Fans Elect New Winners in 8th Annual Independent Music Awards Vox Populi Poll

'People's Voice' Votes Differ From Industry-Selected Winners

The Fans have spoken. The Independent Music Awards (IMAs), the awards program for independent artists and fans announced the results of the fan-selected winners of the 8th annual IMA program.

Over 33,000 votes were cast in support of independent artists who were nominated in more than 50 music genre and design categories. In most cases, the fan-selected winners were not those chosen by the industry judging panel that included Peter Gabriel, Roger Daltrey, Suzanne Vega, Keith Urban, George Jones, Clint Black and many other industry vets.

The 'people's voice' component of the Independent Music Awards encourages fans throughout the world to make a difference in artists' careers. Launched during the 6th IMA program, voting at the Vox Pop Jukebox begins in the fall when the IMA nominees are announced and continues for several months after the results of the industry-judging panel are determined.

Artists nominated in the the 8th Independent Music Awards who won both the industry and people's voice poll include:

Unknown Hinson (Alt. Country Song), Ridley Bent (Country Song),
Velvet Code (Dance/Electronica Song), The Trews (Hard Rock/Metal Song), Joeldavessel (Holy Hip Hop Song), John Ricci (Jazz Song), April Smith (Pop/Rock Song), Mana Poly All-Stars (Social Action Song), The Wilders (Alt. Country Album), Niklas Sivelöv (Contemporary Classical Album) and Ala-Tan-Ch-Chi-Ge & Zha-Ge-DaSu-Rong (World Traditional Album).

Adding to their IMA win for Alt. Country album, The Wilders' epic "Someone's Gotta Pay" was a hit with fans as well, yielding the Kansas City band additional awards in both Americana Song & Alt. Country Album categories. And the design firm Oxen, headed by Emilee Seymour and Shawn Harris, the front man for the Art-Pop Rockers the Matches, earned Harris' band Vox Pop honors for both the Music Video and Band Web Site categories.



ALBUM WINNERS

** = Artists who won both judge and fan votes.

ALT. COUNTRY
The Wilders- Someone's Got To Pay **

AMERICANA
Valerie Smith & Becky Buller- Here's A Little Song

BLUES
Delta Generators- Devil In The Rhythm

CHILDREN’S MUSIC
The Kerplunks- The Kerplunk

COLLEGE RECORD LABEL
John Common, Autumn Fish, Dualistics- From These Words

CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN
Legacy- Legacy

CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL
Niklas Sivelöv- Improvisational 1 **

COUNTRY
Danielle Talamini- The Road Rises

DANCE/ELECTRONICA
Phileas- Spoken Wor(L)D

FOLK/SINGER-SONGWRITER
Eric Wilson- The Twenties

GOSPEL
J. Parker Scott- Steppin' In

HARD ROCK/METAL
Slickfist- Subharmonic Addiction

JAZZ
Massimo Biolcati- Persona

LIVE PERFORMANCE
The Brakes- Tale Of Two Cities

NEW AGE
Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey- Lil' Tae Rides Again

POP/ROCK
Elephone- Canister

LATIN
Various Artists-¡Ayombe! - The Heart Of Colombia's Música Vallenata

PUNK
The Bloody Irish Boys- Drunk Rock

R&B
Lyne'- C'et Moi

RAP/HIP-HOP
Melo Kan- EPU

WORLD FUSION
Lehera- Heart Sky

WORLD TRADITIONAL
Ala-Tan-Ch-Chi-Ge & Zha-Ge-DaSu-Rong- The Mongolian Folk Long-Song **

SONG WINNERS

ALT. COUNTRY
Unknown Hinson-“Torture Town”**

AMERICANA
The Wilders- “Hey Little Darlin”

BLUES
Celso Salim- “Big City Blues”

CHILDREN'S MUSIC
Debbie and Friends-“Hangin' Around”

CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN
Bill Petty- “In You”

COUNTRY
Ridley Bent- “Nine Inch Nails”**

COVER SONG
Megan Slankard- “America”

DANCE/ELECTRONICA
Velvet Code- “Say You Love Me”**

FILM/TV (tie)
Jude Johnstone- “In This House”
Michael Brandmeier- “Returning Home”

FOLK/SINGER-SONGWRITER
Andrea Hamilton- “It'll Be Alright”

GOSPEL
Darcell- “If U Wanna”

HARD ROCK/METAL
The Trews- “Hold Me In Your Arms”**

HOLY HIP HOP
Joeldavessel- “I See”**
Craig Amaker- “Crazy Praise Reload”

JAZZ
John Ricci- “Mode Time”**

LATIN
Muza(Sol Aravena)- “Ausencia”

NEW AGE
Martyrs of Sound- “Ananda”

POP/ROCK
April Smith- “Colors” **

PUNK
The Reveling- “The Great Unknown”

R&B
Izzy James- “Caught Up”

RAP/HIP-HOP
Wondur of Dynamic Vibrations- “The Weight”

SOCIAL ACTION
Mana Poly All-Stars- “Gunshots”**

WORLD FUSION
Baye Kouyate- “Danama”
Pavlov's Dogs Orchestra- “Lines”

WORLD TRADITIONAL
Daniel Payne- “Viking Jig”


DESIGN WINNERS

BAND WEB SITE
Oxen- www.thematches.com

MUSIC VIDEO
the Matches- “Yankee in a Chip Shop”

BAND/VENUE POSTER
Two Hours Traffic/Rebecca Ford

ALBUM ART PHOTOGRAPHY
Kerry Sherck

ARTIST/BAND PUBLICITY PHOTO
Jody Domingue

CONCERT PHOTOGRAPHY
Ebru Yildiz

BUSINESS WEB SITE
iMedia Development- www.noisyplanet.net

INDIE RECORD LABEL WEB SITE
Dirty Bandits

7th Annual IMA Vox Populi Winner Loses Home in Fire

Scott Russo, frontman of Unwritten Law and one-half of the 7th Annual IMA Punk Song Vox Populi Winning duo, Scott & Aimee, suffered the devastating loss of his home and pets last week.


Russo's Rancho Penasquitos home caught fire Thursday, February 5 and left an estimated $500,000 worth of uninsured damage in its wake.

The singer shared the home with his parents, two young sons and daughter, Cailin. He speculated that the fire may have been caused by an electric heater that was left on by his daughter while she was showering.

He released this statement:

“I am at a complete loss for words. My entire family is now homeless, all our pets are gone and our earthly possessions have been lost. In these tough times, my family had been out of work and the financial burden was too heavy for me to afford fire insurance."

Though, he assures "The support from my friends has been overwhelming.”

A benefit was held Tuesday, February 10 at San Diego's House of Blues. Grammy-nominated artists Jason Mraz and Switchfoot performed, as did Unwritten Law and pro surfer/ musician Timmy Curran.

Click here to make a donation through Pay Pal.

For check or money order, make donations payable to:
Platinum Financial Management, Inc. for the benefit of Scott Russo
9200 West Sunset Boulevard, Suite 600
Los Angeles, CA 90069





LISTEN TO SCOTT & AIMEE's IMA VOX POPULI AWARD WINNING SONG, "MISS AMERICA," HERE.

WATCH THE UNWRITTEN LAW MUSIC VIDEO FOR "CAILIN":