

In previous years, acts including Fatherson, Be Charlotte and underground hero Gerry Cinnamon have all been winners. I rather foolishly thought Ladysmith Black Mambazo had also been previous winners, but it turns out that was at the South African Music Awards which in a Googler's worst nightmare is also commonly referred to as the SAMAs.

So back to this year’s awards, the night was expertly compered by DJ and life of the party, Jim Gellatly, and a guest appearance from everyone’s favourite uncle and radio presenter Vic Galloway, along with a live performance from WHITE at the end of the night.

WHITE

There were seven awards up for grabs in the Best Metal, Best Live Act, Best Acoustic, Best Electronic, Best Hip Hop, Best Newcomer and Best Rock/Alternative categories. The outcome of the awards was solely down to a public vote and in a few short weeks there had been well over 10,000 votes right up until Wednesday night's 5pm deadline.

The winners of the individual categories were as follows:

Best Live Act (in association with XPO North): The Van T’s



Best Acoustic (in association with Assai UK): Lewis Capaldi



Best Electronic (in association with citizenM): Stillhound



Best Metal (in association with Cathouse): Tiberius



Best Hip Hop (in association with Boyd Digital): Kid Robotik



Best Newcomer (in association with The Academy of Music & Sound): SHREDD



Best Rock/Alternative (in association with Eventbrite UK): Shambolics



Speaking the morning after the night before - and no doubt nursing an award-winning hangover - founder Richy Muirhead reflected on another successful year:

“Last night’s ceremony was a great celebration of Scottish music, you could really feel the energy in the room from the start to the end! The live line-up and 2017 nominations showcase the wealth of talent in Scotland across multiple genres.”

Shambolics