We saw the five nominees in the folk/acoustic category perform:

Justin Farren (he was great! Really hot on his acoustic guitar and very strong vocals, The songs were quirky, even odd,  but they were hella catchy and very entertaining)

Be Brave Bold Robot (interesting folk-pop-rock, they reminded me a bit of the Barenaked Ladies. They were good, above average, but a bit strange. In a pretty good way though)

Christopher Fairman (he was not folk, more rock. There was not much to grab me lyrically or musically, mostly just a couple chords extended into a song with no real hooks to speak of. The good news: the Daisy Spot guy played guitar and he can play that thing!)

Coolfield (heartfelt folk but kind of low-key. In all fairness, I should note that they were missing one of the two members due to illness)

Chelsea Wolfe (she has a great Fiona Apple style voice but her songs are more folky. They were good, intricate enought to hold our interest. Overall she was pretty good and should have performed more than four songs)

The awards will be given out at the Sammies show next month at the Crest Theater.