The nominees for this year’s San Diego Music Awards have just been announced. Despite the usual confusion about whether a band should be considered “rock,” “hard rock,” or “alternative,” some of San Diego’s best and brightest made the cut, including Owl and Bear favorites like Boy King, The Burning of Rome, Miss Erika Davies, Grammatical B, Neon Cough, Smile Now Cry Later, Tide Pools, and The Tree Ring.

But perhaps the most notable part of this year’s crop of nominees is the Best New Artist category, which is overflowing with exciting acts like Chess Wars, Barbarian, Flaggs, and The Midnight Pine. With so many quality bands forming, the future of San Diego’s music scene is looking as sunny as the city’s skies.

All in all, it seems we’ve got the makings for another fun awards show, and you can experience the drunken debauchery in person at Humphreys Concerts By the Bay on October 9. Voting for the SDMAs is open to the public and will run until September 16. You can vote for your favorites here.

The 2013 San Diego Music Awards will feature performances from Sara Watkins, Tristan Prettyman, Sara Petite, Blackout Party, The Heavy Guilt, and The Palace Ballroom, with even more acts to be announced. You can buy tickets for the SDMAs here, and check out the full list of nominees below.

2013 San Diego Music Awards Nominees

Best Cover Band:
Beta Maxx
The Jones Revival
Cash’d Out
The Detroit Underground
Electric Waste Band
Rockola
The Baja Bugs
Thunder Road

Best Jazz:
Bill Caballero
Euphoria Brass Band
Gilbert Castellanos
In Motion Trio
Joshua White
Rob Thorsen
Dialog Project
The Earful

Best Singer/Songwriter:
Chad Taggart
Christopher Dale
Gayle Skidmore
Gregory Page
Jeff Berkley
Jeffrey Joe Morin
Marie Haddad
Steven Ybarra

Best Blues:
The Bayou Brothers
Bill Magee Blues Band
Chet & The Committee
Fuzzy
Michele Lundeen
Robin Henkel
Stoney B. Blues Band
Tomcat Courtney

Best World Music:
AfroJazziacs
Cumbia Machin
Hrie
Shoreline Rootz
The Devastators
Todo Mundo
Tribal Seeds
Zimbeat

Best Americana:
Garbo
John Meeks
L.A. Edwards
Nena Anderson
Sara Petite
Roy Rapid
Sara Watkins
The Tree Ring

Best Hip Hop:
Black Resume
Blame One
El Gun Legro
Grammatical B
Parker & the Numberman
Legacy Pack
The Lyrical Groove
Vokab Kompany

Best Pop:
Dr. Seahorse
Mad Traffic
Mrs. Magician
Okapi Sun
Scott Mathiason & The Shifty Eyed Dogs
Smile Now Cry Later
The Silent Comedy
Ed Ghost Tucker

Best Alternative:
Cuckoo Chaos
Cult Vegas
Dead Feather Moon
The Burning of Rome
The Heavy Guilt
The Nformals
Tropical Popsicle
Wild Wild Wets

Best Rock:
Blackout Party
Black Hondo
Family Wagon
Grand Tarantula
Jet West
The Beautiful View
The Donkeys
Transfer

Best Hard Rock:
Audio Addiction
Condemned
Death Crisis
Earthless
Griever
Mortuus Terror
Retox
Schitzophonics

Best Club DJ:
Adam Salter
Artistic
Fresh One
Gabe Vega
Kanye Asada
Marc Thrasher
Junior the Disco Punk
Saul Q

Best Pop Album:
Belmont Lights – Telegraphs
Chris Carpenter – Up All Night
Dawn Mitschele – Silence the Noise
Josh Damigo – Hope
Neon Cough – New Adventures in Wi-Fi
Tori Roze and The Hot Mess – Turbulence
Old Tiger – Love Have Mercy
Tolan Shaw – Tolan Shaw

Best Rock Album:
Black Market III – Songs That Shake the Cage
Dirty Sirens – Dirty Sirens
Hills Like Elephants – Feral Flocks
Safety Orange – State of Where I Am
The Nervous Wreckords – Let Them All Talk
The New Regime – Exhibit A
The Palace Ballroom –This is the Plan…
The Paragraphs – +/-

Best Alternative Album:
Lexington Field – No Man’s War
Mad Traffic – City
New Mexico – Malpaís
Social Club – Gamma Rays
The Burning of Rome – With Us
The Heavy Guilt – The Heavy Guilt
The Night Marchers – Allez Allez
We Are Sirens – Every, Body, Panic

Best Hard Rock Album:
Author & Punisher – Women and Children
Boy King – 1
Dirty Sirens – Dirty Sirens
In Feat and Faith – In Feat and Faith
Lord Howler – …Hath Four Heads!
Retox – YPLL
The Suicide Chords – A Process of Self Worth

Best Hip Hop Album:
Addiquit – Tragedy
Awol & Gamma – SinSerious
Bloodstone The Street Preacher – Life of Rhyme
Marty MacPhly – In Advance
Miki Vale – The Good, The Bad & The Lovely
Odessa Kane – Cuetes & Balisongs
Trackwide – 21+
Vokab Kompany & Crush Effect – VKCE

Best Blues Album:
Candye Kane – Coming Out Swingin’
Charles Burton Blues Band – Sweet Potato Pie
Chess Wars – Peace
Johnny Vernazza – Lions & Thieves
Low Volts – Oh My Stars
Red Lotus Revue – Fourteen Stories
Sue Palmer & her Motel Swing Orchestra – Party Favorites
Whitney Shay – Soul Tonic

Best Jazz Album:
Danny Green – A Thousand Ways Home
Gilbert Castellanos – Federal Jazz Project
Mike Wofford – It’s Personal
Miss Erika Davies – Part the Sea
Pocket – Resonance
Road Work Ahead – Intersection
Steph Johnson – Nature Girl
Teagan Taylor – Hello

Best Americana Album:
A.J. Croce – Twelve Tales
Alaina Blair – Alaina Blair
El Monte Slim – If I Could Just Break Even
Folding Mr. Lincoln – Two Rivers
Joel Rafael – America Come Home
River City – The Flood & The Gavel
The Tilt – Howlin’
The Tree Ring – Brushbloom

Best World Music Album:
B-Side Players – Revolutionize
High Tide – Still Rising
Keltic Kharma – Cocktail Kharma
Patric Petrie – Pocket Venus
San Diego Island Boys – II
Revival – The Message
Stranger Band – Above It All
Tribal Theory – Hell of a Night

Best Local Recording:
Darius Degher – The Coyote Cantos
Grampadrew – Cut From The Cloth
The Sickstring Outlaws – Johnny Drank Jack
The Lovebirds – and a one and a two
The Midnight Pine – Awake Now
The Touchies – Mess With the Unicorn
Tide Pools – Grief is a Wilderness
The Wayne Riker Five – Kindred Souls

Best New Artist:
Chess Wars
Barbarian
Flaggs
Soda Pants
Teenage Burritos
The Filthy Violets
The Midnight Pine
The Phantoms

Artist of the Year:
Family Wagon
Gilbert Castellanos
Little Hurricane
Pinback
The Burning of Rome
The Heavy Guilt
The Silent Comedy
Wavves

Album of the Year:
Mike Keneally – Wing Beat Fantastic
P.O.D. – Murdered Love
Pacific Air – Stop Talking
Pinback – Information Retrieved
Slightly Stoopid – Top of the World
The Burning of Rome – With Us
Tristan Prettyman – Cedar + Gold
Wavves – Afraid of Heights

Song of the Year:
A.J. Croce – “Rollin’ On”
Pacific Air – “Move”
Pinback – “Proceed to Memory”
P.O.D. – “Beautiful”
Slightly Stoopid – “Don’t Stop”
The Silent Comedy – “God Neon”
Tristan Prettyman – “My Oh My”
Wavves – “Demon to Lean On”

Best Live Performer:
Burning of Rome
Gilbert Castellanos
Lady Dottie & the Diamonds
Little Hurricane
The Creepy Creeps
The Heavy Guilt
The Silent Comedy
The Styletones

Best Music Video by a San Diego band:
Cuckoo Chaos – “Shanghaied”
Mrs. Magician – “There is No God”
P.O.D. – “Beautiful”
Pinback – “Sherman”
Slightly Stoopid – “Don’t Stop”
Social Club – “Slow Motion”
The Silent Comedy – “God Neon”
Wavves – “Afraid of Heights”