TRAVERSE CITY — When Michigan’s already-acclaimed bluegrass band Full Cord plays Traverse City next month, they’ll do as winners of “album of the year” at the 2024 Jammie Awards.
The prestigious award presented for the Grand Haven-based bluegrass outfit’s 2023 album, “Cambium,” came during a crowded, celebratory night of Michigan music last weekend at The Intersection in Grand Rapids, with 19 regional acts performing on three stages.
Full Cord joined Grand Rapids Americana and vintage country group The Bootstrap Boys as the evening’s biggest winners, with The Bootstrap Boys not only honored as artist of the year but also taking home the prize for best roots/Americana album for “Hungry & Sober.”
After playing to a packed house during the Jammie Awards, Full Cord thanked fellow musicians, producer Stephen Mougin and the band’s label, Dark Shadow Recording, as well as fans for their support.
“It’s nice to see a good Grand Rapids contingent come out and see us because we don’t do a lot of Grand Rapids shows,” said mandolinist Brian Oberlin. “It was a great crowd.”
Full Cord, the 2022 winners of the Telluride Bluegrass Festival Band Contest and International Bluegrass Music Association Momentum Award, plays The Alluvion in Traverse City on March 16. Tickets are $35 in advance online at thealluvion.org or $35 at the door.
They weren’t the only acts winning high-profile awards: The critics’ choice award for album of the year went to Grand Rapids ska favorite Mustard Plug for “Where Did All My Friends Go?” with West Michigan rock band The American Hotel System named artist of the year by critics.
Public voting by fans, meanwhile, tabbed Americana’s Roosevelt Diggs as artist of the year, with singer-songwriter Chloe Kimes — a Michigan native now based in Nashville — earning the award for album of the year for her self-titled release.
Aside from The Bootstrap Boys, the only other winner of multiple awards was West Michigan world music trio Whorled, which won Jammies for song of the year (“Seven”) and best traditions album (“Reimagined”).
“It feels really special,” said Whorled fiddler Keala Venema, who also performed at the awards show with the jazz-fueled, up-and-coming jazz fusion band Pocket Watch. “I love being able to connect with other people and seeing other musicians I really respect out and about. It’s really a community-building event.”
The evening’s real winners may have been the performers and fans who heated up the five-hour-long, 24th edition of the Jammie Awards honoring the best local and regional music of the past year. Hosted by Grand Rapids radio station WYCE-FM, the festive spectacle drew more than 1,400 people and touched a bevy of musical bases: hip hop, rock, singer-songwriter, world music, rockabilly, bluegrass, Celtic music, jazz, electronic, R&B, regional Mexicano, pop and more.
“I think it’s absolutely beautiful the way this community celebrates its independent artists and creators and makers,” said attendee and Grand Haven musician Jessica Wolfbird.
“So many of us work for years on these albums, and having a celebration like the Jammies to look forward to each year, especially on a year you’ve released something, is kinda like when you’re a kid and your parents take you out for ice cream after band concerts and piano recitals. I love it. There’s a fun, frenetic energy to it that I think most people can enjoy.”
Highlights ranged from Detroit soul band Laura Rain & The Caesars’ energetic main stage set to Full Cord’s audience-engaging romp on a side stage to rousing, dance-inspiring performances by funk-rock’s Short Panic and indie-rock/pop’s Pretoria in the Elevation venue downstairs.
“We had 19 phenomenal bands, rooms full of people, everyone was having a great time,” said WYCE operations and traffic manager Scott Winters. “The vibe was great. We had probably the most diverse crowd I have ever seen at an event like this.”