UMA Season Is Officially Upon Us

As Andy Williams famously sang, “it’s the most wonderful time of the year” but while Williams was talking about a materialistic holiday featuring flying venison and a bunch of ho-ho-hos, I am talking about the official start of the Upstate Music Awards season. Now celebrating their third year, the UMA’s (pronounced U-M-A-s like the letters, not Umas like the Thurman) kicked off their nomination period last week with voting kicking off in the new year and plenty of time for nail-biting by the finalists until the actual award ceremony next March. Before getting into official particulars, allow me to catch up on the story behind these shenanigans…

The UMA’s are the brainchild of founders Jeremy Theall, owner of the multifaceted music agency Future Chord, Wes Gilliam, co-owner and talent buyer for The Radio Room, and Vincent Harris, arguably the hardest working music journalist in the state of South Carolina. Together these three lovers of all things local music Voltroned their talents and in March of 2020 (mere days before the proverbial poo hit the fan) hosted the inaugural Upstate Music Awards at Zen. That night an estimated 500+ people celebrated the local music scene like nobody had before and, at the risk of being totally sappy, I found the experience to be nothing short of magical.

The UMA’s consist of 14 award categories covering everything from best single to the best artist and all points in between, even extending kudos to best music photographers, video, studio engineers, and a catch-all “864 Award” that highlights people that simply do not fit into any of the other categories. It all adds up to a unique and all-encompassing celebration of the local music scene available to anyone who resides and plies their musical trade within the 864-area code. That said, I should note that while Greenville may be the “big city” in this mix, the first two years of UMA’s have proven that there is a ton of talent hanging out in the 13 Upstate counties that surround it.

Now, let us talk about how all of this works… Beginning last Thursday until Monday, December 11, every living human in the Upstate has the opportunity to nominate their favorite local talents for their respective categories. Do you have a favorite artist that you want to see recognized? Log on to the UMA website and drop their name in. Are you an artist that wants to be recognized? Log on to the UMA website and drop your name in. Seriously, it is that easy.

Nominations are open on the UMA website

Things get a bit more competitive come January when all of the aforementioned nominees are published and open voting runs from January 3-21. This is the most eye-opening part of this whole experience when you see just how many artists are nominated for each category. When you can think of say 10 local solo artists off the top of your head and you find out there are 60-70 nominees, you start to look at the Upstate music scene in a whole new light. Sure, not all of them are everybody’s cup of tea but this is the part where we realize that there is way more local talent out there than most of us would ever begin to imagine.

Once the official votes are in, the popular votes merge worlds with the critic’s votes, determined by a committee of Theall, Gilliam, and Harris joined by four additional supporters of the local scene. Entertainment Coordinator for the city of Greenville, Josh McGee, Assistant Program Director for X98.5, Shanell, and “her resume of contributions to the local music scene is too lengthy to sum up here”, Sheila Merck, are amazing members of the UMA committee. They also let me serve as the seventh member of the group, so there is that. Together, we will bicker, argue, and stomp our feet until the majority of the public and critical opinions reach common ground on who exactly the most deserving Upstate artists will be.

The big news in this third edition of the UMA’s is that the show is being presented on its biggest stage yet. Downtown event space Zen served as an amazing and hospitable setting for the event’s first two years but the third year will be held at The Peace Center’s Gunter Theater on March 27. As The Peace Center has served as a premier destination for some of the biggest names in music for over thirty years, it is fitting that it should host this celebration of local talent, many of whom dream of bigger stages such as The Peace Center’s one day down the road.

In the roughly five months between now and the official award ceremony, I can assure you I will be talking about the UMA’s a lot, simply because there is a lot to talk about. I will remind you to nominate your favorite artists, I will let you know when final voting begins and ends and, on a more personal note, I will chime in with my own two cents on who I am digging as I listen to the nominated artists. As I mentioned before, this is a fabulous time to discover and appreciate the depths of Upstate talent and I could not be more excited to take that dive into the local scene.

One final note…

Even though I knew that I would be writing about the UMA’s in this space this week, it is still a major part of my programming to pore over local music calendars this week. For what it is worth, the show of the week (in my opinion at least) is Taylor McCall at either Horizon Records Saturday afternoon or The Radio Room that evening. The Greenville Journal’s Vincent Harris already told that story this week so, without adding double coverage on these shows, here is your link…

Easley singer/songwriter Taylor McCall playing Horizon Records, the Radio Room