2023 Winners

In November 2023, we ran our 9^th annual awards celebrating more than 130 artists. The ‘Band of the Year’ category attracted more than 22,000 votes over 12-months, as we took time to celebrate and say thank you to all 126 artists that had given us time for interviews over the last year. As with previous years, this long list was very much artist driven.

We also celebrated Single of the Year, Album of the Year, Live Act of the Year and Industry Hero.

A wonderful evening, a great sense of positivity and community. A thank you to everyone who has been part of the fun over the last year as, together, we have put forward a positive and inclusive agenda on a new generation of fine artists. And in doing so – giving everyone a kick of the ball along the way.

Band of the Year 2023

VIOLET BLEND

A band that has been part of the heart and soul of Friday and (now) Monday nights throughout 2023. Indie-metal music that has beauty and drama, rockshow listeners have kept songs like Rock DJ, Voices In My Head and My Head Is Broken on the airwaves for many weeks. Songs that have grown like snowballs, powered organically by music fans not the marketing machine.

The band members put their hands up to be on both the last two editions of Modern Rock, they’ve had an Album of the Month and they did a run of hugely entertaining guest shows when I took a break earlier in the year – shows that really showcased the wonderful dynamic between band members, their creativity and their playful sense of fun.

Perhaps most important – as people the band has engaged with listeners (or at least those on social media) during the Friday and Monday shows. Their run of interviews have been chaotic and funny and, to some, have set the bar – hour specials now that people always look forward to. There is something so wonderfully Italian about how the band present themselves, it’s been so fun for listeners to see the essence of rock n roll presented in a different way, through a different lens with a refreshingly different persona.

As we hit the end of the Year, this is a band that has been voted Band of the Month, but perhaps more telling they have been listener favourites on polls throughout the year. And when it came to Band of the Year, I think listeners remembered they had made friends with Violet Blend along with other bands that did well this year. Some say success in music today is about the music (quite understandably), others think it’s about the marketing and the harvesting of social media numbers. Violet Blend remind us it’s about the people. Get involved with your fans and potential fans, have a giggle together, enjoy sharing music and let a shared sense of fun be a healing tonic to help everyone get through tough times together.

It’s also not lost on me that we have a European band winning Band of the Year for the first time. At a time of polarisation and retrenchment in so many aspects of life, this vote reminds us we are part of something bigger and the music to be enjoyed beyond our shores makes us still very European in terms of artistic and cultural enrichment. Music after all is a universal language – it’s not meant to live in country or genre silos. The best things in life fly free like a bird and hopefully Violet Blend will be flying back to our shores next year.

Band of The Year Top 20

Violet Blend
Autumn Killers
Blue Nation
Spike
DeadBlondeStars
Amongst Liars
Copperworm
Thieves of Liberty
Rebecca Downes
Luke Morley

Empyre
Scarlet Rebels
Sari Schorr
The Dead Daisies
This House We Built
Carbellion
The BluesBones
Doomsday Outlaw
Robert Jon & The Wreck
Twisted Illusion

Bands of the Month 2023

January – Spike
February – Absolva & Autumn Killers
March – Marshall Potts
April – Copperworm
May – Violet Blend
June – Blue Nation
July – Firekind
August – Pulverise
September – Blue Nation
October – Amongst Liars
November – Scarlet Rebels

SINGLE OF THE YEAR 2023

ELLIS MANO BAND
'GOOD TO GO'

So many great songs have emerged through the show this year and, like snowballs, have grown and developed a momentum of their own – powered by listener requests and reaction. This has happened before, ahead of time, with songs like Ratio, On My Own Stage, These Days and Rock n Roll Aint Dead. Ellis Mano Band served up the latest ‘snowball’ song this year.

‘Good To Go’ – taken from one of our Album of the Month reviews this year – arrested attention after first play when it got a premiere on the rockshow. The rest is history, it became a weekly show opener before switching to become the show closer, where it has stayed to this day.

Wonderfully arresting, the song has united people, given strength and energy and who doesn’t like a good singalong at the end? A song with real legacy from the show’s friends in Switzerland. Ellis Mano Band have done some wonderful interviews this year, won over new audiences through the show and issued one of benchmark albums of 2023. A fine way to finish a marvellous year.

Live Act of the Year 2023

BLUE NATION

One of the most delightful new discoveries for us over the last 18 months, Blue Nation are more than a band that churn out songs. As people, they exude such a caring warmth about everything they do. This washes through the music but also extends to the way they talk to people – and the way they care about people.

Some bands rely on the marketing machine to build their brands or social media to build the sense of scale. For Blue Nation it’s all about the people, the way they communicate and the truth behind the issues they care about. No cause-related marketing here, Blue Nation’s stance on mental health and wellbeing is a heartfelt truth that lives through the authenticity of their music-making.

The band did well in the Band of the Year poll and they bagged Band of the Month twice on the back of a heroic run for their 2022 song ‘Echoes’, which continued its run into a second year. In truth though, if there was a category for the band to win it was this one. They are first and foremost a live band and their challenge going forward is how they bottle that aura in the studio music they record.

For this category, I reached out gig-going fans around the UK. There was one band mentioned in more than 50% of the responses. Blue Nation. When experienced live, never forgotten.

ALBUMS OF THE MONTH IN 2023

JD SIMO – ‘SONGS FROM THE HOUSE OF GREASE’
DEADBLONDESTARS – ‘METAMORPHOSIS’
ELLIS MANO BAND – ‘LUCK OF THE DRAW’
TWISTED ILLUSION – ‘UPSTAIRS TO OPTIMISM’
COPPERWORM – ‘PILOT’
EMPYRE – ‘RELENTLESS’
CARBELLION – ‘WEAPONS OF CHOICE’
THE BLUES BONES – ‘UNCHAINED’
LUKE MORLEY – ‘SONGS FROM THE BLUE ROOM’
THE DUST CODA – ‘LOCO PARADISE’
PROMETHIUM – ‘BLEEDING THE GHOST’
BAD TOUCH – ‘BITTERSWEET SATISFACTION’
VIOLET BLEND – ‘LIVE AND TRUE’
EMPYRE – ‘RELENTLESS’

ALBUM OF THE YEAR 2023

EMPYRE - 'RELENTLESS'

A remarkable second studio album from one of British’s most accomplished rising rock bands – a band we have been proud to support since day one. We’ve been blessed to have premiered many Empyre songs over the years and the interview archive we have built up has followed the band’s story through a sequence of new milestones that have charted the rise of this fine band.

‘Relentless’ is a masterclass in exquisite arrangement, impressive technical craft and a restless eye for excellence – values that define the band’s brand and recorded sound. ‘Relentless’ builds on the band’s well-received debut album, yet 2023’s new release presents a broader canvas and makes the debut seem dated and somewhat limited by comparison. In truth, a comparison between the two studio albums underlines how far Empyre has come in recent years in terms of craft, confidence and ambition.

The short-list for Album of the Year comprised of the monthly album reviews and the Easter showcase mini-reviews. All the albums were fine and each offered something special, but somehow ‘Relentless’ has grown with time – and some albums need time to breathe and grow. It’s an album you can keep going back to and each time find something new. ‘Relentless’ has of the most blistering openers to any album in 2023, ‘Hit and Run’ is an exquisite mid-tempo radio single and ‘Forget Me’ is a modern day opus that, in true Empyre style, builds and builds. Empyre’s music doesn’t go in a straight line and that’s something to be applauded.

To some, ‘Relentless’ will be viewed as one of the milestone albums of recent years in any genre. It is the sound of a Modern Rock band for a new age. It’s more than banging drums and familiar classic riffs. It’s music to concentrate to, to listen to properly – it’s rock possibly to enjoy more with a glass of red wine than a bottle of beer. Cleverly conceived, skillfully played and well produced – and with the power to grow over time. A modern rock classic with legacy. Album of the Year 2023.

Industry Hero of the Year 2023

JOHN ALTBROUGH (WITH HIS PA, HOSS THOMPSON)

Every year we celebrate someone off stage that helps keep the lights on in the scene. This year it’s the turn of music historian, academic and sports-jacket wearing John Altbrough, supported by the background genius of Hoss Thompson. People that listen to the rockshow will know why this call was made.

The wit, humour, intelligence and care taken by Hoss to present us with the world of rock’s favourite history academic has brought sheer joy to so many. And reminds us that all of us in the rock scene shouldn’t always take things too seriously. The scene can talk to itself endlessly about business models and the rest, but what really matters is the shared joy of music, framed by moments of joy and laughter. That’s the thing that keeps everything going. Thank you John – and Hoss.