After a first round of nominations from the public and input from a panel of local music experts and aficionados, the ballot for the 2019 Cincinnati Entertainment Awards is up and ready for your votes. CityBeat created the CEAs 22 years ago as a way to celebrate the diversity and richness of Greater Cincinnati's music scene. (Visit our 2017 20th-anniversary CEA retrospective for a look back at the program's storied history.)
This year's collection of CEA nominees includes numerous first-timers, including, logically, those up for New Artist of the Year honors (Madqueen; The Ape Tones; Rosewood Coast; Blessed Black; CRUNR). Other first-time CEA nominees: the Michelle Robinson Band; Now Hear This; Bla'szé; Freak Mythology; Greer; and Oski Isaiah.
The Artist of the Year, New Artist of the Year and Album of the Year CEAs are critical achievement categories that will be decided by the nominating committee.
Past nominees returning to the CEA ballot with multiple nominations in 2019 include Triiibe, Leggy, Over the Rhine, Electric Citizen and Chuck Cleaver, who has been nominated numerous times over the years with his bands Wussy and The Ass Ponys.
COUNTRY:
Maria Carrelli
Dallas Moore
Jeremy Pinnell
Michelle Robinson Band
Joe’s Truck Stop
PUNK:
Tiger Sex
Leggy
Vacation
The Pistol Mystics
Friday Giants
WORLD/REGGAE:
The Cliftones
Elementree Livity Project
Baoku
Jennifer Simone
Queen City Silver Stars
JAZZ:
Now Hear This
On a Limb
Spherical Agenda
Blue Wisp Big Band
Animal Mother
METAL/HARD ROCK:
Electric Citizen
Black Tractor
Blessed Black
War Curse
Lift the Medium
R&B/FUNK/SOUL:
Leo Pastel
Lauren Eylise
Ernie Johnson From Detroit
Freekbass
Bla'szé
HIP HOP:
Patterns of Chaos
Triiibe
Dayo Gold
Oski Isaiah
AP Counterfeit
BLUES:
Ben Levin
Johnny Fink and the Intrusion
Ralph and the Rhythm Hounds
Dudley Taft
Ricky Nye
BLUEGRASS:
Hickory Robot
Rumpke Mountain Boys
Slippery Creek
Comet Bluegrass Allstars
Chelsea Ford and the Trouble
FOLK/AMERICANA:
Over the Rhine
Wonky Tonk
Buffalo Wabs and the Price Hill Hustle
The Tillers
Young Heirlooms
ALTERNATIVE/INDIE:
Sylmar
Soften
Multimagic
Blossom Hall
Sundae Drives
ROCK:
Frontier Folk Nebraska
Freak Mythology
Brent James and the Vintage Youth
Rosewood Coast
Go Go Buffalo
ELECTRONIC:
Black Signal
Greer
FLOCKS
Moonbeau
Playfully Yours
SINGER/SONGWRITER:
Arlo McKinley
Adalia Powell-Boehne
Brent James
Kim Taylor
Anna Applegate
BEST LIVE ACT:
Triiibe
Sylmar
Go Go Buffalo
Patterns of Chaos
The Tillers
BEST MUSIC VIDEO (watch all of the nominated music videos here):
Moonbeau – “Hair So Wild” (directed by Matt Stalf)
Leo Pastel featuring Muwosi – “Woah” (directed by Annie Noelker)
500 Miles to Memphis – “Hold on Tight” (directed by Casey Shelton)
Oski Isaiah featuring Aziza Love – “Anytime” (directed by Dre Shot This & CEOPE$O)
Lift the Medium – “Don’t Need to Fall” (directed by Threshold Productions)
Maria Carrelli – "Strings on My Guitar" (video by Jeffrey Lyon and Jordin Goff)
CRITICAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS (voted on by the CEA committee judges; not on the public ballot)
NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR:
Madqueen
The Ape Tones
Rosewood Coast
Blessed Black
CRUNR
ALBUM OF THE YEAR:
Soften – Soften Forever
Chuck Cleaver – Send Aid
Oski Isaiah - Fuck A Job
Maria Carrelli - Strings on My Guitar
Carriers — Now Is The Time For Loving Me, Yourself & Everyone Else
ARTIST OF THE YEAR:
Triiibe
Chuck Cleaver
Over the Rhine
Leggy
Electric Citizen
Visit the official 2019 CEA ballot now to place your votes.
The winners will be announced on Nov. 24 at a ceremony/party at Over-the-Rhine's Memorial Hall that will feature live performances from some of the nominated artists. Tickets are available now (nominees will be contacted with ticket info soon).
Find out more about the CEAs at cincinnatientertainmentawards.com. The ballot will be open through Nov. 1.
