She Drew The Gun won The GIT Award 2017 at an all-day event at Constellations.
The rock and roll band from Liverpool, fronted by Louisa Roach, took home the sixth GIT Award prize together with the £1,000 and Parr Street Studios recording time.
A spectacular 12-hour marathon event at Constellations saw the Merseyside music community come together to celebrate ten years of Liverpool-based music website Getintothis as organisers behind 24 Kitchen Street and Zuzu also took home the main honours.
Taking to the stage at around 1am, She Drew the Gun’s Louisa Roach, spoke on behalf of the band saying: “This is amazing, I don’t know quite what to say, we’re all delighted and surprised – thanks so much to Getintothis and all the judging panel – it means so much!”
Louisa, who started writing songs in her bedroom in 2013 under the moniker She Drew The Gun, has seen a rapid rise in the last 18 months with her fully formed band winning Glastonbury‘s emerging talent contest to earn a place on the bill, touring the globe – including a trip to Texas’ SXSW – and release the critically acclaimed debut album Memories of Another Future.
The other honours of the evening saw Jon Davies of Liverpool electronica promoters Deep Hedonia give a passionate introduction to this year’s Inspiration Award winners 24 Kitchen Street.
Following in the footsteps of The Kazimier, Africa Oye and Deltasonic‘s Alan Wills, 24 Kitchen Street venue co-owner Saad Shaffi and staff were on hand to pick up the Inspiration Award with the packed crowd appreciating the obstacles the venue has overcome in the last 12 months alongside the incredible cultural offerings they bring to the Liverpool region.
The final prize of the night belonged to youngster Zuzu who, following speeches from GIT Award judges Cath Hurley, of the BME, Aoife Niblock, of VMS Live and music journalist Will Fitzpatrick, played a stripped back set of rollicking pop-rock.
GIT Award nominees to perform on the night were The Vryll Society, Xam Volo, Suedebrown and Ohmns as hundreds of Merseyside music lovers joined the fun and danced long into the night.
The GIT Award 2013 winners Baltic Fleet and The Coral‘s Nick Power collected special mementos created by Liverpool company ArchiPhonic.
Elsewhere, God Colony and Immix Ensemble made an exclusive video for the event with the latter’s Daniel Thorne expressed his thanks collecting the band’s memento from returning GIT Award host BBC Merseyside DJ Roger Hill.
There was also time for a special guest as GIT Award 2016 winner Bill Ryder-Jones performed a solo set of brand new songs and much to the delight of the swelling crowd, he threw in fan favourite Two To Birkenhead.
Earlier in Constellations’ sun-bathed Garden, 10 bands, artists and MCs kicked off the day to celebrate 10 Years of Getintothis.
A cosmic sax-infused set from The Fernweh began the day before an emotionally-charged hazy set by AGP followed.
The Garden crowd seemed to triple in size as the L100 brought everyone to their feet as the likes of Jamie Broad, Nutribe, Conor Fellows, JR, The Lyric Smith, Rosh and more smashed it out the park with effortless grooves and serious bars – all under the guidance of DJ 2Kind.
Rising Liverpool artists Pixey, SPILT and I SEE RIVERS brought buoyant effervescent radio-ready pop to extreme noise rock and beatific folk harmonies.
The Floormen and FUSS brought fuzz and fury before Jo Mary and RongoRongo wrapped up a superlative celebration of Merseyside music.
For more pictures and reaction see www.getintothis.co.uk