17th Annual Boston Music Awards Set For September 29

(CelebrityAccess MediaWire)-
The 17th Annual Boston Music
Awards (BMA), one of the country's most prestigious annual music events, will be held on September 29 at the Avalon Ballroom in Boston. Award presentations will honor the region's top musicians from a variety of musical genres in 29 categories.

The 2004 BMA's features many firsts, including a charitable fundraiser and new show format. All fundraising proceeds will benefit the NEMO Foundation, a nonprofit organization that funds grass roots youth music education programs throughout New England. Current beneficiaries of the NEMO
foundation include the Berklee College City Music Program and the Wang
Center's Young at Arts Fund.

The new show format features an hour-long, invitation-only awards program that

includes the first-ever induction's into the New England Music Hall of Fame, which is dedicated to honoring outstanding individuals in the music industry that have ties to the New England region. The awards ceremony will be followed by a two-hour live musical performance program featuring some of the area's top recording artists and BMA nominees. A limited number of tickets will be available to the general public.

"This year's roster of nominees is one of the most talented and diverse
groups of musicians the BMAs has honored in its 17-year history," said Chip
Rives, chief executive officer of The Boston Music Awards & NEMO Music
Conference. "We are thrilled to honor this group of gifted performers while
at the same time using the event as a vehicle to fund programs that are
helping to develop the music stars of tomorrow."

Topping the 2004 nominations are the Dresden Dolls with five nominations
including best local rock/pop band and best live act, and Aerosmith,
Dropkick Murphys, Fountains of Wayne, Godsmack, Guster, Howie Day and
Mission of Burma, each with four nominations. The nominees who earned three
nods include: Dear Leader, Jake Brennan and the Confidence Men, Josh Ritter,
Read Yellow and The Gentleman.

Past awards ceremonies have included performances and appearances by
Aerosmith, Bobby Brown, Boston, The Cars, Paula Cole, Extreme, Godsmack, Pat
Metheny, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Morphine, New Edition, New Kids On The
Block, Phish, Carly Simon, Donna Summer and James Taylor.

This year's event sponsors include The Boston Herald, Ernie Boch Jr.,
Hypnotik, Meyer Sound, the Miller Brewing Company, Newbury Comics, Starbucks and Pepsi. Media partners include: WAAF-FM; WBCN-FM; WBOS-FM; KISS 108; JAMN-FM; Improper Bostonian; Nimbit, and The River.–Bob Grossweiner and Jan Cohen