San Diego Music Awards 2026 announces 27 winners, surpasses $1 million in fundraising

The biggest winner at the 35th annual San Diego Music Awards Wednesday night at Humphreys Concerts by the Bay was, well, everyone. This year’s sold-out SDMA edition raised a record $86,465.20, taking the 35-year-old nonprofit event past the $1 million mark in money raised for Guitars for Schools, which has provided instruments made by El Cajon-based Taylor Guitars to 131 schools across San Diego County. “I didn’t think we’d get there this year, but we’ve now raised $1,002,264.20 which shows that people really care about Guitars for Schools,” SDMA founder Kevin Hellman told the Union-Tribune. “We had more corporate sponsors and sold more tickets and VIP tables than ever before. It gives me optimism we can get past all the arts funding issues in San Diego and help some of the young musicians even more than we already have.” Topping $1 million apparently wasn’t the only record set at Wednesday’s event. For the first time in memory, no nominated artist won in more than one category. Never mind that 19 bands and solo artists — including such previous multiple-winners as Rebecca Jade, Sara Petite and Jeff Berkley — were each nominated in two categories apiece this year. And never mind that one band, Daring Greatly, entered the evening with three nominations and went home with one trophy (for Best Rock or Indie/Alternative Song for “Lucid Ride”). The fact that no winner in any of the 27 categories won in any other category may be one for the record books. Either way, the result was a completely level playing field that gave each of the two-dozen-plus victors equal bragging rights. Song of the Year, Album of the Year and Artist of the Year honors went to, respectively, Slightly Stoopid (for “Step Into The Sun”), Anthony Cullins (for “Inside Out & Backwards”) and The Schizophonics, the garage-rock-championing trio led by husband-and-wife guitarist and drummer Pat and Lety Beers. Singer-songwriter Steve Poltz, a San Diego favorite for more than 35 years, received the Country Dick Montana Lifetime Achievement Award. The post-punk-rock band Tigers In Cairo was voted Best New Artist. And singer Leonard Patton won Best Jazz Artist honors just 48 hours before he returns to Humphreys Friday to perform as the newest member of 20-time Grammy Award-winning guitarist Pat Metheny’s new band, Side-Eye III+. “This is crazy, you all. Thank you, San Diego,” said Patton, who had Wednesday day off and rejoins the Metheny tour for a Thursday night gig at UC Irvine. Steve Poltz is back in San Diego just in time to accept a major award Lifetime Achievement Award-winner Poltz was colorfully introduced by his longtime musician friend, former San Diego Padres second baseman and third base coach Tim Flannery. “Steve heals people with his music. He is an honest to God medicine man,” said Flannery, who offered a number of colorful anecdotes about his escapades with Poltz over the past four decades. Poltz’s eight-minute acceptance speech was a wonderfully animated homage to the power of song, the San Diego music scene that has nurtured him since not long after he enrolled at the University of San Diego at the age of 18, and to some of the legendary and near-legendary San Diego musicians who inspired him. They included Mojo Nixon, Buddy Blue and Country Dick Montana, all now sadly deceased, and such still-vital performers as Joey Harris, Shawn Rohlf, Cindy Lee Berryhill and others, as well as his sister, Kathy. He thanked her for her constant encouragement when he was a fledging solo artist and as the leader of The Rugburns. “We’d play in every city in every little (dump) we could across the world, and I’m still doing that (as a solo artist),” Poltz said. “That’s why I feel — at the young age of 66 — I’m still too young to get a Lifetime Achievement Award because there are so many gigs left to play. Making people smile (at concerts), we’re the luckiest people in the world.” Ten artists performed at Wednesday’s awards fete, including Poltz, Cullins, Whitney Shay, Robin Henkel, Sue Palmer, Obed Padilla, sullvn, The Frights, Agent 51, Eastern Street Kids and an ensemble featuring teen musicians from San Diego’s Young Lions Jazz Conservatory. The group’s virtuoso alto saxophonist, Kahlil Childs, had to bow out Wednesday due to illness just four days after he and four of his band mates — Miles Dixon, Thiam Khosravan, Jordan Yeager and Luca Posillico — won top honors in the national annual Essentially Ellington competition at New York’s Jazz at Lincoln Center. Song of the Year winners Slightly Stoopid, who won the Song of the Year award, will perform at Petco Park on June 13. The same downtown baseball stadium will also host a Sept. 12 concert by San Diego’s Pierce The Veil, which was nominated in two categories this year. While no award was given for Loudest Constantly Yammering Audience at Any Awards Show Anywhere Ever, Wednesday’s sold out crowd of 1,350 certainly merited strong consideration for such a dubious distinction. Their nonstop blathering didn’t quite drown out the performances, although a number of presenters and winners struggled to be heard over the din. Of course, that’s nothing new at the San Diego Music Awards, where a sizable number of apparently well-lubricated attendees honor music by talking (make that, yelling) over it as loudly as possible. Complaining about it is futile, so I’ll take a different tack: Get louder! Let those performers know who’s really boss! You can do it! The last award of the night, for Artist of The Year, went to The Schizophonics, whose guitarist and singer, Pat Beers, sounded both surprised and extremely happy that his band was honored. “I love San Diego,” he said. “We moved out here 17 years ago and started this band. (San Diego) made us feel like part of this community and it’s such a great community. Thank you. I love you all. Let’s get a burrito!”