Jammy Awards set for May 7

The seventh annual Jammy Awards, which celebrates and honors jam band artists connected with live, improvisational music, will be held on May 7 at The WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden. Four-time Jammy Award winner and seven-time Grammy nominated Warren Haynes will co-host with 2006 Jammy Award winner Grace Potter.

Fans, who can attend the event, can vote for the Jammys at the website. “Like the scene that it celebrates, the Jammys is a true grassroots event,” the event’s co-founder, Dean Budnick, editor-in-chief of Jambands.com and senior editor of Relix, said in a statement. Budnick has overseen the nomination process since the outset. “Ever since Year One, the awards have been voted upon by the discerning ears of the fans.”

The diverse slate of nominees include the Beastie Boys (Studio Album of the Year), Neil Young (Archival Album of the Year) and Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings (Studio Album of the Year) as well as such jamband staples as Widespread Panic, moe., North Mississippi Allstars and the Allman Brothers Band, all of whom received multiple nominations.

The show’s co-hosts are nominated: Potter in the song category (“Ah Mary”) and Haynes with Gov’t Mule in the Live Performance of the year category. Haynes and Potter also received a collective nomination for Tour of the Year (Gov’t Mule and Grace Potter and the Nocturnals on the Mighty High Tour).

This year’s ceremony and all-star concert will feature a special Lifetime Achievement Award presentation to jamband giant Phish. The performers for this year’s concert will be announced in the coming weeks.

2008 Jammy Awards nominees (partial list):

Live Performance of the Year:
1. Gov’t Mule with John Paul Jones, Bob Weir, Michael Franti, Jorma
Kaukonen, Jack Cassady and Luther Dickinson, Bonnaroo Music Festival,
6/17/07
2. Led Zeppelin, O2 Arena, London, 12/10/07
3. Phil Lesh & Friends with Trey Anastasio, Glens Falls Civic Center,
10/20/07
4. Soul Stew Revival with Luther Dickinson, Fox Theatre, Atlanta, GA,
12/31/07
5. SuperJam (Ben Harper, John Paul Jones and ?uestlove), Bonnaroo Music
Festival, 6/16/07
6. USTORM Benefit, The Park West, Chicago, IL 3/31/07

Tour of the Year:
1. Allman Brothers Band/RatDog
2. D.U.M.B.: The Disco Biscuits and Umphrey’s McGee
3. Gov’t Mule with Grace Potter & The Nocturnals: Mighty High Tour
4. Solid Blues Tour: Mavis Staples, Charlie Musselwhite, The North
Mississippi All-Stars & Joe Krown
5. The String Cheese Incident: Summer
6. Widespread Panic: Fall

Studio Album of the Year:
1. Dream: Keller Williams
2. From The Corner To The Block: Galactic
3. 100 Days, 100 Nights: Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
4. Page McConnell: Page McConnell
5. The Conch: moe.
6. The Mix-Up: Beastie Boys

Live Album of the Year:
1. Bringing It Home: Bonerama
2. Brothers of a Feather: Live at the Roxy: Chris & Rich Robinson
3. Escaping the Sargasso Sea: Lotus
4. Live at the Murat: Umphrey’s McGee
5. Live at Tonic: Marco Benevento
6. Live in the Northeast: Hot Buttered Rum