Salisbury Music Awards celebrate the Salisbury music scene

The 2024 Salisbury Music Awards were held on Saturday to celebrate the outstanding musical talent within the City.

Members of the Salisbury music community came together to celebrate the incredible musical talent the City has within its music scene.

The Thom Belk Community Fund, named after the founder of the Salisbury Music Awards, who sadly passed away in 2023, wanted to ensure that the awards continued in his memory.

They collaborated with Salisbury Live, Sounds of Salisbury, The Winchester Gate and Rock The Boat DJs to bring a spectacular night of celebration and music to Salisbury.

The musical talent on offer for the event was a showcase of the superbly diverse music scene within the City. With a DJ set from Radio Odstock’s Kev Lawrence kicking off the proceedings, the fantastic crowd were also treated to live music on two stages.

Luke Hall, Lauren & Hardy, Sock Puppet Jukebox and Black Iris entertained on the acoustic stage, with sets from Solarbird, Charmtype, KINKi and headliners Pugwall lifting the room off of the band stage area. When the live music was finished, a silent disco provided the perfect end to a fantastic event via DJ sets from StreetLife, No Gimmicks, and Bad Gxrls Do It Well.

The Awards, voted for by the public and collated by the team at Wade Digital, were announced over two breaks in the live music schedule, to allow acts and audience to show appreciation and support for winners and nominees. With voting up 16% on the previous year, there were an incredible number of nominees in each category.

There was a truly emotional moment during the second awards segment, as the Belk family accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award on behalf of Thom Belk, given in recognition of his many years of supporting and promoting Salisbury music and the community as a whole.

His sister Charleigh said, "Thom would be incredibly proud and humbled to see his legacy continuing with these awards and extremely happy to see so many acts continuing to prove Salisbury has such a superb music scene."

The family also recognised the extremely positive influence of Colin Holton and Robb Blake on Thom’s musical and life journeys, gifting them special commemorative gifts as a token of their appreciation.

Full List of Winners:
Lifetime Achievement Award: Thom Belk

Outstanding Contribution to Music in the Community: Lilli Badcock (Evolution Choir)

Outstanding Contribution to the Salisbury Music Scene: Sounds of Salisbury (Ellen & Alex Morgan-Wardrop)

Best Band: Lump

Best Original Song: Love is Enough for their song ‘1 in 4’

Best Live Act: Lump

Best Solo Act: Lucas Hardy

Break Thru Act: Rosie Jay

Best Covers Act: Solarbird

Best Venue: The WInchester Gate

Best Vocalist: Becs Marchant

Best Guitarist: Joe Burke

Best Bassist: Nick Gowman

Best Drummer: Edd Grigg

Best Instrumentalist: Owena Archer

Best DJ: Disco Dion