Here are your Best of Halifax 2024 winners for Music

Joel Plaskett’s brimming trophy cabinet just got a little fuller. In his 30 years of recording music, the Lunenburg-born rock troubadour has amassed a slew of honours, from East Coast Music Awards to Juno and Polaris Prize nominations to Best of Halifax gold awards. But this year marks a first for the 49-year-old who now calls Dartmouth home: He’s joining the BOH Hall of Fame. (More on that in the New Year.) Plaskett’s tenth gold for Best Songwriter—as voted by you, our dear readers—makes him the first musician in any category to join The Coast’s hallowed halls. How’s that for a lifetime achievement?

Plaskett is far from the only big winner in this year’s Best of Halifax Awards. This year saw some of Halifax’s biggest names add to their BOH haul, from the Mellotones—who won three golds, for Best Cover Artist/Band, Best Jazz Artist/Band and Best R&B Artist/Band—to Matt Mays—who won his fourth straight in the Best Rock Artist/Band category—to Classified—who picked up his seventh gold for Best Hip Hop Artist/Band.

It was also a big year for debutants, including Dartmouth singer-songwriter Michelle Ryder—who, with her band Side Hustle, won gold for Best New Band, along with three bronze awards and a trio of other honourable mentions—and Skunk Motel—the “loud as frig, messy as hell” grunge rockers who vaulted from bronze-winners in 2023’s Best Punk Artist/Band category to first-time gold recipients in 2024.

Check out all the Music winners below. Want early access to all the Best of Halifax winners, from Food + Drink to Public Life and Shopping + Services? Become a Coast Insider today, and you’ll be the first in the city to know.

BEST BAND
🥇 Wintersleep
🥈 The Town Heroes
🥉 Michelle Ryder and Side Hustle

BEST BLUES ARTIST / BAND
🥇 Matt Andersen
🥈 Garrett Mason
🥉 Charlie A’Court

BEST COMMUNITY CHOIR
🥇 Halifax Gay Men’s Chorus
🥈 Out Loud Queer Choir
🥉 Polaris

BEST COUNTRY ARTIST / BAND
🥇 Willie Stratton
🥈 Brooklyn Blackmore
🥉 Taylor Jensen

BEST COVER ARTIST / BAND
🥇 The Mellotones
🥈 The East Enders
🥉 Michelle Ryder and Side Hustle

BEST DJ
🥇 KittyBass
🥈 DJ IV
🥉 Aftertouch

BEST ELECTRONIC ARTIST / BAND
🥇 Neon Dreams
🥈 KittyBass
🥉 ENOGEN

BEST FOLK ARTIST / BAND
🥇 Joel Plaskett
🥈 Adam Baldwin
🥉 Jenn Grant

BEST HIP HOP ARTIST / BAND
🥇 Classified
🥈 Aquakultre
🥉 Kayo

BEST JAZZ ARTIST / BAND
🥇 The Mellotones
🥈 Jeff Goodspeed
🥉 Laura Gallant

BEST MUSIC VIDEO
🥇 Adam Baldwin, “Lighthouse in Little Loraine”
🥈 The Town Heroes, “Hockey Fights”
🥉 Brooklyn Blackmore, “Been There Too”

BEST NEW ARTIST / BAND
🥇 Michelle Ryder and Side Hustle
🥈 Montgomery Night
🥉 Alexander Gallant

BEST POP ARTIST / BAND
🥇 Neon Dreams
🥈 Ria Mae
🥉 Good Dear Good

BEST PUNK ARTIST / BAND
🥇 Skunk Motel
🥈 Like a Motorcycle
🥉 Bologna Colorado

BEST R&B ARTIST / BAND
🥇 The Mellotones
🥈 Jah’mila
🥉 Aquakulture

BEST ROCK ARTIST / BAND
🥇 Matt Mays
🥈 Adam Baldwin
🥉 The Town Heroes

BEST SOLO ARTIST
🥇 Matt Mays
🥈 Adam Baldwin
🥉 Brooklyn Blackmore

BEST SONGWRITER
🥇 Joel Plaskett
🥈 Adam Baldwin
🥉 Michelle Ryder

Related Stories

Here are your Best of Halifax 2024 winners for Shopping + Services

We asked, you answered—from Halifax’s best barbers and hairstylists, to the best record stores, clothing stores, bookstores and more in town.

Halifax-born pop artist re-emerges with new single, music video

Naomi Shobha, who previously performed under her last name, is taking another shot at being a singer-songwriter.

Here are your Best of Halifax 2024 winners for Public Life

From your favourite athletes and celebrities to the Best Bus Driver in the city, here are your picks for our annual readers’ choice awards.

Here are your Best of Halifax 2024 winners for Arts + Culture

The top artists, actors, comedians, books and more—this is what you picked for our annual readers’ choice awards.

This article appears in Nov 7-30, 2024.