What’s On: Scottish Alternative Music Awards returns celebrating local acts

The annual celebration of Scotland’s DIY music scene is scheduled to take place here in Glasgow tomorrow evening (30 November) where local performers will be recognised for their artistic contributions. The Scottish Alternative Music Awards (SAMA) is returning to Saint Luke’s for its 2024 edition, hosting an exciting lineup while presenting trophies to acts as determined by a public vote.

Ahead of the ceremony we caught up with founder Richy Muirhead to find out why it’s important to promote Scottish talent:

“SAMA is a music award ceremony that was set up in 2009 and it celebrates a range of different genres of music across Scotland. It’s an annual celebration of the underground culture we have in Scotland, over the years we’ve seen some amazing talent like Calum Easter, Talia, Gerry Cinnamon, Lewis Capaldi, Vlure, a lot of artists in the early stage of their career be recognised.

“We’ve got some amazing nominated artists this year, we had over 14,000 votes so there’s a lot of people interested and a lot of people who want to support the artists they love.”

The idea for the SAMAs came after Richy attended the MTV European Music Awards in Berlin, realising there was no equivalent for artists performing at grassroots level in Scotland. “I came back feeling really inspired. I seen what awards can do and how they can bring people together. The SAMAs became a platform for recognising electronic music and rock.

“The way I see the underground and alternative scenes is that they are places you can just discover new music and places you can tap into all the new sounds coming out and be the first on the pulse.”

There are seven categories in this year’s awards with four nominations each:

Best Live Act sponsored by St Luke’s & The Winged Ox

Becky Sikasa

Leahgte

Psweatpants

SLIX

Best Newcomer sponsored by TuneCore

Dara Dubh

EUGENE

Lacuna

Leif Coffield

Best Hip Hop sponsored by PITCH Scotland

Eyve

P Caso

Psweatpants

Vagrant Real Estate

Best Metal sponsored by Drygate

Dvne

Newshapes

North Atlas

Party Cannon

Best Acoustic sponsored by Musicians’ Union

Grayling

Hector Shaw

Mohan Evans

Theo Bleak

Best Electronic sponsored by Groover

Alliyah Enyo

Franck

naafi

Tony Morris

Best Rock/Alternative sponsored by Pro Weekend Fest

Brògeal

Indoor Foxes

Sister Madds

SOAPBOX