Finalists for the 2017 National Indigenous Music Awards have been announced

The finalists of the 2017 National Indigenous Music Awards have been announced today, with many of Australia’s finest Indigenous artists being recognised for their stellar contributions to Aussie music over the last year, and for their role in furthering Indigenous music in mainstream Australian culture.

Announcing the finalists today, the National Indigenous Music Awards also paid tribute to the recent passing of Dr. G. Yunupingu, who was a 14-time NIMA recipient, and also the 2016 NIMA Artist of the Year.

Fresh from sweeping the pool at the AIR Awards on Thursday night, A.B. Original lead this year’s nominations, with four nods for their debut record ‘Reclaim Australia’, and it’s lead single ‘January 26’. The event will also see the duo team up with Dan Sultan for a performance on the night, as they celebrate nominations for Album, Artist, Film Clip, and Song Of The Year.

Troy Cassar-Daley also received three nominations, for Artist, Album, and Song Of The Year, thanks to his track ‘Things I Carry Around’. Further Song Of The Year nominees also include Leah Flanagan, and Lonely Boys, while Leah Flanagan also received a nod for Artist Of The Year.

Nominations for this year’s prestigious New Talent Of The Year award are shared between four amazing up-and-coming artists, including Apakatjah, Electric Fields, Emily Wurramara, and Tia Gostelow, all of which are hugely talented artists, completely deserving of the prestigious award.

This year’s event will see a number of nominees performing on the night as well, including A.B. Original with Dan Sultan, Paul Kelly, Leah Flanagan, Red Flag Dances, the winner of the 2016 NIMA New Talent award, Gawurra, and the 2017 New Talent nominees Electric Fields, Apakatjah and Emily Wurramara.

The National Indigenous Music Awards will take place on August 12th, at the Darwin Amphitheatre, with tickets available from the official NIMA website.

Check out the full list of nominees below.

2017 National Indigenous Music Awards finalists

Artist Of The Year

A.B. Original
Dan Sultan
Jessica Mauboy
Troy Cassar-Daley

Album Of The Year

A.B. Original – Reclaim Australia
Busby Marou – Postcards From The Shell House
Leah Flanagan – Saudades
Troy Cassar-Daley – Things I Carry Around

Song Of The Year

A.B. Original – ‘January 26’
Emily Wurramara – ‘Hey Love’
Leah Flanagan – ‘Chills’
Lonely Boys – ‘Hunter’
Troy Cassar-Daley – ‘Things I Carry Around’
Yirrmal – ‘The Bridge’

Film Clip Of The Year

A.B. Original – ‘January 26’
Dan Sultan – ‘Magnetic’
Lonely Boys – ‘Hunter’
Lorrpu – ‘Lorrpu’

Community Music Clip

‘Save The Water “Ngaba”’ – Halls Creek
‘Logan City’ – Logan
‘Choose Water’ – Ngukurr
‘With Knoeledge Comes New Friends’ – Dust Up
‘2016 – Warakurna’ – NPY Lands

New Talent Of The Year

Apakatjah
Electric Fields
Emily Wurramara
Tia Gostelow
Yirrmal

Traditional Music Award

Wangga: Complete CD Set
Numbulwar Red Flag Dancers

The National Indigenous Music Awards
Saturday, August 12th
Darwin Amphitheatre, Darwin, NT
Tickets

This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.