Scottish Alternative Music Awards (SAMA)

Three of the most compelling acts in Scotland will perform at the Scottish Alternative Music Awards (SAMA) prize-giving ceremony at Glasgow’s Saint Luke's on Thursday 8th December, 2022.

Theatrical electro-rock outfit VLURE, all-female rap trio The Honey Farm and intimate soul songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Becky Sikasa will perform at the 13th edition of the event, supported by The National Lottery through Creative Scotland in recognition of the SAMA’s growing significance across the music scene in Scotland and beyond.

New music champion Jim Gellatly and highly-acclaimed poet Leyla Josephine will host the evening, which will see awards given to seven of the most outstanding artists working in Scotland today.

In keeping with the celebratory atmosphere will be a live performance from VLURE, the Glasgow five-piece who fuse intense club rhythms with towering synths, candid lyrics and an ethos that views the dancefloor as the stage for vivid, life-affirming catharsis. 

Also set to play live is The Honey Farm, the school friends from rural Dunbar who went on to become “potentially the first and only and by default greatest Scottish female rap group of all time”, and Becky Sikasa, a multi-instrumentalist vocalist and songwriter whose SAMA performance will crown a prolific year of single releases showcasing her warm, humane, off-centre soul pop.

Hosts Jim Gellatly and Leyla Josephine, who will appear following a UK tour in support of her new collection ‘In Public/In Private’, return to SAMA following last year's event where winners included Bee Asha, Bemz, K4cie and Lizzie Reid.

As in previous years, the SAMA 2022 seven award categories are Best Live Act, Best Hip Hop, Best Newcomer, Best Acoustic, Best Metal, Best Electronic and BestRock/Alternative. Nominations for each category will be put forward by teams of promoters, programmers, broadcasters, podcasters, editors, writers and artists from organisations such as Amazing Radio, BBC, Jupiter Rising, Scotland in Colour, Tenement TV, Time Out, The Skinny and Up2standard. A full list of nominators is available on the website. Nominations for the seven awards will be announced mid November with the SAMA 2022 winners chosen by the public via an online vote later that month.

Founded over a decade ago by Richy Muirhead, the SAMA have grown in prominence over the years, with past winners including Fatherson, Hector Bizerk, The Snuts, Gerry Cinnamon and Lewis Capaldi, recognised long before his debut EP release. 

Richy Muirhead explains: “SAMA 2022 aims to put a spotlight on genres and artists who have been working hard and making moves over the last 12 months! The showcase artists and nominations list reflect the creativity and quality of music coming out of Scotland in 2022. We're thrilled to host the 13th edition of the event in Glasgow!" 

Now in its 13th year, the event marks a festive highlight for what's since developed and diversified into a year-long operation presenting other activities including the Paisley Takeover and Pitch, Scotland's conference of hip hop and underground culture, presented in 2022 in partnership with FOCUS Wales and Europe's biggest hip hop conference, New Skool Rules.

Tickets are available via Eventbrite

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/scottish-alternative-music-awards-2022-ceremony-tickets-456180888317

You can find out more information about SAMA via their website http://officialsama.com, or across social media at @officialSAMA.