South by Southwest unleashes a week of alcoholic activities – er, musical discovery – every March, but before the festival madness begins, The Austin Chronicle offers our own celebration of local music, all in one place. Presented by Cap Metro, the 43rd annual Austin Music Awards returns to Antone’s Nightclub for the second year on March 2.
Over a dozen artists nominated across 53 categories in the 2024-2025 Austin Music Poll will perform at the event, which, like last year, takes a “less talkin’, more rockin’” approach to awards ceremonies. We won’t announce all 53 winners onstage; instead, you can find those names in this very newspaper, and catch presentations of select awards on Sunday.
As for those performances: The show kicks off with an indie rock showcase featuring electric post-punks Font and good ol’ Americana boys Good Looks, two nominees for Band of the Year, as well as power pop quartet Touch Girl Apple Blossom, nominated for Best Pop.
Later in the show, Best Hip-Hop/Rap nominees Geto Gala will perform before cross-generational genre agnostics the Point, another contender for Band of the Year as well as Best World, who lead a jam session featuring fellow nominees Beto Martinez (Best Producer), Wyatt Corder of Big Wy’s Brass Band (Best Jazz, Best Horns), Camille Lewis of Sentimental Family Band (Best Country, Best Vocalist), Superfónicos (Album of the Year, Best Latin), Mohammad Firoozi of Atash (Best World), and Lluvii (Best Latin).
In honor of our host venue, veteran blues drummer Jay Moeller leads an Antone’s 50th anniversary set that doubles as a tribute to late guitarist Bill Campbell and Mr. Honky-Tonk Piano, Earl Poole Ball – both of whom we’re inducting into the Austin Music Hall of Fame. Expect performances by Eve Monsees – up for three awards this year – and other Antone’s alumni on stage for that.
We’ll also keep up the tradition of inducting music industry professionals into their own Hall of Fame. This year, we’re honoring late journalist Michael Corcoran and writer/KUTX DJ Jay Trachtenberg. It’s our belief that all movers and shakers, from record store and label owners to venue workers, sound engineers, and media folks, make the music scene what it is.
The Zev Award also returns. Launched in 2024, this special accolade recognizes an exemplary musician or group under the age of 18 with a $2,000 cash grant to be used in their musical development. Austin musician Ben Kweller founded the award in honor of his late musician son, and presents the grant via his 501(c)(3) organization Zev United.
Tickets are on sale now at austinchronicle.com/austin-music-awards, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the SIMS Foundation. Find all the 2024-2025 Austin Music Award winners, and read an interview with medieval funk collective Grandmaster, which takes home the plaque for Best New Act.
This article has been updated to reflect that Geto Gala will also perform at the Austin Music Awards.
This article appears in February 28 • 2025.