Women Win Big At A2IM’s 2021 Libera Awards

Credit A2IM

Despite being its second year as a virtual stream, independent music’s biggest night A2IM‘s Libera Awards was one for the history books. From stellar stay-at-home performances from the evening’s Independent Icon Award recipient Mavis Staples, Lido Pimienta, and Yuna, it was very clear it was the night of women!

The evening’s biggest winner included Phoebe Bridgers, Arlo Parks, and Run the Jewels. To view the full list of winners, continue below!

Record of the Year
Phoebe Bridgers – Punisher (Dead Oceans)

Best Hip-Hop/Rap Record
Run the Jewels – RTJ4 (Jewel Runners, Inc.)

Best R&B Record
Thundercat – It Is What It Is (Brainfeeder)

Best Alternative Rock Record
Phoebe Bridgers – Punisher (Dead Oceans)

Best Punk Record
IDLES – Ultra Mono (Partisan Records)

Best Dance/Electronic Record
Caribou – Suddenly (Merge Records)

Best Folk/Bluegrass Record
Angel Olsen- Whole New Mess (Jagjaguwar)

Best Rock Record
Fontaines D.C. – A Hero’s Death (Partisan Records)

Best Outlier Record presented by The Orchard
Khruangbin – Mordechai (Dead Oceans)

Best World Record
Altin Gün – Ordunun Dereleri (ATO Records)
Songhoy Blues – Optimisme (Fat Possum Records)

Best Spiritual Record
Sun Ra Arkestra – Swirling (STRUT)

Best Americana Record
Bonny Light Horseman – Bonny Light Horseman (37d03d)

Best Blues Record
Fantastic Negrito – Have You Lost Your Mind Yet? (Cooking Vinyl Ltd.)

Best Classical Record
Erik Hall – Music for 18 Musicians (Steve Reich) (Western Vinyl)

Best Country Record
Waxahatchee – Saint Cloud (Merge Records)

Best Jazz Record presented by Qobuz
Gil-Scott Heron & Makaya McCraven – We’re New Again – A Reimagining by Makaya McCraven (XL Recordings)

Best Metal Record
Architects – “Animals” (from For Those That Wish to Exist, Epitaph Records)

Best Re-Issue Record
J Dilla – Donuts (Jelly Edition) (Stones Throw Records)

Rewatch the 2021 Libera Wards live performances.

Best Live/Livestream Act
Phoebe Bridgers (Dead Oceans)

Breakthrough Artist/Release
Arlo Parks (Transgressive Records)

Video of the Year
FKA twigs – “Sad Day” (Young Turks)

A2IM Humanitarian Award
Killer Mike & EL-P of Run the Jewels (Jewel Runners, Inc.)

Best Sync Usage
Run the Jewels (Jewel Runners, Inc.) – “Ooh LA LA” – Season three of Netflix’s Ozark

Marketing Genius
Beggars Group – Supporting Indie Retail #loverecordstores Campaign

Creative Packaging
Soccer Mommy – Color Theory limited edition back to school binder (Loma Vista Recordings)

Independent Champion
Bandcamp

Label of the Year (Big)
Sub Pop Records

Label of the Year (Medium)
Light in the Attic Records

Label of the Year (Small)
Daptone Records

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november, 2024

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sat09nov(nov 9)11:59 pmsun10(nov 10)4:00 amSango11:59 pm - 4:00 am (10) Webster Hall, 125 E 11th Street

Time

9 (Saturday) 11:59 pm - 10 (Sunday) 4:00 am

Location

Webster Hall

125 E 11th Street

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Sango is a Seattle based producer who is most known for his remixes of Aaliyah, Drake, Little Dragon, Nas, The Weeknd, his debut album 'North,' and his Baile Funk EP series "Da Rocinha." He is apart of the Los Angeles collective Soulection. At the young age of 12, Sango started producing music alongside his older brother and his friends. His work mainly focuses on hip-hop, and soul influenced beats that over the years have been able to come together as his own distinctive innovative sound. Apart from producing, Sango is a graphic designer. He has designed all of his releases up to date, which has shown that he is more than just a producer, but an artist in his own right. He has been featured on numerous publications for his self-disclosing interviews and tracks, such as Fader, Drake's OVO blog, XLR8R, Noisey, Fader, Complex, and more. Over the last few years while releasing his Da Rocinha series, Sango has toured 50 + cities worldwide and played some of the worlds biggest festivals. His high energy live set is constantly in demand. While touring his Da Rocinha projects and live set around the world, Sango has been producing for some of the industry's hottest acts. Sango has produced for Tinashe, Bryson Tiller, Mick Jenkins, GoldLink, Wale & more. Keep an eye on Sango, as his quickly growing fan base, and worldwide critically acclaimed music is only expanding in 2017 as he prepares to release his first major commercial record.

mon11nov8:00 pmmon11:00 pmAmigo The Devil8:00 pm - 11:00 pm White Eagle Hall, 337 Newark Avenue

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(Monday) 8:00 pm - 11:00 pm

Location

White Eagle Hall

337 Newark Avenue

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Amigo the Devil is a noir-folk troubadour whose music is rooted in rugged Americana traditions but often features introspective storytelling and a hint of gothic melodrama. Themes of death, murder, and dismay are strung throughout 2018's Everything Is Fine and 2021's Born Against, albums which are centered around the singer's spare banjo and guitar parts, but these also include sweeping orchestration and detours into heavy metal. Amigo's experimental third LP, Yours Until the War Is Over, appeared in early 2024. Born Danny Kiranos in Miami, Florida, the artist absorbed the musical heritage of his Greek father and Spanish mother, later pairing it with American folk, alt-rock, and metal. After dalliances with both film and culinary schools, Kiranos eventually found work in the brewing industry around San Francisco, where he first began playing shows under the moniker Amigo the Devil. After a subsequent move to Austin, Texas, the project began to take root and he released a series of EPs that were later collected as part of the 2018 full-length Volume 1. Around this time, Kiranos began working with the Regime Music Group to better distribute the music on his own Liars Club imprint. He released his first proper album, Everything Is Fine, later that year. It bore his hallmark darkness, but also signaled something of a shift toward a more expansive songwriting style that encompassed multiple styles and a more personal bent. 2021's Born Against went even further, utilizing string sections and an experimental production style reminiscent of Tom Waits' work in the '80s. Amigo the Devil continued down this increasingly experimental path on 2024's Yours Until the War is Over while further honing his craft as a narrator of macabre tales. - Amigo the Devil Biography by Timothy Monger

wed13nov7:30 pmwed11:00 pmThe Rumours7:30 pm - 11:00 pm Debonair Music Hall, 1409 Queen Anne Road

fri15nov8:00 pmfri11:00 pmDexter and The MoonrocksEastern Space Grunge Tour8:00 pm - 11:00 pm Asbury Lanes, 209 4th Avenue

sun17nov8:00 pmsun11:00 pmRedferrinThe Old No. 7 Tour8:00 pm - 11:00 pm Asbury Lanes, 209 4th Avenue

Time

(Sunday) 8:00 pm - 11:00 pm

Location

Asbury Lanes

209 4th Avenue

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An associate of Florida Georgia Line -- he first gained attention in Nashville as the songwriter of "New Truck" and "Countryside," two of their latter-day hits -- Redferrin sounds a bit like FGL's wiry, playful little brother. Ratcheting up the group's light electronic underpinnings and adding a defiant edge to his Southern drawl, Redferrin updated bro country for the 2020s, making it bolder and slicker. That shift was apparent on his breakthrough single "Jack and Diet Coke," a simmering party anthem pulled from Old No. 7, his debut EP released early in 2024. Born Blake Redferrin in White House, Tennessee, Redferrin spent his formative years devoted to dirt bikes, carving out a spot on the professional motocross circuit. By his early twenties, a serious crash made him feel the collected weight of his repeated injuries, so he decided to pursue music. He started playing guitar years earlier, when his father brought him home a Gibson, but it was his retirement from motocross that spurred him to write songs. Motocross nevertheless played a pivotal part in his musical development. Shortly into his creative endeavors, he reconnected with Tyler Hubbard, the Florida Georgia Line star who races dirt bikes in his spare time. Hubbard hired Redferrin for Tree Vibez Music, the publishing company owned by Hubbard and his FGL partner Brian Kelley, in 2019. While on Tree Vibez, Redferrin co-wrote Florida Georgia Line's "New Truck" and "Countryside," Nelly's "Lil Bit," and Dean Brody & the Reklaws' "I Can't Help Myself," a country smash in Canada. After spending two years as a professional songwriter at Tree Vibez Music, Redferrin started independently issuing singles. Over the course of 2021, he released three singles -- "Red in My Last Name," "Wouldn't Hurt," "Stuck" -- then delivered two subsequent tunes ("Tell 'Em Why" and "Doin' Good") before signing with Warner Music Nashville in the middle of 2022. After releasing "Mossy Oak" and "Downhome Dreams," he issued "Jack and Diet Coke," the light yet moody single that attracted millions of streaming spins after its release in June 2023. "Jack and Diet Coke" anchored Old No. 7, an EP released in February 2024. Old No. 7 also featured the singles "Miss Summer" and "Doin' Life" -- the latter was released as a promotional single preceding the release of the EP.

sat30nov7:00 pmsat11:59 pmModern Chemistry7:00 pm - 11:59 pm Asbury Lanes, 209 4th Avenue

Time

(Saturday) 7:00 pm - 11:59 pm

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Asbury Lanes

209 4th Avenue

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This new single series has been very rewarding. Although we really enjoyed the process of writing a full cohesive album with ‘Everything In Gold,’ this time around putting out a song when it’s done and getting that immediate feedback has been great,” Joe Zorzi, lead singer for Modern Chemistry reflects. In 2018 the New Jersey natives released ‘Take A Second’ and ‘Swimmers’ both fully funded and released independently. The New Jersey band has accomplished a lot in the few years since forming. They have self-released a great collection of music and videos. They toured North America with Frank Iero and his band in 2015 and also played shows with Northern Faces, Motion City Soundtrack and John Nolan. They toured with Mayday Parade in 2016. In 2017 they supported Taking Back Sunday and Every Time I Die across the US. They have played some major festivals including SXSW, South By So What, Gentlemen of the Road and Chicago’s Riot Fest. They even did two World Tours of New Jersey. The band has always stayed busy even while finishing school and working odd jobs to support themselves. This includes self-releasing a few EP’s, each one bringing a new audience and rave reviews, including two covers of local weekly The Aquarian and many ‘Best Of’ year-end lists. Adam Lazzara. of Taking Back Sunday fame, went even further than simply offering up a few opening touring slots. He produced the 2016 EP, ‘Dreaming Adjacent.’ “They were trusting me with their music. They work so hard and treated every decision, no matter how small, with a lot of thought and great care. I’m very proud that they were gracious enough to let me into the process,’ said Adam. In between dates promoting Dreaming Adjacent, the band recorded its first full length album with Paul Leavitt (The Dangerous Summer, Have Mercy). “That record is all about taking a step back to look at all of your past mistakes, all of your regrets, and all of your accomplishments. Realizing that no matter what you're dealing with, there's a way to become better from it,” said Zorzi. When asked to expand on some of the inspirations behind the tracks, Zorzi continued. “The song ‘Everything In Gold’ captured a new feeling for us. It feels like a reawakening for our band. We've been working with moody ups and downs in our songs since the beginning and this song takes that structure to new heights. ‘St. Rain’ is a type of song I've been wanting to write for a long time. It's got some really lively verses, and a classic half time chorus. There's a lot more of a noticeable influence from Kings of Leon and other great bands that might not be as apparent in some of our older material,” he states. It's an exciting time for the band, as they look towards the future. "We're excited to get back in the studio and finish up our next album," Zorzi says. "Everything's becoming more and more cohesive and it feels like we're making our most fully realized songs to date. Header image credit Dana Why