What you need to know about the Key West Music Awards
The Iggies are right around the corner. On Jan. 13, the Key West Theater will host the fourth annual Key West Music Awards. As in years past there will be several performances by some of the city’s best and brightest. This year includes Belle Jampol, Marshall and Scott Morlock, Tony Baltimore, Mark King and Marjory Lee. Zack Seemiller will co-host and the house band is back, led by Jeff Dalton.
The awards show consists of 24 categories, including Songwriter of the Year, Fan of the Year, Mentor of the Year, Rock Act of the Year and Entertainer of the Year. A Lifetime Appreciation Award is also given out annually. Winners are determined from nominations that were chosen by you, the people, back in December. You nominated your favorites in all the categories at keywestmusicawards.com.
After that, the votes were counted and the top nominees in each category became our finalists. From there, they progressed to a panel of seven judges who reviewed, listened and compared before deciding the winners. These judges had no knowledge of how many nominations each finalist received.
Neither voters nor nominees knew who the judges were, and they were unknown to each other, to prevent any sharing of notes or collusion. The judges included music professionals and teachers as well as fans who see an exceptional amount of live, local music.
The upcoming awards night will feature the Key West red carpet with plenty of sequins and leather. It’ll be a packed house as local celebrities present the awards and musical guests join the live band between celebrations to give a glimpse of the talent this town attracts. Many Key West musicians end up at one place, which rarely happens in this working town.
At its heart, the Iggies is a charity. All proceeds from the show go directly to help other organizations and individuals in our community. This year’s main beneficiary is the Bahama Village Music Program to help them in finalizing their new facility.
The show starts at 8 p.m. with the official after-party at the Alamo, 4 Charles St., for some late-night jams. To become a sponsor, donate or get tickets, go to keywestmusicawards.com.
The Key West Theater is located at 512 Eaton St. across from The Studios of Key West, which is home to its own particular set of spirits.
You can find out about upcoming events at thekeywesttheater.com, or calling the box office at 305-985-0433.
