Sound Check is the Globe’s weekly guide to concerts, tunes, and trends rooted in Boston and beyond. This column covers Dec. 6-12.
When Noah Kahan was tightening his newfound grip on folk-pop last year, the Vermont-born singer doled out a second helping of his 2022 album “Stick Season,” releasing an extended edition called “Stick Season (We’ll All Be Here Forever).” This past July, he rolled the momentum into a pair of sold-out Fenway Park performances. And this Wednesday at Big Night Live, Kahan might just double down again and take home his second “Artist of the Year” win at the Boston Music Awards.
The Watertown resident joined the ranks of previous “Artist of the Year” winners like Aerosmith, Bobby Brown, and Dropkick Murphys when the Kahan craze swept the 2023 ceremony; he also nabbed the evening’s top honor and the awards for the song, album/EP, and folk artist categories. In the months since, Kahan’s fanbase has only swelled, with the title track of “Stick Season” surpassing one billion streams over the summer.
But those 10-digit streaming stats don’t guarantee the coveted title a second time at Wednesday’s ceremony, where the winner of “Artist of the Year” — plus 46 other categories — will be revealed. While the categories for the year’s best song and album/EP are split by the milestone of one million streams, largely separating releases from record labels and self-distributed projects, the artist category is anyone’s game. The tight race offers a soundtrack of the city’s most momentous folk (Kahan, Alisa Amador), rock (Dinosaur Jr.’s J Mascis, Horse Jumper of Love), hip-hop (BIA, Cousin Stizz, Millyz), pop (Clairo, Frances Forever), and reggae (The Elovaters).
Depending on who you ask, that’s the beauty of the awards; the guy who got “Dial Drunk” stuck in everyone’s heads no fewer than a dozen times this year is up for the same distinction as artists more subtly repping Boston through national — if not global — platforms and collaborations.
In addition to releasing his July record “GABOS (Game Ain’t Based on Sympathy),” Cousin Stizz recently helped curate and develop the locally-focused Commonwealth Festival, providing a new stage for the next generation of Boston’s hip-hop artists. Frances Forever nudged Boston bedroom pop into the national conversation, releasing their debut LP “Lockjaw” via the New York record label Mom + Pop (also home to Courtney Barnett, MGMT, and Tegan and Sara). New work from BIA and Millyz brought collaborations with Meek Mill, Lil Yachty, and JID, while The Elovators and Horse Jumper of Love spread material from their new records “Endless Summer (Deluxe)” and “Disaster Trick” on tours across Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.
As the public and nomination committee cast their votes this fall, their choices for “Artist of the Year” largely boil down to how each individual defines impact.
“It helps to think of these nominations as a community building tool — to help musicians connect with audiences, fans, and with other local artists,” says nominee Alisa Amador.
Amador gained national recognition in 2022 for becoming the first musician to win NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest with a Spanish language song, and released her much-anticipated debut LP “Multitudes” in June. Looking ahead to Wednesday, the independent folk artist sees the ceremony as its own form of impact, regardless of who she’s competing against or whether she takes home any hardware.
“In this digital age, live music is one of the last gathering places we have left, especially in the hardworking, fast-paced culture of Boston,” she notes. “I’m grateful to be a part of this community-building work.”
GIG GUIDE
The House of Blues echoes with hip-hop history this weekend, with Wu-Tang Clan members Ghostface Killah, RZA, and Raekwon visiting on Saturday to honor the (almost) 30th anniversaries of GZA’s album “Liquid Swords” and Raekwon’s record “Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…” New Orleans emcee Juvenile continues the trend on Sunday with a show celebrating the upcoming 25th anniversary of his 1998 release “400 Degreez.”
On Saturday, Aimee Mann and Ted Leo bring their Christmas tour to the Cabot in Beverly; Mann has hosted holiday variety shows since 2006, the same year she released her Christmas album “One More Drifter in the Snow.”
Passim greets the holiday season with a bilingual celebration from Cambridge’s Latin roots group Sol y Canto on Saturday, followed by banjo-based renditions of holiday classics from bluegrass artist Tony Trischka on Wednesday.
This week offers a few chances to catch legendary names in their element; Motown pioneer and R&B icon Smokey Robinson heads to the Boch Center Wang Theatre on Saturday [Note: This gig is now listed as postponed, but the venue urges attendees to hold onto their tickets for a rescheduled date.], while The Monkees vocalist and drummer Micky Dolenz hosts back-to-back appearances at City Winery on Sunday. A joint tour from The Temptations and The Four Tops also heads to the Chevalier on Wednesday – although between the two groups, the only remaining original member is Temptations singer Otis Williams.
New Jersey ska punks Streetlight Manifesto wrap their “Myth of Monsters” tour at Roadrunner on Sunday with Boston rock stalwarts Rebuilder. Austin’s The Jesus Lizard — who this September released “Rack,” their first studio album in roughly 25 years — tap additional alt-rock from Boston act Pile for their appearance at the venue on Thursday.
On Monday, Joyce Manor toast 10 years since their jaunty album “Never Hungover Again” at Royale, where fans can grab a limited 7” of the record’s early demos. Producer and DJ LP Giobbi remixes everything from Taylor Swift to The Grateful Dead on Tuesday, weaving in tunes from her sophomore record “Dotr.”
NOW SPINNING
Lauren Mayberry, “Vicious Creature.” Lauren Mayberry’s crystalline vocals in CHVRCHES helped define the early 2010s, and the Scottish singer reprises her role as a synth-pop tastemaker with her debut solo LP. “Vicious Creature” is Mayberry’s mode of rejecting a media-assigned “girl in a band” purgatory, hacking through the label with punchy synths and razor-sharp wit.
White Denim, “12.” Austin’s White Denim roll into their 12th studio album like a breeze, merging sprightly funk and soft rock. “12” wriggles through infectious grooves that belie the record’s more serious lyricism — hidden-in-plain-sight themes of death, uncertainty, and the internet’s pervasive cynicism — while conveying a sun-dappled path forward.
Dua Lipa, “Dua Lipa Live from the Royal Albert Hall.” The optimist in me hopes this will be Dua Lipa’s best-remembered release of the year — especially considering that her May LP, “Radical Optimism,” inevitably paled in comparison to the seismic success of 2020’s “Future Nostalgia.” The pop star’s first live record, captured at the historic London venue in October, masterfully reworks Lipa’s catalog with assistance from the 53-piece Heritage Orchestra and a 14-person choir.
BONUS TRACK
Giving Thursday is the new giving Tuesday. Crystal Ballroom hosts “Let’s Rock Cancer!” on Thursday to raise money for Dana-Farber’s Cancer Care Equity Program. Area bands such as The Chelsea Curve, Vapors of Morphine, and the Ray Liriano Experience will perform for the second annual fund-raiser; tickets and merch packages start at $25.
Victoria Wasylak can be reached at vmwasylak@gmail.com. Follow her on X @VickiWasylak.