The nominees have been announced for the Boston Music Awards and it did not take long for fans and critics alike to decry many of the nominations. Most of the contention seems to be centered around the bigger names. No matter what your opinion, any event that shines light onto Boston music and artists is a good thing. We were preparing an article to discuss this when we stumbled upon Richard Bouchard‘s facebook post. We cannot say it any better than he did, so, with permission, we are reposting his thoughts here:

“Here’s my extremely long winded defense of the Boston Music Awards:

I enjoy the BMAs. I think it’s a fun night out where we get to dress up, go to a place we normally don’t, get fun drunk, see some bands, get our pictures taken, get kicked out for cramming 37 people into Michael Marotta‘s room, etc.

I completely understand that the nominations are bound to annoy some people. There are a lot that I agree with, and there are a lot that I don’t, either because in my opinion there is a name that’s more deserving, or because I feel that the act that was nominated doesn’t deserve it for whatever reason. Here’s an example: I hate the Dropkick Murphys. I can’t stand them, I think they’re a one trick pony and they’re not what Boston should be exporting to the world as representative of the music here, but I don’t get to make that choice. As much as you may agree with me, they’re a popular band who sell out every show they play here. People drive in from the suburbs to see them, as crazy as I think that is. I have friends that enjoy them, and I understand that there will be people who passionately love things that I hate, and I’ve learned to be ok with that. So there is a case to be made for nominating them. I can also make great cases for people who I think should have been recognized, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think there weren’t glaring omissions, but I also know that the bands I’d have liked to see nominated might not even be on your radar, or even if they are, they might be bands you hate for whatever reason, because this is all subjective.

What really bums me out is the instant negativity. Complaining that the nominators are out of touch may be valid from your point of view, I don’t really know, but I cringe when I see those statements because I think it’s a pretty big slap in the face to the people who were actually nominated. “The BMAs are stupid and don’t know what they’re talking about…oh, except for you, friend in a band that I like who was nominated, they got it right in your case, but the rest is crap.” It’s not like Jake Brennan and whoever else works with him to put this thing on is sitting in a dark cave, writing the nominees on a parchment in Ernie Boch Jr.’s blood or anything, they ask a lot of people for input. If you think that the people they ask are “the old guard” and they need to be asking for nominations from newer or younger people, then do something about it. I’ve been asked for nominations the last few years, it’s not some secret club I had to join, I wrote about music every day for a long time, got noticed, and they reached out. That’s not to say that if someone doesn’t get noticed by the organizers that they’re not doing good work, but it’s how it worked for me. I haven’t talked to them about it, but I’m sure if the only time of year they see you voicing an opinion is to complain, I doubt they’ll be clamoring to ask for your thoughts.

In the end, it’s far from perfect, but at least it’s an attempt to get people who have heard of Dropkicks and Amanda Palmer and Aerosmith but may not be paying attention to the shows playing at Radio and TT’s and the Middle East every week to start looking at the bands that are here all the time. I don’t think that can possibly hurt.”

– Richard Bouchard of TT the Bear’s Place, Inc.