ARIA Awards 2017
via Scenestr Magazine // scenestr.com.au
The 2017 ARIA Awards were held at Sydney Star Event Centre (Tue 28 Nov), capping off an extraordinary year for the Australian music industry and showcasing the talent and diversity of this year’s nominees.
Big winners for the evening were Gang Of Youths, who took out three awards for Album Of The Year, Best Group and Best Rock Album, cementing them as one of the country’s top rock acts.
True blue Aussie singer-songwriter Paul Kelly earned himself two ARIAs, winning Best Male Artist and Best Adult Contemporary Album for his ‘Life Is Fine’ record. Paul also did a live rendition of his classic ‘Dumb Things’ accompanied by nominee Dan Sultan and hip hop duo AB Original, who pieced up the Best Independent Release and Best Urban Release for their ‘Reclaim Australia’ album.
Amy Shark charmed audiences with a performance of her gorgeous 2x platinum, chart-topping single ‘Adore’. After just twelve months since Amy burst onto the Australian music scene, she solidified her place at the top, taking home ARIA Awards for Best Pop Release and Breakthrough Artist for her EP ‘Night Thinker’.
There were also performances from Harry Styles, winner of the Best Interational Artists award and New Zealand pop queen Lorde who performed ‘Green Light’.
High honours were reserved for Daryl Braithwaite who was inducted into the ARIA Hall Of Fame by Jimmy Barnes, and was joined on-stage by Vera Blue to perform his classic ‘Horses’.
Tributes were of course in order, namely for the recently departed AC/DC rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young who passed on 18 November and his older brother George who was the band’s producer and passed back in October. Jimmy Barnes led a clan of Aussie musicians in a powerhouse performance of ‘High Voltage’.
This year was also the first time the ARIAs recognised the work of the nation’s music teachers in encouraging and supporting music education, naming Renee McCarthy from Woodcroft College in South Australia as the inaugural ARIA Music Teacher Of The Year award.
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2017 ARIA Award Winners
Apple Music Album Of The Year
Gang Of Youths ‘Go Farther In Lightness’
Best Group
Gang Of Youths
Best Male Artist
Paul Kelly
Best Female Artist
Sia ‘The Greatest (ft. Kendrick Lamar)’
Best Rock Album
Gang Of Youths ‘Go Farther In Lightness’
Best Adult Contemporary Album
Paul Kelly ‘Life Is Fine’
Best Independent Release
AB Original ‘Reclaim Australia’
Best Urban Release
AB Original ‘Reclaim Australia’
Best Pop Release
Amy Shark ‘Night Thinker’
Breakthrough Artist
Amy Shark
Best Australian Live Act
Illy
Best Video
Bliss N Eso ‘Moments (ft Gavin James)’
Best Dance Release
PNAU ‘Chameleon’
Apple Music Song Of The Year
Peking Duk ‘Stranger (ft. Elliphant)’
Best International Artist
Harry Styles
Music Teacher Of The Year
Renee McCarthy (Woodcroft College, South Australia)
Best Country Album
Kasey Chambers ‘Dragonfly’
Best Hard Rock/Heavy Album
Northlane ‘Mesmer’
Best Blues & Roots Album
All Our Exes Live In Texas ‘When We Fall’
Best Children’s Album
Jimmy Barnes ‘Och Aye The G’Nu!’
2017 Artisan Awards
Producer Of The Year
Gang Of Youths and Adrian Breakspear ‘Go Farther In The Lightness’
Engineer Of The Year
Steve Schram for Paul Kelly ‘Life Is Fine’
Best Cover Art
Peter Salmon-Lomas for Paul Kelly ‘Life Is Fine’
2017 ARIA Fine Arts Awards
Best Classical Album
Slava Grigoryan ‘Bach: Cello Suites Volume I’
Best Jazz Album
James Morrison, BBC Concert Orchestra, Keith Lockhart, Harry Morrison and William Morrision ‘The Great American Songbook’
Best Original Soundtrack/Cast/Show/Album
Migel Westlake & Sydney Symphony Orchestra, with Jospeh Tawadros, Slava Grigoryan and Lior ‘Ali’s Wedding’
Best World Music Album
Katie Nnonan and Karin Schaupp ‘Songs Of The Latin Skies’
Best Comedy Release
John Clarke ‘Clarke Classics’