The 2026 Wisconsin Area Music Industry (WAMI) Awards Show was held last Sunday at the Atwood Music Hall in Madison. The 46th annual shindig featured performances from Hall Of Fame inductees (and Wisconsin natives) Skylar Grey and Jane Wiedlin. It also featured oodles of awards, from Performer of the Year (’80s party-rock cover band Rising Phoenix) to Cover Band/Act of the year (’80s party-rock cover band Rising Phoenix).

Here’s a complete list of winners. Congrats to everyone, especially Milwaukee folks like the Altered Five Blues Band (R.I.P. JT), Paul Cebar (his new album rules), Radio Milwaukee’s Erin Wolf (she’s the best), and Xposed 4Heads (hi Mark!)

Oh, and Milwaukee Record lost in the People’s Choice “Website” category to the website for ’90s cover band That ’90s Band. Oh well, whatever, never mind.

HALL OF FAME

Skylar Grey
Jane Wiedlin
Yolanda “LaLa” Brown

WALL OF HONOR

Neil Hawes
Anne Katz

OVERALL AWARDS

Album of the Year — Cosmic Hit And Run — The Mascot Theory
Artist of the Year — Angel Salinas
Instrumentalist of the Year — Dave Ciccantelli (Piano)
Performer of the Year — Rising Phoenix
Song of the Year — “My Every Thought” — Angel Salinas

ALBUMS
Country/Folk/Blues Album — Make Country Sad Again — Eric Hagen
Pop/R&B/Electronic/Rap Album — Anytime — The Gin and Sonics
Rock Album — Waiting On The Weather — Tom Thiel
Unique/Spoken Word/Classical/New Age/World Album — A Chick Singer Night Christmas — Alaria Taylor

VOCALS
Ensemble Vocals — Kat and the Hurricane
Female Vocalist — Carmen Nickerson
Male Vocalist — Dennis Peters

SONGS
Blues/Jazz Song — “I Got It Good” — Altered Five Blues Band
Classical/Latin/New Age/Unique/World Song — “The Strength Of America” — Jerry Grillo
Country Song — “My Every Thought” — Angel Salinas
Folk Song — “Disappointed Not Surprised” — Kathy Mancl
Pop Song — “Give Up And Cry” — Paige Kleber
R&B/Rap/Electronic Song — “Anytime” — The Gin and Sonics
Rock Song — “Pawn Shops And Liquor Stores” — Tom Thiel

VIDEO
Video of the Year — “I Got It Good” — Altered Five Blues Band

INSTRUMENTS
Acoustic Guitar — Sam Ness
Banjo — Jon Peik
Bass Guitar — Eric Madunic
Drum Kit — Chris Sandoval
Electric Guitar — Dennis Shepherd
Free Reed — Kate Voss
Hand Percussion — Amanda James
Harmonica — Westside Andy
Mandolin — Ernest Brusubardis IV
Orchestral Bass — Andy Mertens
Orchestral Brass — David Jerabek
Orchestral Strings — Thea Vorass
Orchestral/Specialty Woodwinds — Lauren Sperry
Organ — Jimmy Voegeli
Piano — Dave Adler
Saxophone — Matt Ostlund
Specialty Percussion — Tommy Mattioli
Specialty Strings — Mojo Perry
Synthesizers — Josh Becker
Trombone — Mike Clobes
Trumpet — Kurt Shipe
Turntables/Decks — Derill Pounds
Violin — Gina Wood

PEOPLE’S CHOICE & INDUSTRY
CD/LP Artwork — Cosmic Hit And Run — The Mascot Theory
DJ — Kayla Kush
Fan Award — Ed “Fast Eddie” Bailey
Media — Wisconsin Music Ventures
Music Benefactor — Matt Miller (Posthumously)
Music Teacher — Lo Marie
On-Air Personality — Erin Wolf
Photographer — Teach Photography / Brian Netterfield
Podcast — Into the Music Podcast
Radio Station — 91.1 The Avenue
Record Store — Mad City Music
Instrument Store — Cream City Music
Instrument Repair — Wade’s Guitar Shop
Website — That ’90s Band

MUSIC VENUES
Music Venue – Club — High Noon Saloon
Music Venue – Concert Hall — Fox Cities Performing Arts Center
Music Venue – Festival — Mile of Music Festival

NRCT / SPECIALTY
Cover Band/Act — Rising Phoenix
New Artist — Todd Ashbeck’s Rising Star
Rising Star — Take Back The Sun
Tribute Band/Act — Steely Dane

PERFORMER CATEGORIES
Blues — The Jimmys
Blues Rock — Altered Five Blues Band
Classical & New Age — Oconomowoc Chamber Orchestra
Country — The Whiskeybelles
Country Americana & Traditional — Chicken Wire Empire
Country Rock & Alternative — Grand Union
Electronic — Kierszhmeister
Faith Based — Untapped Potential
Folk — The Belle Weather
Folk Americana — The Brothers Gunn
Folk Rock & Alternative — Girl & The Gunn
Jazz — Kelvin Kaspar
Jazz Classic — The Hot & Dirty Brass Band
Jazz Contemporary — Son Reis Project
Pop — Xposed 4Heads
Pop Rock & Alternative — Road-Trip
R&B — Stephen Cooper and The Nobody Famous
R&B Funk & Soul — People Brothers Band
Rap — Marcus Porter
Rap Hip-Hop — Bad Year
Rock — FBI and The Untouchable Horns
Rock Alternative — Kat and the Hurricane
Rock Americana/Classic/Roots/Ska — Copper Box
Rock Hard Rock — Trash Pandas
Rock Heavy Metal — Conniption
Rock Indie/Low-Fi/Gothic/Grunge — Lockjaw
Rock Modern/New Wave/Prog/Psych — Take Back The Sun
Rock Punk — Boris The Sprinkler
Singer/Songwriter — Paul Cebar
Unique & Spoken Word — The Squeezettes
World & Latin — Luma Knotty

FEATURED PRODUCTION AWARD WINNERS
Presented During the WAMI Finalist Party
Lighting Engineer — Glenn Ottenbacher
Live Sound Company — Clearwing Productions
Live Sound Engineer — Trevor Powers
Producer — Jeff Hamilton
Recording Studio — Rock Garden Studio
Roadie / Tech — Leighton Thompson
Studio Sound Engineer — Jeff Hamilton