I could be found tonight at the excellent Under the Bridge venue, Stamford Bridge, Chelsea, for the inaugural Drake Yolanda Award event. A very enjoyable evening, which benefited from live performances by the 10 winners of the 2019 prize who were selected from over 200 entries by a panel of industry judges including Gareth Malone OBE, Roisin O’Connor, X Factor winner Matt Cardle, Ben Earle from UK country band The Shires and chair Yolanda Brown.
A total sum of £30,000 was awarded to the emerging artists from across music a range of genres including hip hop, funk, folk, rock, country and jazz, with each of the worthy winners receiving £3,000 each. Great to meet on the night Karolina Wielocha, photographer; MU member and cover star from a recent issue of The Musician, Cherise Adams-Burnett; plus The Worry Dolls and dynamic host, Yolanda.
