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2008 Q Song Awards Winners announced

Queensland 's finest songwriters were uncovered at the 3rd annual Q Song Awards held at The Tivoli in Brisbane's Fortitude Valley.

The state's music community was out in force to celebrate and enthusiastically support Queensland's established and emerging artists as the winners of the 2008 Q Song awards were announced. $25,000 in cash and prizes were presented across 23 categories covering everything from rock and pop to jazz, blues and roots, hip-hop, electronic/dance, alternative, country, ballads, metal, punk, indigenous and world music. The night belonged to both James Grehan who took out 3 awards, Alternative, Regional and the Courier-Mail People's Choice Awards and The Gin Club who also claimed 3 awards, Rock, Folk & Ballad and the Ellaways Song of the year award .

Q Music was thrilled with the response and the high quality of entries from across the state. Judges faced an enormously difficult task with almost 1400 songs entered in Q Song 2008. Each song was judged anonymously (track title only) by a team of dedicated music industry representatives from The Courier-Mail, triple j, ABC, 989 fm, Musicadium, Australian Music Biz, overcranked, Jazz Qld, Ward 69 Records, dew-process, 4zzzfm, QUT and APRA. Judges were once again overwhelmed by the enormous talent of Queensland songwriters and the high quality of entries.
Executive officer Denise Foley said “The quality of entries continues to increase from year to year, and in this, our third year, there were some world class songs entered. It is a huge job to coordinate everyone who participates in both the short listing and final judging process and we really appreciate the efforts of all involved.”
Q Music President Professor Julian Knowles, said the awards were about recognizing excellence in the art of song writing. “Q Song is about more than just rewarding our established songwriters,” he said. “Rather these awards aim to encourage and foster the state's finest new and emerging artists.”

The 2008 Q Song Awards Winners are:

Q Music Primary School Award : $500 cash (Primary School Years 1 – 7)
Woo Woos
Song Title: Love Chime
Writers: Jazz D'Arcy
Website: www.myspace.com/thewoowoosband

Starving Kids Records and The Hive Secondary School Award : recording and performance package valued at $1500. (Secondary School Years 8 – 12)
Jonno Garcia & Shaun Pryor
Song Title: The Boat Song
Writers: Jonno Garcia & Shaun Pryor
Website: www.myspace.com/jonnogarciamusic

Q Music Gospel/Spiritual Award : $1000 cash
Tyrone Noonan
Song Title: The Family Song
Writers: Tyrone Noonan
Website: www.myspace.com/tyronenoonan

Mission Australia Indigenous Award : $1000 cash
Mathew Devitt
Song Title: Power
Writers: Mathew Devitt
Website: www.myspace.com/mattydevitt

ABC Regional Award : $1000 cash
James Grehan
Song Title: Til You Come Home
Writers: James Grehan
Website: www.myspace.com/jamesgrehan

APRA Country Award : $1000 cash
Shari Williams
Song Title: Dusty Boots
Writers: Shari Williams
Website: www.myspace.com/sharicountry

Pinnacles Music Jazz Award : $1000 cash
Misinterprotato
Song Title: Branching Out
Writers: Sean Foran
Website: www.myspace.com/misinterprotato

Australian Music Biz Hip Hop Award : $1000 cash
Common Ground
Song Title: Common Ground
Writers: Contact Crew
Website: www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqHUSg0iqtg

EMI Blues and Roots Award : $1000 cash
8 Ball Aitken
Song Title: Yellow Moon
Writers: 8 Ball Aitken
Website: www.myspace.com/8ballaitken

BEMAC World Music Award: $1000 cash
Tibet2Timbuk2
Song Title: Crane Song
Writers: Tenzin Choegyal
Website: www.tibet2timbuk2.com

Nightlife Music and Video Pop Award : $1000 cash
The John Steel Singers
Song Title: Strawberry Wine
Writers: Scott Bromiley / Tim Morrissey
Website: www.myspace.com/thejohnsteelsingers

4zzzFM Punk/ Metal Award : $1000 cash
Torn Asunder
Song Title: Dearly Beloved
Writers: Torn Asunder
Website: www.myspace.com/tornasundermetal

IJS Alternative Award : $1000 cash
James Grehan
Song Title: Til You Come Home
Writers: James Grehan
Website: www.myspace.com/jamesgrehan

Sony BMG Rock Award : $1000 cash
The Gin Club
Song Title: Ten Paces Away
Writers: Ben Salter
Website: www.myspace.com/theginclub

Musicadium New Music/Experimental Award : $1000 cash
Lawrence English
Song Title: Watching It Unfold
Writers: Lawrence English
Website: www.myspace.com/room40

Folk/Ballad Award: $1000 cash
The Gin Club
Song Title: You, Me and The Sea
Writers: Ben Salter
Website: www.myspace.com/theginclub

The following were also winners of the genre categories:

Q Music and Applewoods Encouragement Award
Steve Grady
Song Title: Maybe We've Met Before
Writers: Steve Grady
Website: www.myspace.com/stevegradymusic

The Courier-Mail People's Choice Award
James Grehan
Song Title : Til You Come Home
Writers : James Grehan
Website: www.myspace.com/jamesgrehan

The Grant McLennan Lifetime Achievement Award
Mike Chapman

Published Song of the Year
Writers : Robert Forster
Song Title : From Ghost Town

Ellaways Song of the Year
The Gin Club
Song Title: Ten Paces Away
Writers: Ben Salter
Website: www.myspace.com/theginclub

The Billy Thorpe Scholarship Award!
The Billy Thorpe Scholarship Award was presented to Michael Gavriel Rose.
Arts Minister Rod Welford congratulated Brisbane guitarist Michael Gavriel on winning the inaugural $10,000 scholarship at the Q Song Awards.
"Michael's passion and commitment to music appealed to the selection panel, made up of Billy's family members, including wife Lynne and daughters Lauren and Rusty, and Billy Thorpe's long-term managers Amanda Pelman and Michael Chugg."
The annual Billy Thorpe Scholarship, administered by Arts Queensland, provides a structured range of support for an emerging musician to establish their professional career through career planning and the opportunity to record with a local producer. . More Info

Q Song 2008 is a statewide search for our best and most innovative songwriters and this year's Q Song event is again shaping up to be the largest songwriting awards ceremony of its kind in Queensland and is proudly supported by Q Music, The Courier-Mail, 612 ABC Brisbane, ABC Local Radio Queensland and all of the above award category sponsors.

Browse and listen to all the finalists and winners songs here