Teskey Brothers wins $30k Levi’s Music Prize

Melbourne soul/blues outfit The Teskey Brothers have taken out the third Levi’s Music Prize.

The $30,000 reward is made up of $25,000 cash and $5,000 from Stage & Screen to financially assist Australian and New Zealand acts to achieve their export goals.

The band are returning to play festivals in North America, the UK, Germany and the Netherlands after the August 2 release of their sophomore record Run Home Slow.

“We guarantee no dollar of this incredible prize will be left unspent,” the band said.

“Thanks so much to Levi’s and BIGSOUND for this huge leg up.”

Levi’s Music Prize supports artists whose careers moved forward significantly since they showcased at BIGSOUND, and is administered by QMusic with Sounds Australia.

After playing BIGSOUND 2017, The Teskey Brothers went on to build a global network of labels, agents, promoters including Ivy League, Decca, Vertigo and Glassnote Records.

They have completed eight international and nine Australian headline tours in the past three years.

The decision was made by a panel of music industry executives, coordinated by Sounds Australia that included, Jon Coombs (VP, A&R Secretly Group US), Emilie Davaine (Caramba, France), Dean Bein (True Panther Sounds, US), Ivano Maggiulli (Brace Yourself PR, UK) and Joe Schiavon (Live Nation, UK).

Angela Samut, CEO of QMusic and executive producer of BIGSOUND congratulated the band, and thanked Levi’s for supporting artists like The Teskey Brothers via BIGSOUND since 2017.

“The Levi’s Music Prize has funded over $175,000 which has so far helped seven artists go on to become great Australian music exports,” said Samut.

Previous winners were Amyl & The Sniffers, Stella Donnelly, Alex Lahey, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Hatchie and Emerson Snowe.

Australian and New Zealand acts who have performed at BIGSOUND between 2014-2018 are eligible to apply by heading to www.bigsound.org.au/levis.

Applications are now open for Round 4 and will close June 11. This is the last chance for artists who showcased in 2014.

Artists accepted to play this year’s BIGSOUND (September 3 – 6) are automatically eligible for Round 1 2019/20 of the prize.

Artist showcase applications close on May 16.