This in from Donna Thompson, in her own words. Ed
Isle of Wight Americana/Country artist Claydon Connor has beaten thousands of other acts to be named as one of the UK’s top ten Unsigned Males.
Claydon has been nominated in the Best Male category at the 2014 Unsigned Music Awards (UMAs).
Last year’s UMAs received over 10,000 votes including one from the world’s most expensive footballer Gareth Bale, who voted for eventual winners of Best Band Fjords from Wales.
Cast your vote
The vote for Best Unsigned Male 2014 takes place at right now and finishes on Sunday 28th September.
To get a flavour of Claydon’s style, click on the play button below to listen to some original tracks.
Other categories include Best Female, Best Band and Best Song, the latter being won by Molly Smitten-Downes, who went on to represent the UK at this year’s Eurovision Song Content.
Molly said:
“The awards are great recognition for up and coming songwriters who maybe struggling to get noticed in one of the most competitive industries in the world. At the time, it was the pat on the back to keep going at a time when I needed it.”
New album
Claydon has recently released his latest album ‘Under The Big Sky’ and has performed at both The Isle of Wight Festival and Bestival.
The awards are hosted by Best of British Unsigned (BoB Unsigned) and will crown an overall winner using an online vote.
BoB Unsigned is a global radio show established in 2011, it plays on more than 80FM stations in 15 countries. The show’s website is the UK’s top result for ‘Unsigned Music’.
Matt Graveling, BoB Co-founder said:
“The UK produces the best musicians in the world and we get to play them before anyone else! The UMAs are the much needed recognition that these musicians need in order to realise just how good they are.”
The ten nominees in each category were voted on by listeners of the show, staff at the stations that play it and the team at BoB Unsigned.
This year’s awards are sponsored by Southampton based web design company Plug and Play. Max K-Thompson, Managing Director said:
“We are proud to sponsor the UMAs. Best of British Unsigned has given thousands of unsigned musicians the recognition they deserve, who wouldn’t want to be part of this great achievement? Best of luck to all award entries!”
Image: © Tippers
