Shawna Russell Nominated for Top ‘Country Album’ by 11th Annual Independent Music Awards
NASHVILLE, TN (March 12, 2012)– Way Out West Records’ artist Shawna Russell has been nominated by the 11th Annual Independent Music Awards in the ‘Country Album’ category for her self-titled sophomore album.
This is the second IMA nomination for Russell. Her debut album, Goddess, was nominated in the same category in 2008.
More than 300 exceptional self-released and independent label artists, as well as former major label acts were named by Music Resource Group (MRG) recently as Nominees in The 11th Annual Independent Music Awards (The IMAs), the influential awards program for independent bands and fans. IMA winners will be promoted to more than 50 million music fans worldwide.
The 11th IMA Nominees are an eclectic mix of established artists and artists on the rise. In addition to
Russell, other nominees include
Bruce Cockburn (Folk/Singer-Songwriter Album),
Ellis Marsalis (Concept Album and Cover Song),
Larry Carlton (Tribute Album),
April Verch (Americana Album and Acoustic Song),
RuPaul (Social Action Song), and retro-rock recording artist
JD McPherson (Rock/Hard Rock Album), among others.
Representing the broad spectrum of today’s global independent music scene, the Nominees in over 70 Song, Album, Music Video and Design categories were culled from thousands of submissions from North America, South America, Asia, Africa, Australia and Europe.
Winners will be determined by a panel of 77 influential artist and industry judges including Keith Richards, Tom Waits, Kathleen Brennan, Suzanne Vega, Joshua Redman, Tori Amos, Michael Franti, Bettye LaVette, Del McCoury,
Ozzy Osbourne, Shelby Lynne, Alan Light (Live From The Artists Den),
Kevin Lyman (Warped Tour), Bill Bragin (Lincoln Center), Sara Beesley (Joe’s Pub), Chris Diaz (Knitting Factory Entertainment), and Evan Schlansky (American Songwriter) and will be announced in April, 2012. In addition to industry-determined winners, music fans from around the world have until Friday, July 20, 2012 to cast their votes for Russell and other nominees at The IMA Vox Pop Jukebox to determine the fan-selected IMA Winners.
Russell’s latest single, “Waitin’ On Sunrise” is currently #37 on the MusicRow chart. She is currently filming a reality television series tentatively titled “Small Bus, Big Country,” which documents her life as a working female artist who travels the country in a tour bus once owned by musical icon, Willie Nelson. The series is being developed by CRM Studios of Dallas, Texas.
*Photo credit: Melinda Norris
About the IMAs:
Celebrating the democracy of creativity and meritocracy of talent, The Independent Music Awards honor exceptional independent artists.
For the past 11 years, artists and labels from around the world have found new fans and prominence through The Independent Music Awards. Produced by Music Resource Group, publisher of the popular industry networking database The Musician’s Atlas, and producers of the webTV series, Grooveable Feast, The IMAs uses its unrivaled access to performance, promotion & distribution opportunities to connect Winners and Nominees to new audiences and revenue opportunities.
Winners of The 11th IMAs will receive active promotions, distribution and performance opportunities that will place them in front of 50 million music fans. Artists, managers and labels credit The IMAs with increasing recognition among music fans and industry gatekeepers.
About Shawna Russell:
Shawna Russell released her self-titled sophomore album on Way Out West Records in June 2011. Co-produced by Julian King (Grammy-winning engineer for Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Toby Keith), along with Clif Doyal & Tim Russell, ‘SHAWNA RUSSELL’ has won critical praise from Billboard.com, Roughstock, Maverick, Music News Nashville, Today’s Country, CountryChart.com and the Oklahoma Gazette, among others. Russell wrote – or co-wrote – the 10 songs on the project. She is currently promoting the album’s second single “Waitin’ On Sunrise.” In addition to the project’s first single and video “Get Right Or Get Left,” Russell released two singles in Europe in 2011, including “Sounds Like A Party” which climbed to #3 on the Hotdisc chart and “Everybody’s Got A Story” which held down the #1 spot for two weeks in a row on the New Christian Music Charts in September.
In addition to writing, recording and performing, Russell is also a co-owner of her Nashville-based label, Way Out West Records, who recently signed up-and-coming Country band LiveWire.
Russell first came on to the national and international music scene with the release of her debut album, ‘GODDESS’ in 2008. Critical acclaim followed: the CMA named her “Who New to Watch,” and top music critics weighed in with praise for her debut. Chris Neal of COUNTRY WEEKLY gave ‘GODDESS’ a 3 ½ star review, MUSIC ROW’s Robert K. Oermann bestowed a “DISCovery Award,” his highest compliment to a new artist, and rave reviews followed from CMA CLOSE UP, MAVERICK (UK), NASHVILLE MUSIC GUIDE, DREAMWEST (France), THE OKLAHOMAN, MUSIC NEWS NASHVILLE, COUNTRY STARS ONLINE and others. Three radio singles from the album including “Goddess,” “Should’ve Been Born With Wheels” and “Fire In The Desert” cemented her status as a contender, with action on the Billboard “New and Active,’ MusicRow and Texas Music Charts. Russell’s debut video “Should’ve Been Born With Wheels” reached the #1 position on the “Ya’llturnative” chart at Ya’ll Wire.com and stayed there for over a month and also attracted fans at CMT.com, AFN, GAC.com (debuted at #3 as a “Top Pick”) and on Pulse Network Television (“Top 20 Country Chart” for 3 months).
