On the heels of last night’s Grammy Awards announcement, we’d like to congratulate our Newbie Award nominees Alabama Shakes, Frank Ocean and The Lumineers for being recognized by the RIAA. In addition to the praise these artists received, let’s not forget the accomplishments by Lianne La Havas and Michael Kiwanuka, both of whom were finalists for the coveted Mercury Prize in England.

Below is some information on the three Grammy nominated artists, in case you haven’t had a chance to get familiar.

Alabama Shakes (from our Artist of the Week feature):

Over the past 18 months, you’d be hard-pressed to find a group that’s exploded onto the music scene as fast as the Alabama Shakes. Hailing from Athens of their namesake state, the Brittney Howard-fronted outfit has gone from playing small bars to playing some of the biggest festivals in the world. How has this happened? How could a band that was toiling in anonymonity be one of the most buzzed about bands in such a short time.

Well, firstly, it’s all about the band’s catchy tunes. Combining elements of southern rock, punk, rockabilly, garage rock and the blues, the band’s brand of music has allowed them to cross over into the indie alt rock scene while retaining their credibility within the Nashville garage scene without losing their street cred.

Frank Ocean (from our Lollapalooza coverage):

Fans literally flooded the Google Play stage (clearly the hot stage of the day) and his critically acclaimed pipes wowed the audience, again, just from what were heard. He played his standard set, which shouldn’t have been surprising, yet fans acted like 13-year-old girls at a Beatles concert. While Ocean isn’t exactly Lennon or McCartney, he did well for himself.

The Lumineers (from our album preview):

The Lumineers were formed by Wesley Schultz and Jeremiah Fraites in New York.  After battling the city’s cutthroat music scene and impossibly high cost of living, the two decided to expand their horizons. They packed everything they owned and headed for Denver, Colorado, where they met cellist Neyla Pakarek. And so The Lumineers sound took shape; an amalgam of heart-swelling stomp-and-clap acoustic rock, classic pop, and front-porch folk.