Inaugural winner for Americana Music Prize announced

One of Australia’s most dynamic live exponents of the Americana genre, Andy Golledge, took out the inaugural Americana Music Prize on the weekend.

Based in Newtown Sydney, Golledge has been playing the traps for ten years, inspired by an alt-country list of Neil Young, Glenn Campbell, Leon Russell, Gillian Welsh and Daniel Romano.

He fronts a band which also consists of Leroy Lee and Caitlin Harnett, both solo acts in their own right, and his shows have seen him him jumping on the bar or a piano.

Late last year he visited New York and Nashville.

The Prize was co-founded by singer-songwriter Shane Nicholson who will produce an EP for Golledge, Forbes Street Studios where the record will be cut, and Lost Highway Australia Records, which will distribute the EP

The $10,000 prize pack also includes mastering, a photo shoot, artwork design, an EPK (electronic press kit), a bio, management and touring consultation and media opportunities.

Golledge was in the Prize’s 15 finalists, including Badgerhand, Ben Leece, Dave Garnham, Jess Dale, Jordie Lane, Karl S. Williams, Kelly Brouhaha, Larissa Tandy, Leanne Tennant, Sam Buckingham, Sian Evans , Suicide Swans, Thomas Keating and Van Walker.

His entry song ‘1170’, about “losing a love that is carefree and easy, and the realisation that in today’s society that can be pretty hard to come by”, pulled him over the winning line.

Shane Nicholson, noting Golledge’s singular take on Americama, said, “Andy epitomizes what the award represents.

“He is a hard-working songwriter in the Americana genre and has forged a path following his passion and dreams.”