Country-pop troubadour Kimmi Bitter, the Coachella festival-bound neo-soul trio Thee Sacred Souls, the Canadian-American rock band Daring Greatly and the hip-hop sextet The Neighborhood Kids are the top nominees for the 2025 San Diego Music Awards.
The Lifetime Achievement Award will go to bass guitar great Nathan East, who most recently performed here in October at Pechanga Arena with Eric Clapton. A Crawford High School and UC San Diego alum, East’s many other collaborators over the years have included B.B. King, Dolly Parton, Bob Dylan, Herbie Hancock, Michael Jackson, George Harrison, James Taylor, Daft Punk, Whitney Houston, Iron Maiden and Vince Gill.
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“It’s really exciting to be honored like this, especially since the awards show is at Humphreys,” East said Monday from Los Angeles. “I’ve played there over the years with Kenny Loggins, Al Jarreau, Sam Moore and Dave Koz. And my band, Fourplay, has performed multiple times at Humphreys.”
Bitter, who won Song of the Year honors at the 2024 San Diego Music Awards, has four nominations this year, including Artist of the Year and Album of the Year. Thee Sacred Souls, Daring Greatly and The Neighborhood Kids each have three nominations.
Both Daring Greatly and Thee Sacred Souls will compete with Bitter for Artist of the Year honors. The other nominees in that category include Anthony Cullins, Cattle Decapitation, Sun Room and Pierce the Veil, which last summer performed at Petco Park as the opening act for the Poway-bred pop-punk band blink-182. Switchfoot leader Jon Foreman, the surf-rocking Tourmaliners, Archie Thompson and Jesse Ray Smith each received two nominations apiece.
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The nominees in all 27 categories — two more than last year — were announced Monday night in a livestream from Mission Valley’s Silent City Entertainment. The livestream also featured airings of all seven of this year’s Best Video contenders.
The winners in all categories will be announced April 29 when the 2025 San Diego Music Awards take place at Humphreys Concert by the Bay on Shelter Island.
Confirmed performers include almost monday, miniaturized, Euphoria Brass Band, Matthew Phillips, Mojave Soul, The Tourmalines and Nathan East, whose band will feature his son, Noah, on keyboards and vocals. The father-and-son team’s first duo album is due out in mid-April.
“Last year was the first time in a long time that we sold out in advance,” said San Diego Music Awards founder Kevin Hellman. “Coming out of the COVID shutdown, it took us a few years to regain out footing. And people just love coming to it at Humphreys.”
Since being launched in 1991, the San Diego Music Awards has raised $850,785 for its nonprofit San Diego Music Foundation. Its Guitars in the Schools program, a t endeavor with El Cajon’s Taylor Guitars, has provided instruments and music instruction to more than 91,000 K-12 students in 123 schools across San Diego County.
Online voting for the 2025 San Diego Music Awards will run from noon Tuesday until March 31.
Each voter can cast one ballot per day. For the second year in a row, winners in each category will be determined by votes cast by the public and by the 19 of the San Diego Music Foundation.
“The votes are weighted 50-50,” Hellman said. “It’s too much of a popularity contest if only the public votes.”
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This is the second consecutive year that more than 840 submissions were received for consideration.
“It’s crazy; we used to get 400 to 500,” Hellman said. “We didn’t offer an option for people to submit their entries online, so it’s a lot easier for people to make submissions now.”
2025 San Diego Music Awards
The full list of this year’s nominees is available in he online version of this article at sandiegouniontribune.com/things-to-do/music-concerts/
Artist of the Year
Anthony Cullins
Cattle Decapitation
Daring Greatly
Kimmi Bitter
Pierce the Veil
Sun Room
Thee Sacred Souls
Song of the Year
Kimmi Bitter, “Cowboy Kind of Girl”
Jon Foreman, “Stay Wild, Wildflower”
Pierce the Veil, “Karma Police”
P.O.D., “I Won’t Bow Down”
Slightly Stoopid, “I’ll be Gone”
Sun Room, “Hate It When You Call”
Thee Sacred Souls, “Live for You”
Album of the Year
Jeff Berkley, “Tumbleweed”
Jon Foreman, “In Bloom”
Kimmi Bitter, “Old School”
P.O.D., “Veritas”
Slack Key Ohana, “Hawaiian Cowboy”
Swami & The Bed of Nails, “All of This Awaits You”
Thee Sacred Souls, “Got a Story to Tell”
Best New Artist
Cat 22
Dusk Drama
Hi-Five Ghost
Kela Sako
The Film Company
The Neighborhood Kids
Westwinders
Best Folk or Acoustic Song
Andrew Barrack, “Waking up Together”
Brianna Grace, “Red and Blue”
Dylan Razwick, “Numb”
Josh Weinstein, “Jesus of Neverland”
KaiLana Tomiko, “Too Many Times”
Nathan & Jessie, “The Way You Move”
The Beard & The Bird, “Thankful”
Best Jazz Artist
Allison Adams Tucker
Ed Kornha
Gilbert Castellanos
Leonard Patton
Nathan Hubbard
Sue Palmer & Her Motel Swing Orchestra
Taryn Donath
Best Jazz Album
Alex Ciaverelli, “A Tribute To Oscar Peterson On Guitar”
Doug Walker, “Concurrent Lines”
Euphoria Brass Band, “Better Days”
Jazz From The Crypt, “Ritual”
MacKenzie Leighton Quartet, “I ”
Patrick Yandall, “You Will Be Alright”
Sandi King, “Departure”
Best Blues Artist
Black Market III
Chickenbone Slim
Chris Fast band
Johnny “V” Vernazza
Mercedes Moore
Nathan James
Whitney Shay
Best Blues Album
Daniel Nielsen, “Deep Finish”
John January Band, “True”
Manzanita Blues, “Gamblin’ on the Groove”
Robin Henkel, “Lurking”
The Juke$, “The Thick (uncut, unreleased tracks)”
The Tradition, “Bad Reputation”
Zavala Sol, “Bad Habits”
Best Country or Americana Song
Alex Bergan, “Ghost in the Addict”
Jackson Wagner, “Like an Angel”
Jesse Ray Smith, “Santa Ana Winds”
Miranda Ramos, “Waste Your Time”
Sara Jade, Jessie Lark, Elizabeth Bowersox, “Singin’ Woman
Sheena, “Strawberry Lemonade”
Sutton James, “The Ghost’s Perfume”
Best Country or Americana Artist
Ashley E. Norton
Ass Pocket Whiskey Fellas
Farm Truck
Jesse Ray Smith
Lissa Dee
Sara Petite
The Sleepwalkers
Best Country or Americana Album
Cathryn Beeks, “The After Times”
Dave Preston, “Way Out West”
Jeff Berkley, “Tumbleweed”
Kimmi Bitter, “Old School”
MohaviSoul, “MohaviSoul”
Ron Houston, “Real Outlaw Americans Music”
The Sea Monks, “New Dreams”
Best Hip Hop/Rap Artist
Brothers Burns
Crhymes
Kahlee
Dezzy Hollow
Riston Diggs
RM the Poet
The Neighborhood Kids
Best Hip Hop/Rap Song
Cane Dubb, “When Times Get Rough”
Cory Blaze, “For the City”
DJ Who & Mantis, “Outsider”
Ej Hustla, “God Said”
Mitchy Slick, “Keep Up The Name”
Sham Blak, “Fade to Blak”
The Gravities, “Find a Lil’ Time”
Best Pop Artist
Audrey Callahan
Cassie B
Chloe Lou
Jonny Tarr
Lioneer
Matthew Phillips
Paradise Drive
Best Pop Song
Ben Parks, “All My Love”
Creature Canyon, “American Movie”
David Spitzfaden, “Cracked the Code”
Jessie Lark, “Rainbows”
Kieler Avery, “Gentleman”
Sean Witkin, featuring Jonny Tarr, “TLD”
Sunsets/VIRR, “Big Bidness”
Best Pop Album
almost monday, “Dive”
Gregory Page, “Once Long Ago”
Michael Tiernan, “For Others”
Tamar Berk, “Good Times for a Change”
We The Commas, “Aeroplane”
The Loons, “Memories Have Faces”
Trey Hill, “The Search for Something Good”
Best Rock Artist
Ash Easton
Band of Gringos
Door 13
Mistress 77
Roni Lee
The Farmers
The Tourmaliners
Best Rock Album
Desponders, “Timewave Decay”
Fuzz Huzzi, “Waiting for the Sun”
Kill Holiday, “Seasonal”
New Skeletal Faces, “Until the Night”
Owl Be Damned, “Owl Be Damned”
RA., “LDR”
Soulseller, “Witching Hour”
Best Rock or Indie/Alternative Song
Cascade Effect, “Suffering in Silence”
Daring Greatly, “Trouble”
Glass Spells, “Without You”
Hauntu, “I”
Morski Oko, “Born to Weep”
Mrs. Henry, “Keep on Rising”
Sunbendr, “Cut to the Quick”
Best Indie/Alternative Artist
Coastal Wolves
miniaturized
Please Ask for Paul
Pleasure Pill
Signal for Pilot
Swive
The Schizophonics
Best Indie/Alternative Album
Blair Gun, “There are No Rival Clones Here”
Dive Bar Saints, “Seven Seas”
Los Saints, “Certified”
Scary Pierre, “Sticky Situation”
Taking on Water, “Social Insecurity”
The Oxen, “Blanketing The Friction”
The Film Company, “We Were Promised Rockets”
Best World Music Song
Alific, “Winds from Within”
B-Side Players, “When the Music Stops”
Boostive, “Lust”
Crucial Blend, “Never Wanna Leave”
Kekoa the Artist, “Tired of Me”
Marujah, “Sana”
T-Chronic, “Till the Day I Die”
Best World Music Artist
Boostive
Cumbia Machin
Mitchum Yacoub
Quel Bordel
Safety Orange
The Amalgamated
Tulengua
Best R&B, Funk or Soul Song
Archie Thompson, “Souls on Fire”
Beebs, “Better Days”
Darren Maurice Shirrell, “Celebrate for Love”
Doah’s Daydream, “Ready to Love”
Evan Marks & Rebecca Jade, “Hello It’s Me”
Helena Holleran, “Howlin at the Moon”
Marelle, “Alone”
Best Local Recording
Archie Thompson, “Raw Soul, Vol. 5”
Eric Schroeder, “Turned on the Stereo”
Mark Montijo, “If I Get to Heaven”
Nicey Nice World, “Live Antic”
The Resinators, “Vs.”
The Tourmaliners, “Live & Alive”
Will Stucky, “Familiar Frontier”
Best Video
Aviator Stash, “Mobil Blues”
Cheyenne Benton, “Sorry”
Daring Greatly, “Trouble”
Fake Glasses, “Paranoid”
Half Hour Late, “Gloomy Days”
The Eiffels, “Beautiful Life”
The Neighborhood Kids, “Biddi Bomb”
The 2025 San Diego Music Awards
When: 7 p.m. April 29
Where: Humphreys Concerts by the Bay, 2241 Shelter Island Drive, Shelter Island
Tickets: On sale at noon Tuesday; $40 (general ission), $125 (reserved seats)
Online: sandiegomusicawards.com
