David Rudderham
Connector Staff

The New England Music Awards are set to take place this weekend at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium on Feb. 22.  The ceremony will feature live performances from musicians Sarah Borrello, Nemes, The Mallett Brothers band, Will Dailey, Dressed for the Occasion and Hayley Sabella.  The event will span the whole weekend and will also showcase the talents of local musicians throughout Lowell the day before the ceremony.

The schedule is a busy one starting at 7p.m. on Friday, the 21st, with performances by Freevolt and Frank Viele at “Brewfest” in a heated tent at the Lowell Winter Festival.  This event continues until 10:30p.m. while at 8p.m. the UMass Lowell Inn and Conference Center will host the Radar Awards and a kickoff party set to feature guest speakers and performances from the Radar Class of 2014 as well as President Soup.  The kickoff party will go until 1am while yet another event starts at 9p.m. at the Blue Shamrock, where nominees will perform.  That event will also go until 1a.m.  These three events will take place the day before the award ceremony.

The day of the ceremony starts with an event (noon- 5p.m.) with an artist conference where guest speakers from the industry as well as a panel discussion will talk about topics related to local music.  And of course there will be live performances.  The Winterfest will also have more music performances from 6p.m. until 11:30p.m. while the award ceremony takes place at 7p.m.  In short, there will be a lot of music to listen to this weekend.

The list of nominees is long but impressive and includes categories such as “Best in State” for each state in New England.  NEMA will also award musicians by genre with titles such as “Indie/Pop Act of the Year” and “Country Act of the Year.”  No contemporary genre is excluded.  Folk, Blues, Jazz, Hip-Hop, Heavy Metal and Rock are also included in the awards ceremonies and awards such as “Best Album” and “Best Live Act”  could be awarded to anyone appropriate for the title.  Other interesting award titles include “Producer of the Year,” “Band of the Year” and “Songwriter of the year.”  A list of musicians as well as the people on the nomination committee and event planning staff are all on the website for the New England Music Awards.  The event coordinators for this large event include UMass Lowell students Regina Alongi and Morgan Mahoney.

This will be the NEMA’s z year running and will continue to be a source of exposure for hardworking musicians while also bringing a community together for the purpose of having fun and supporting good music.