The Outmusic Awards

The OMAs

Who Won? Who Were Nominated?

   Outmusic is a network of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender musicians and supporters. It was begun around 1990 in the East Village apartment of Dan Martin and his partner, Michael Biello. This first tentative meeting of artists sought out a safe space in which to share their music, and this need grew into monthly open mics.

   In 2001 the first Outmusic Awards (the OMAs) were held, and the goal was basically a celebration of excellence in queer music and also a way to share our music and honor special people in our community. It was measured step into the realm of events, such as it's spiritual predecessor, the GLAMAs, careful not to grow too fast, and to chart its development cautiously. That first year's awards did not even have a ceremony, and contained only five "categories," plus the honoring of two "legacy recordings." Only three of those remained essentially the same as of 2006, with the others evolving. For example, the "Outstanding New Recording" category grew into eight categories honoring recordings. In 2004 there were four special recognition honors given. One of these was the Outmusic Heritage Award, honoring artists for their early and ongoing contributions to queer music. New categories were added over the years, slowly, with three added in 2006.

In 2007 the organization of Outmusic changed significantly and little was heard until an awards event was held in December of 2009, covering music from 2007 through late 2009. Categories changed to the extent that it would not be feasible to adapt the results into the past format, so I refer you to their site for information on the recipients.

   I have attempted below to "tabulate" the data for the years 2001 through 2006, so that readers can see the winners in the same category from year to year. This was much more difficult than my presentation of similar data for the GLAMAs, as the definition of several of the categories changed themselves. And I wanted to document also the other nominees, as their work is very worthy of recognition, and often with these sort of events only the "winners" tend to be remembered. The work submitted for all of these awards is exemplary, and very worth seeking out.

   I attended the OMA ceremonies and associated events, such as parties and Open Mics, for 2002-2006, and took many photos both years. You'll find most of them by visiting the several pages of this site associated with my QMH July shows for 2002 through 2006, during which I paid tribute to the music of the recipients. The Award events have been held in New York City each year, except for 2005, where it was held in Chicago.

     See my QMH OMA Tribute Shows for:      2002     2003     2004     2005     2006

    Also visit  my GLAMA Data page  and  my GLAMA Pics section

   What's an OMA Award look like? Click Here to see the one I was very honored to receive in 2002.

 new category for 2002

 Irina Rivkin
 "Ya Eyo Lublu"
 from demo "Irina Rivkin"

 and
 Justin Tranter
 "Blend In"
 written by Justin Tranter,
 & Stephanie Delk
 from "Scratched"

 and
 Mark Weigle
 "In the Last 5 Minutes"
 from the album
 "Out of the Loop"

 category begun in 2002

 begun in 2002

 "Duo / Group" and
 "Band" separated
 into their own
 categories in 2004

Kitty Rose
"Kitty Rose Greatest Hits"

 category begun in 2002

 Mark Weigle
 "Out of the Loop"

 Kastastrophe
 (Rocco Kaiyatos)
 "Let's F*ck, Then Talk
 About My Problems

 category begun in 2003

category begun in 2006

the category encompasses not only spiritual recordings,
but also spoken word, political, etc.

category begun in 2006

category begun in 2006

 begun in 2002

 Grant King

 Amazon Country
  (Debra D'Alessandro)

 Marsha Stevens

 Tim Cain

Junior Vasquez

 Deian McBryde

 Dutchboy

  Maxine Feldman

 Randy Jones

 Gregg Shapiro
 Chicago music journalist
 and radio producer,
 Windy City Radio, and
 Windy City Times

JD Doyle & Gregg Shapiro
at 2003 Outmusic
Awards Party

 Larry Flick
 NYC journalist, critic,
 and radio host. After a
 14-year tenure with
 Billboard Magazine, he
 now co-hosts "OutQ In
 the Morning" on
 Sirius satellite network

 Pamela Smith
 has been involved with
 lesbian music from the
 early seventies, and
 produces and hosts
 Amazon Radio! on
 WPKN in Bridgeport, CT.

Kathy Rieser had been the
host/producer of Out, Loud,
and Queer, WJFF/Radio
Catskill, Jeffersonville, NY
for 10 years. She founded
and produces the annual
Day to be Gay in the
Catskills, celebrating it's
6th year in September 2006.

 Gwen Avery - "Sugar Mama"

 other albums considered that year:
 Grant King - "Bodies of Water"
 Deian McBryde - "Love and Other Distractions"
 Mark Weigle - "All That Matters"

For the 2001 Awards there was a category established to honor excellence
in recordings prior to 2000, with two to be recognized each year. A noble idea,
but it was only done one year. Other albums being considered that year were:

     Grant King, "Let Love Out" 1995
     Deian McBryde, "Mollyboy" 1998
     Patrick Arena, "Night Cap" 1999
     Mark Weigle, "The Truth Is" 1998