Stellar lineup for sixth annual Eddies Music Awards features mix of performers

SCHENECTADY—An eclectic mix of Capital Region artists is set to perform at the sixth annual Capital Region Thomas Edison Music Awards on Sunday, April 21 at Proctors.

Performing on the MainStage are Ethan Crowley, Hold On Honeys, Cassandra Kubinski, Jocelyn & Chris, Ruth Pelham and The Sugar Hold. DJ Trumastr will spin music from—and inspired by—Eddies Music Award winners as well.

This year, 218 nominees in 34 categories are being celebrated. In all nearly 900 different artists and organizations have been nominated in the first six years of the awards show.

This is the second Eddies Music Awards performance for multiple-Eddies award recipients Jocelyn & Chris; they performed at the second Eddies Music Awards show, which was held as a live broadcast with no audience due to COVID restrictions. “Their power and energy certainly came across during the 2021 broadcast,” said Jim Murphy, co-producer of the Eddies Music Awards. “But we’re really excited to present them live to the 518-music community.”

Music performances are one of several ways the Eddies Music Awards strives to give visibility to—and celebrate—local musicians. More than 55 solo artists, DJs and musical groups have performed at 13 Eddies Music Awards-affiliated events since 2018.

Emcees for the event are Murphy and co-producer Kelly Auricchio.

Tickets, $20 in advance and $25 the day of the show, are available atproctors.org. A complete list of nominees is available at theeddiesawards.com. The show starts at 6 p.m.

MLB Construction Services is a sponsor of the award show and WEXT is the media partner.

The Eddies Music Awards and Proctors are part of the Proctors Collaborative.

About the artists scheduled to appear:

Ethan Crowley is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Saratoga Springs. He is currently rounding off his sophomore year in the Music Technology program at NYU. Ethan has performed at venues throughout upstate New York and New York City, including the historic Caffé Lena. All his self-released work was written, recorded and produced in his home studio. When Crowley is not writing songs, he performs in theatre and was last seen as the leading man in the Collaborative School of the Arts Broadway Camp 2023 production of “The Prom” at Proctors.

DJ Trumastr is an internationally recognized DJ based in Troy. Previously both an educator and event coordinator, his journey to deejaying started with a passion for bringing people together and uniting them under a common interest. Here, that interest is the dance floor.  

Hold On Honeys is a folk-influenced acoustic band based in Troy, offering tight-knit harmonies to nourish the soul and invigorate the senses. Hold on Honeys is Emily Curro, Raya Malcolm, Shannon Rafferty, Connor Armbruster and Michael Gregg.

Jocelyn & Chris, with their band, have charted four consecutive commercial radio singles in the US Billboard Top 40, taken two records to #1 on the Relix Jambands Top 30 Album Chart and appeared nationally on NBC’s Today Show. The siblings have logged performances coast to coast. Their current album “Favorite Ghosts” gained immediate attention with leadoff single “Sugar and Spice,” which American Songwriter hailed as “Pure American Rock Goodness.” The retro-funk anthem was the most-added commercial radio track across the US and earned Jocelyn & Chris their fourth consecutive Billboard AAA Top 40 radio single, remaining on the chart for 14 weeks.

Cassandra Kubinski is a Billboard-charting singer/songwriter who has performed from stadiums to living rooms, from Romania to LA, sharing stages with the likes of the Goo Goo Dolls, 10,000 Maniacs, Anna Nalick and others. Known for her piano-forward, cutting songwriting that takes listeners from deep, vulnerable canyons to snarky, witty corners, to futuristic ambitious highs, her songs have been used in dozens of TV shows and ads. She’s also a tireless art and womxn in arts advocate, holding board positions at Caffé Lena and Women in Music (emeritus), and leading artist-upleveling workshops and retreats regularly.

Ruth Pelham, an Albany-based songwriter, educator, organizer, recording artist, author and speaker, was an inaugural member of the Capital Region Thomas Edison Music Hall of Fame. Her artistry builds links among communities, empowers individuals and compels people to action. She is a veteran performer who has toured the former Soviet Union and war-torn Sri Lanka to lead thousands of people in singing songs of peace and understanding. Her passion is to use music to build a world family that thrives and co-exists through mutual support, compassion and dignity. Legendary activist and singer Pete Seeger acclaimed Ruth Pelham as “one of America’s greatest songwriters.”  Her songs have been recorded and performed by musicians including Seeger, Holly Near, Ronnie Gilbert, Peggy Seeger and Si Kahn, and are also published in numerous songbooks and journals. She has made several recordings including some of her best-known anthems for peace and justice such as “I Take This Vow.”  Ruth is currently working on a new recording of her songs and soon will be publishing a comprehensive songbook.  

The Sugar Hold, hailing from Schenectady, consists of Mikey Baish on guitar and vocals, Dan Clark on lead guitar, Matt Malone on bass and vocals, Ryan McCalla on guitar and keyboards and Jesse Winchester on drums. A band labeled as “surfpunk,” groups they could be compared to like The Crickets, The Beach Boys, The early Beatles or The Clash. Instead, they put together an eclectic mix of all the great rock bands from the ‘50s to today. The Sugar Hold strives to promote the good times and feelings that make their music so enjoyable.