Events

Polls Close For Best Of Saint John Music April 30th

The eighth annual Best of Saint John Music Awards are just around the corner, leaving less than two weeks left to vote for the city’s most cherished music moments of 2015. There are thirteen categories including best artist, album, group, song, artwork and more.

Chuck Teed, founder of the long standing event, explains that, like all the best artists, he stole the idea. “I basically lifted the idea from The Coast’s Best of Music issue. When I worked for the paper we used to host a cheesy awards show, and I thought it would translate well in Saint John. The first year was a lot of fun, and it just sort of took on a life of its own from there.”

Last year, Teed stepped down from running the show and has handed the reins over to Local 107.3FM, the campus-based community radio station at UNBSJ.

“I had a lot of fun putting the Music Poll together, but it was time to let it die or pass it on. Local FM is a perfect fit; I am glad they decided to take on the project.”

“The intent has basically stayed the same, but we’ve made some adjustments here and there; changed a few categories and tested out a few different venues with varying degrees of success. I think that last iteration was the best show we produced. Hopefully the Local FM team will take the format and grow from there.”

Teed explains that, with the event now out of his hands, he looks forward to the results at the award show being a complete surprise to him for the first time.

The award show aims to celebrate and support the diverse community of Saint John musicians, but also those who support them. Categories for Best Venue, Best Radio Program and Best Fan have been a staple to the fun and informal event.

With eight years under its belt, the event has considerable history: in 2008 Adam Mowery and Jud Crandal pulled up to the event in a shopping cart full of stolen election signs, though no other grand entrances of the sort have been reported. In 2010, sly guy Clinton Charlton managed to sneak away with a full third of the event’s total awards. Adam Kierstead, known to have very humbly accepted Best Musician two years in a row now, is widely believed to use his trophies exclusively as water dishes for his three beloved cats.

The awards will be held at the Sanctuary Theatre on Friday, May 20th, 2016, but won’t happen at all unless you go HERE to vote.