Q SONG AWARDS UNCOVER THE NEXT GENERATION OF SONGWRITERS

The next generation of Queensland songwriters have been honoured at a special ceremony for the second annual Q Song Awards at Brisbane’s Tivoli Theatre tonight.

Arts Minister Rod Welford said the awards aimed to uncover talented Queensland songwriters, raise their profiles and assist in launching their careers.

“The Q Song Awards recognise our emerging, unpublished musicians with 20 award categories as diverse as pop, country, jazz, gospel, dance and Indigenous music,” Mr Welford said.

“This year I was pleased to present the awards for the Primary and Secondary School categories and I’m amazed at the level of talent among our young musicians.

“There were more than 1,500 entries in the Q Song Awards this year, 600 of which were from regional songwriters.

“It’s great to see such strong representation from regional Queensland among this year’s entries.

“The diverse experiences and communities of these songwriters add a distinctive voice to the state’s music scene.”

Mr Welford said musicians from far north Queensland dominated the youth categories.

“Emma-Louise Lobb, a 15-year-old from Manunda, was the surprise winner of the prestigious Courier Mail’s People’s Choice Award with her soulful rock melody Kim’s Song,” he said.

“This represents a great opportunity for Miss Lobb. Last year’s People’s Choice winners - The Boat People - released their debut album to great acclaim and also performed at the 2006 MUSEXPO in Los Angeles, which led to airplay in the US, Scandinavia and the UK.

“Miss Lobb also won the Secondary School category.

“Terry Reid and class 7R from Trinity Anglican School in Cairns, received the Q Song Primary School Award for Crikey Mate – a moving ballad about the death of Steve Irwin.

“The Q Song Awards have again highlighted the great talent of Queensland’s students and I’ll be watching the careers of this year’s winners with interest.”

The 2007 Q Song Award winners are as follows:

Jazz – Louise Denson and Ingrid James, Time to Be

Blues and Roots – Mason Rack/ Steve Balbi, Dust

Gospel Spiritual – Jamie Wells, Just a Dreamer

Indigenous – Luke Peacock, Abacus

Country – Chris Pickering, The Humming Song

Alternative – Tim Steward, Not the Same

Secondary School – Emma-Louise Lobb, Kim’s Song

Primary School – Terry Reid and the children of 7R, Trinity Anglican School, Crikey Mate

Hip Hop – Briztronix, Beats from the East

Electronic/Dance – PTY LTD, Make Amends

World/Folk – Andrew Morris, See the Smoke

Rock – Kate Bradley, No Start/Red Light

Pop – Keir Nuttal, Shoebox

Regional – The McMenamins, How it is

Punk/Metal – The Quickening, The Lord Wines Press

The Courier-Mail People's Choice – Emma-Louise Lobb, Kim's Song

Grant McLennan Lifetime Award – Kev Carmody

Song of the Year – Tim Steward, Not the Same

Published Song of the Year – The Grates, Science is Golden

QMusic Encouragement Award – Danny Widdicombe


Media Contact: Marnie Stitz or Emma Clarey on 3237 1000