The 2025 New England Music Awards

Six String Grille & Stage, Foxborough, MA

November 16, 2025

The New England Music Awards are one of the regional music scene’s big annual events. A bunch of the area’s top musicians turn out, often dressed to the nines – or at least really cool – and enjoy the camaraderie of their peers, all while hoping, of course, to come out on top for the awards. I know it’s a cliché, but with all the talent in New England, it really is an honor to be nominated.

This year’s NEMA featured nine performances while handing out 28 awards. I was a little more active connecting with artists I knew (and meeting some new, talented folks) at this year’s NEMA than I was last time I made it to the event, a couple years ago, so my notes aren’t as detailed, but I’ll still be sure to mention every single performer. Indeed, there wasn’t a single weak link in the line-up, something that was apparent even though my attention wasn’t always focused toward the stage. Honestly, if you get a chance to catch any of the evening’s performers live, do what you can to get to the show. The award winners are listed on the NEMA website, but I’ll also mention them in this review, though I’ll focus more on the live performances, including photos from each of the live sets.

The night’s program began with a performance from the impressive Lila Wilde, who served up great, dynamic, high, pop-friendly vocals. Lila was also able to slow things down well, too, showing of her versatility. One song I specifically noted during her performance was “Jezebel,” which sported a little funkier pop rhythm and landed right in Lila’s vocal sweet spot. This was a great set to kick things off. An interesting thing about NEMA is that the attendees tend to show up on time, so the first performance slot is a great one for being noticed, and this talented artist absolutely turned some heads.

Wilde’s set was followed by the entrance of the evening’s emcees, Adam Lopez and Annie Brobst, who kept things moving along nicely throughout the show. During this short break, also, Amanda Morneault of The Harbor Agency presented the evening’s first trio of awards, the Rising Star Awards for Maine (Bella Ann), New Hampshire (Fun City Fan Club), and Rhode Island (Olivia Dolphin).

Following the evening’s first awards, Gold Hoax, winners of 2025’s Last Band Standing competition, took the stage. The Boston-based band delivered some edgy, raucous, energetic alt-rock. I also noted a little rockin’ jangle. This outfit has a sound that’ll perform well both in a club setting and on a recording, so this was a cool introduction to Gold Hoax for me.

After the Gold Hoax set, of course, it was time for some more award presentations. Bek Mahoney of BizMarketing and Design, LLC announced the next three award winners, presenting the Rising Star Awards for Vermont (Lily Seabird), Massachusetts (Dred Buffalo) and Connecticut (The Moonrise Cartel).

Up next was The Fatal Flaw, performing straight-up rock that pops! The band delivered a fun set of ’90s/’00s-style alt-rock with catchy hooks and ragged punk overtones.

Following The Fatal Flaw’s set, Gerg Anidem of Indie Scene Radio announced the next three award winners, for Rock (John Fox), Punk (Megan From Work), and Hard Rock/Metal (Bad Marriage) Act of the Year.

Next up were back-to-back hip-hop performances, starting with Joey Batts with Greg Rivers, followed by Brandie Blaze. Both performances were impressive, with different delivery styles. Joey Batts relied a lot on a more spoken, conversational approach, whereas Brandie Blaze was a little more vocally dynamic. Both artists are locally renowned for their lyrical skills, as well. They were a pair of absolutely top-shelf performances, with Batts representing the Hartford scene and Blaze the Boston scene.

John Shea, host of Almost Famous on 95.9 WATD, presented next three awards, for Pop (Lainey Dionne), Jazz (Soggy Po’ Boys), and Blues (The Gravel Project) Act of the Year.

Jason Ingriselli and the Miles North took the stage next and served up a fun, stage-rocking, well-received set of rollicking, guitar-driven country music.

After their set, Adam Greenberg named the winners of the Soul/R&B (Ruby Shabazz) and Hip Hop (SeeFour) Act of the Year awards. Then Jim Belisle of Boots & Whiskey announced the winners in the Roots (Adam Frates), Country (Ward Hayden & the Outliers), and Americana (Nate Ramos Band) Act of the Year categories.

Nicolas Emden followed with a cool, Spanish-language, pop-friendly rock set that ranged from energetic rockers to a soaring, mellow pop-rock ballad, carrying a cool vibe throughout the range of tempos featured in the performance.

Three more awards were awarded following Emden’s set by David Avery of Powderfinger Promotions – World (FM Collective), Live (The Far Out), and New (Vanna Pacella) Act of the Year.

JVK took the stage next, and this is a band that knows all about the “show” part of a stage show. JVK delivered a set that was largely glam-pop/guitar rock with a theatrical delivery, while some songs showed off a little edgier style with a more raucous, punk-meets-glam edge. (The band was nominated for Punk Rock Act of the Year, after all, so that was no surprise.) Overall, JVK’s mix of talented, flamboyant, and edgy are ideal for a great live concert performance, as exhibited by this evening’s short set.

Mike LaChance, host of Wave Radio Boston’s The Takeover, followed, announcing the winners of NEMA’s Songwriter of the Year (Hayley Reardon) and Producer of the Year (Vic Steffens of Horizon Music Group) awards.

The Nate Ramos Band then delivered a crowdpleasing, energetic, rootsy Americana set. One of the band’s songs, in particular, was a cool, echoey, slower-tempoed number that’s slightly chill-inducing (in a good way). Of course, the Nate Ramos Band’s talent is no secret, as the band had already received a NEMA earlier in the evening.

Next up, Rick Fleck, host of Wave Radio Boston’s Rick’s Rock Shop, announced the Song of the Year (Nikki and the Barn Boys’ “Strawberry Hill”) and Video of the Year (The Far Out’s “Laurel,” directed by Nick DeSimone) award winners.

The final performance of the evening came from another 2025 NEMA award-winning band, the John Fox Band. The John Fox Band is a medium-fast tempoed guitar rock band with the ability to soar both vocally and axe-ingly – you know, with some kickass shredding. The sound is not heavy, so these guys can reach broad appeal, though the style is also reminiscent of harder-rocking bands, expanding the band’s potential fan base to fans of music that’s a bit heavier, too. ’80s rockers will recognize and like the core of this sound, but it’s also updated enough to appeal to modern audiences.

Four awards remained, and they were announced by Wave Radio Boston co-founder Pete Hudson. NEMA handed out two Performer of the Year Awards this year, to Aldous Collins and Ward Hayden and the Outliers. Frank Viele’s The Trouble with Desire earned Album of the Year. And the final award of the year went out to Crooked Coast for Act of the Year.

Thus concluded this annual gathering of some of the many talented artists in New England’s music community. Every year, I get to see some of my favorite artists honored with nominations and, occasionally, awards, while the nomination list and the award show’s performances introduce me some talented musicians I hadn’t previously known about. I’m already looking forward to next year!

The 2023 New England Music Awards

Six String Grille & Stage, Foxborough, MA

November 12, 2023

The New England Music Awards are the big regional music awards in New England. This year’s NEMA ceremony was held at the Six String Grille & Stage in Foxborough, MA. The room was filled for this year’s big event.

Winners were announced in 28 categories, plus a “decade” award was awarded. Interspersed among the 29 awards were ten live performances. The award winners are listed on the NEMA website. I’ll also mention them in this review, but I’ll focus more on the live performances. In particular, I’ve included a photo from each of the live sets. My notes from the evening are a little sparse, though, so the music reviews will be more of the quick-hit variety than the longer-form reviews you’ve come to expect from the Blog.

Almost all of the evening’s performers were on the ballot this year, with several of them winning. The sets covered a broad range of genres, with talent representative of the best of the New England music scene.

The musical program kicked off with a set from two-piece power duo Muddy Ruckus, whose set was a heavy rockin’ jam. 20 minutes of thumping groove. An auspicious start to the evening!

Following the opening musical set, the evening’s co-hosts, Adam Lopez and Annie Brobst, took the stage to welcome the roomful of many of the region’s talented musicians, some music industry representatives, and music fans and supporters.

Before the next live performers took the stage, Amanda Morneault of The Harbor Agency presented the initial awards of the evening, the Rising Star Awards for Maine (Tyler Levs) and New Hampshire (Robotic Hawks). Then Kara Kharmah of PRIA Marketing presented the Rising Star Awards for Vermont (All Night Boogie Band) and Rhode Island (Jackson Cafferty).

With the first few artists finally in possession of their awards, the next performer to hit the stage was Mary McAvoy. Oh, what a voice! Mary is a kickass, soulful, pop-friendly singer with a big, powerful voice. Big enough to grab the attention of a music industry crowd that seemingly stopped what they were doing, briefly, and took notice when she started to sing.

Mary’s performance was followed by WaveRadio Boston‘s Rick Fleck’s presentation of the Rising Star Awards for Massachusetts (American Ink) and Connecticut (The Midnight Anthem).

Next up was the New England Music Awards’ “in memoriam” tribute to artists we lost this past year. For this performance, 2022 NEMA winner (for New Hampshire rising star) Fee the Evolutionist was joined by Ruby Shabazz, DJ Myth, and Vicky Lynch with her band. Artist tributes included Sinead O’Conner, Tina Turner, and I thought I heard some Biz Markie. I was psyched to hear Fee perform because I remembered sampling his music when voting for the 2022 awards. I had been looking forward to hearing him perform, and he is definitely impressive and engaging, but man, the singing talent joining him for the tributes was powerful – that exact word, “powerful,” resides in my brief notes for both Vicky and Ruby. Vicky’s performance of “Nothing Compares 2 U,” in particular, caught my ear as something quite special.

That compelling performance segment was followed by the announcement, by Gerg Anidem of Indie Scene Radio, of the Rock Act of the Year (Moxie) and Hard Rock/Metal Act of the Year (Sepsiss) award winners.

Cool pop singer-songwriter Dakota Smart took the stage next, treating the audience to his talent via guitar, keyboard, and very nice vocals. This dude’s talent features tempo and style changes… and a hint of a country feel at times, which is a very good thing for a pop singer-songwriter these days.

After Dakota’s set, John Shea of 95.9 WATD presented the next awards, for Pop (The Side Chick Syndicate) and Punk (Shame Penguin) Act of the Year.

John also presented the “Decade Award” to Jay Psaros.

The next band to take the stage was one of New England’s more celebrated local acts. Indeed, Air Traffic Controller has been on my radar for a while now, whether from reading about the band’s accomplishments or simply enjoying their music when it shows up on playlists. The band’s performance of catchy, poppy rock music is big-stage caliber, and their NEMA performance was nothing short of a brief big-stage concert.

After Air Traffic Controller’s performance, I presented the awards for Blues (The Name Droppers) and Jazz Act of the Year (Smug Honey).

12/OC followed, bringing some big-twang country to the evening, though it was their kickass, growling rock cover of “In the Air Tonight” (yes, really!) that brought the house down.

Following 12/OC, David Avery of Powderfinger Promotions presented the Soul/R&B (Miranda Rae), Hip-Hop (Chase Stebbins & The Only Known), and World Act of the Year (Nicolás Emden) awards.

Then American Ink, who had won the Rising Star: Massachusetts award earlier in the evening, took the stage. Simply put, these dudes are a really good rock band. They’re tuneful rockers with an edge and a hint of punk swagger.

After American Ink’s set, Jim Belisle of Boots & Whiskey announced the winners in the Roots (The Gravel Project), Country (April Cushman), and Americana (Adam Ezra Group) Act of the Year categories.

The next performers were Mutu4l, pairing Rising Star: Maine winner Tyler Levs with Joliet4. The duo delivered an enjoyable set packed with strumming and harmonies. Light and airy, with a pleasant vibe, for the most part, though the song “My Curse,” notably, was much heavier, showcasing the pair’s versatility.

Following Mutu4l’s set, Munk Duane announced the winners of Live Act of the Year (The Q-Tip Bandits) and Producer of the Year (Mel Go Hard).

The next performers were The Midnight Anthem, the trio of singer-songwriter cousins who won the Rising Star: Connecticut award earlier in the evening. They delivered a performance full of catchy pop-country with great harmonies. They closed their set with a very cool, countrified version of Guns N’ Roses’ “Sweet Child O’ Mine.”

Their performance was followed by a trio of award presentations. Jeff Rosen of Cherrywood Records presented the Male Performer (Nick Casey), Female Performer (Annie Brobst), and Songwriter (Lainey Dionne) of the Year awards.

The last performer of the evening was this year’s Producer of the Year, Mel Go Hard. As a producer, Mel works with a wide range of Boston’s talented R&B artists, so her set showcased of several of those artists, some of whom perform with Mel on her After the Storm album. Mel was joined on stage by and/or yielded the stage to Amandi Music, SING, Atikin Rose, Hakim Hakim, EXITFAME, Dutch ReBelle, and DJ OG Domo. I didn’t take notes on the individual artists during the set, but suffice it to say, I was continually (sequentially?) impressed by the excellent vocal talent featured in Mel Go Hard’s set. The crowd was into each and every one of these artists; I’d go see any of them perform in a heartbeat. I’ve hotlinked the artists’ names to their web pages, as I usually do, so if you’re looking to discover new artists in this genre, start here!

Thus ended the “performance segment” of the program, with a few big awards remaining to be announced.

Adam Greenberg of Rockwood Music Hall announced the winners of the New Act (ToriTori), Song (12/OC’s “Shoot You Down”), and Video (Eddie Japan’s “Time Machine” feat. Greg Hawkes) of the Year category.

The final awards presented were for Album of the Year (Air Traffic Controller’s Dash) and Artist of the Year (Frank Viele).

The evening concluded with Artist of the Year Frank Viele’s acceptance speech, in which he announced his intention to launch a record label, Bigger Beast Records. Frank shared what he remembered from his speech and a little bit about the new record label in a message on his Facebook page.

Thus concluded a fun evening at an event celebrating New England’s music scene. Obviously, the awards themselves are of importance to those nominated. I’ll add that this year’s nominee list was so talented I found it difficult to fill out my ballot, so for those who didn’t win, it really was an honor just to be nominated. (And I know most of the musicians realize that.) For music fans – tickets were available to the general public – I can confirm that it’s cool being there when people win their awards, but even setting that aside, the performances alone are worth the cost of admission. I look forward to seeing everyone there again next year!