Recap: The 2021 Music Victoria Awards
In case you missed it, the annual Music Victoria Awards took place last night at the Melbourne Recital Centre, hosting music lovers, industry and artists alike to celebrate and honour the state’s best acts, albums, songs and musicians of the year.
The standout for the 17th annual event was act Emma Donovan & The Putbacks who took home a huge 3 awards for Best Soul, Funk, RnB or Gospel Act, Best Group, and Best Album for their long awaited Crossover LP. They also captivated the night’s audience with a live performance, alongside additional performances from Kerryn Fields and Mindy Meg Wang x Tim Shiel.
A massive half of this year’s industry-voted winners were first-time Award nominees. In the public-voted categories, Hiatus Kaiyote took out Best Song for their 2021 single ‘Red Room’, with Sampa The Great winning Best Solo Artist and Amyl and the Sniffers taking home Best Live Act.
It was a truly special night for everyone involved – and we can’t wait to see what the local music scene has in store for us for 2022! Check out the full list of winners from the night, below.
Music Victoria Awards Winners 2021 (industry-voted)
ARCHIE ROACH FOUNDATION AWARD FOR EMERGING TALENT (FOR FIRST NATIONS ACTS)
Allara
ARTS ACCESS VICTORIA AMPLIFY AWARD (FOR DEAF AND DISABLED ACTS)
Eliza Hull - (Castlemaine)
BEST REGIONAL/OUTER SUBURBAN ACT
Baker Boy - (Ocean Grove)
BEST BLUES ACT
Dan Dinnen & Shorty
BEST COUNTRY ACT
The Weeping Willows
BEST ELECTRONIC ACT
Female Wizard
BEST EXPERIMENTAL OR AVANT-GARDE ACT
Candlesnuffer
BEST FOLK ACT
Charm of Finches
BEST HEAVY ACT
Dr. Colossus - (Surf Coast)
BEST HIP HOP ACT
DRMNGNOW - (Shepparton)
BEST INTERCULTURAL ACT
Ajak Kwai
BEST JAZZ ACT
Andrea Kellar
BEST POP ACT
Alice Skye - (Warrandyte)
BEST REGGAE AND DANCEHALL ACT
JahWise Productions
BEST PUNK/ROCK ACT
CIVIC
BEST SOUL, FUNK, R’N’B OR GOSPEL ACT
Emma Donovan & The Putbacks - (Castlemaine/Melbourne)
Music Victoria Awards Winners 2021 (public-voted)
BEST ALBUM
Emma Donovan & The Putbacks – Crossover - (Castlemaine/Melbourne)
BEST GROUP
Emma Donovan and The Putbacks - (Castlemaine/Melbourne)
BEST SONG
Hiatus Kaiyote – Red Room
BEST SOLO ARTIST
Sampa the Great
BEST BREAKTHROUGH ACT
Maple Glider
BEST MUSICIAN
Mindy Meng Wang
BEST LIVE ACT
Amyl and The Sniffers
HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES
Kylie Minogue
Pierre Baroni