I’m a big fan of Just Plain Folks, a grassroots non-profit organization of independent musicians, songwriters, composers and performers. Its founder, Brian Austin Whitney, has been tireless in his crusade to: (1) expose the rest of the world to “the other 98% of music” and give the people creating it the recognition they deserve, and (2) provide an excellent community and resource base for those same people.

A major aspect of the JPF world is the Just Plain Folks Music Awards, the largest independent music award ceremony on Earth. When I say largest, I do mean large; at the 2006 awards, where I received wins for “Best Techno Album” and “Best Techno Song”, there were over 350,000 songs and 25,000 albums submitted for consideration.

The JPF awards are free to enter and judged not by a small panel of “experts”, but by thousands of volunteers from all walks of life, from non-musician listeners, to hobbyists, professionals, and industry veterans. The massive manpower required to run these awards is such that they are only held every 2 to 3 years, and now that time has come again.

I’m very happy to announce that four of my songs have been nominated for a win at the 2008/2009 JPF Music Awards: Gregorian Dreams (The World Circuit) for Best Ambient Song, Throwdown (Antigravity) for Best Electronica Song, Depth Charge (Antigravity) for Best Techno Song, and Standpipe Valve (Antigravity) for Best Techno Song. Additionally, Antigravity itself has been nominated for Best Electronica Album.

Even if I don’t actually win this year (the results will be announced at the end of August), I’m still very happy to have made it this far. The number of song and album submissions in this award cycle increased by over 50%, which means that nominated songs have ‘beaten’ 99.8% of submissions. My fiancée, Jillian Goldin, also received three song nominations and one album nomination. Between the two of us, we’re hoping for at least one win!