Prize Foundation’s Gregory Kallenberg announced in an online presentation this year’s Music Prize finalists who will compete for $14,000 in cash prizes (including the grand prize of $10,000) this October at Prize Fest in Shreveport. The musicians hail from across the country, though primarily in Louisiana and Texas.
Music Prize was founded in 2013 as a followup to the wildly successful Film Prize competition, also run by Prize Foundation. Now in its 12th year, Music Prize has showcased scores of musicians from across the country and awarded over $100,000 in cash prizes since its inaugural year.
In 2021, the Music Prize introduced a requirement that competing musicians attend a music conference and educational event, MP Con, which directly connects the finalists with music industry mentors, including agents, bookers, music licensers, A&R, and more. Musicians get direct access to their knowledge and artist-specific advice.
This year, eleven musicians have been selected from over 1,000 entries and 30 semifinalists who were then paired down by a separate group of industry professionals and the voting public.
“These musicians got the largest collective marks from our selection committee ever,” said Gregory Kallenberg
The finalists for this year’s competition, which takes place October 18-19, are:
- Alena Ciera (New York, NY)
- Big Wy’s Brass Band (Austin, TX)
- HAG (Shreveport, LA)
- Hotel Burgundy (New Orleans, LA)
- Kind Keith (Austin, TX)
- Mia Borders (New Orleans, LA)
- Nick Parr and the Selfless Lovers (Austin, TX)
- Rachard and Ouro Boar (Shreveport, LA)
- SunKissed (Phoenix, AZ)
- Wild Ire (Salem, OR)
- Zach Edwards and the Medicine (Acadiana, LA)
Profiles of the musicians, including links to their social media can be found on the Prize Fest website. A Spotify playlist featuring the finalists can be found here.
Tickets will go on sale to the public this August.
Cover photo by Emily Hamann. Gallery photos by Jeremy Hernandez and Emily Hamann.
Disclaimer: The author of this article is employed by the Prize Foundation.
