Claydon Connor
Best of British? You Decide
Claydon Connor currently based on The Isle of Wight has beaten thousands of other acts to once again be named in the UK’s top ten Unsigned musicians.
Claydon has been nominated in the Best Male category at the 2015 Unsigned Music Awards (UMAs).
Launched in 2012 the awards have seen more than 23,000 music fans cast their vote including celebrities such as folk star Frank Turner and International footballer Gareth Bale.
2015 has seen Claydon continue to firmly establish himself on the UK Country scene, his most recent run of dates took him North for Cottingham Folk Festival with a line up featuring big UK names, The shires and Ward Thomas, followed by shows in Manchester, Leicester and London finishing back home on the Island in time for Bestival. 2016 is looking to be just as good with a new album and a return trip to Nashville planned.
“2015 has been quite a year for me, I’ve played some great shows including C2C and the Isle Of Wight Festival, and the trip to Nashville was really inspiring. Being nominated for this award again this year means the world to me.. I’m really honoured. ”
Other categories include Best Band, Best Female, and Best Song, the latter previously won by Molly Smitten-Downes, who went on to represent the UK at the Eurovision Song Content.
The awards are hosted by Best of British Unsigned (BoB Unsigned) and will crown each winner using an online public vote.
BoB Unsigned is the UK’s number one website for ‘Unsigned Music’ and supplies a weekly radio show to 70FM stations in 15 countries.
Matt Graveling, BoB founder said: “The UK produces the best musicians in the world and we get to play them before anyone else! The UMAs are the much needed recognition that these musicians need in order to realise just how good they are”.
2015 will see the introduction of a fifth award ‘The Critic’s Choice’, Claydon is hoping his sound impresses a panel of three industry experts.
This year’s judges are: Huey Morgan, Fun Lovin’ Criminals front man and presenter for BBC 6 Music, Max Helyer, guitarist for rock band You Me at Six and staff at the music magazine ‘Q’
Max Helyer said: ” New music is the lifeblood of our industry and being the first to see the stars of tomorrow is something all true music fans are passionate about!”
Huey Morgan said: “If those of us who have jumped into the deep end don’t report back to the next generation what we have experienced, we would be remiss in our endeavor.”
This year’s awards are sponsored by Richer Unsigned, another platform supporting upcoming musicians, created by Julian Richer, the founder of the UK’s biggest Hi-Fi retailer Richer Sounds.
Julian said: “As my original success was built on selling hi-fi’s – which would be worthless without musicians, I wanted to give something back. I created Richer Unsigned to help developing talent get the exposure and recognition it deserves”.
The vote for Best Unsigned Male 2015 takes place at www.bobunsigned.com between:
BEST UNSIGNED MALE: Monday 19th October- Sunday 25th October
