Winner – Joshua Burnside

Album - Ephrata

Twelve albums were shortlisted for the Northern Ireland Music Prize In Association With Blue Moon 2017. Performances on the night came from Robocobra Quartet, Joshua Burnside and Arborist.

Joshua Burnside won the Northern Ireland Music Prize 2017. He was presented with the award at a special event on Saturday, November 11th at the Mandela Hall, Belfast. The singer songwriter’s debut album, ‘Ephrata’ was selected as the best release by a selection of music industry and media figures.

The NI Music Prize In Association With Blue Moon is produced by the Oh Yeah music centre, Belfast’s dedicated music hub, and is also supported by The Arts Council of Northern Ireland and PPL. The event is the culmination of a ten-day celebration of gigs, showcases, workshops and community events called Sound of Belfast.

Charlotte Dryden, of Oh Yeah said: “ It’s brilliant that a debut record can pick up the award. Joshua’s rise over the last year has been astounding and this album is an inspired piece of work full of influences from as far as Columbia, Eastern Europe and North America. Massive congratulations to Joshua on winning, and to his manager Lyndon Stephens and Champion Sound on two successful years in a row. Well done also to all the nominees, it was a brilliant shortlist. It makes you proud to be from Northern Ireland.”

Joshua Burnside has had a busy year clocking up two million plays on Spotify, with two sell out London shows, appearances at International festivals including Reeperbahn and The Great Escape. He has also had extensive radio play and support from the likes of Guy Garvey, Tom Robinson, Tom Ravenscroft, Lauren Laverne, Huw Stephens and Phil Taggart. He releases a deluxe edition of his album this coming Friday.