Here are the winners of the 2023 Wisconsin Area Music Industry Awards

Beloved late Milwaukee-area musician Keith Pulvermacher received one of the highest honors at the Wisconsin Area Music Industry Awards Sunday night.

Pulvermacher, who died after a battle with cancer last year at the age of 49, posthumously received the award for the singer-songwriter of the year at Turner Hall Ballroom in Milwaukee.

Other big winners at the 41st annual awards, which recognize musicians and music-related institutions across the state, included Green Bay artist Amelia Ford, who won album of the year for "Wide Wide Open"; Milwaukee-based blues band Altered Five, winner of song of the year for "Great Minds Drink Alike"; and local country band the Whiskeybelles, winning artist of the year.

Four artists also were inducted into the WAMI Hall of Fame Sunday: the late Hildegarde and Bobby Hatfield of the Righteous Brothers, and Milwaukee-area musicians Greg Koch and Willy Porter.

More: The 50 Wisconsin musicians with the biggest impact over the past 100 years

Winners of the 2023 WAMI Awards

• Acoustic bass (String): Andy Mertens

• Acoustic guitar: Myles Wangerin

• Album of the year: "Wide Wide Open," Amelia Ford

• Alternative rock artist of the year: Blame It On Cain

• Artist of the year: The WhiskeyBelles

• Banjo & mandolin: Beau Janke (Banjo)

• Bass guitar: Eric Hervey

• Best club: Paulie's Pub & Eatery

• Best festival: Mile of Music Festival

• Best live engineer sound/lights: Trevor Powers

• Best overall venue: Paulie's Pub & Eatery

• Best recording studio: Axis Recording Studio

• Best studio engineer/producer: Marc Golde

• Best theater: The Sylvee

• Bluegrass/Americana artist of the year: Copper Box

• Blues artist of the year: Altered Five Blues Band

• Blues, country & folk album of the year: "Shine" — Mr. Blink

• Christian/gospel aytist of the year: King's Conquest

• Club/DJ/dance/electronic artist of the year: Area-715

• Country artist of the year: The WhiskeyBelles

• Country song of the year: "Whiskey Morning" — Genesee Depot

• Cover artist of the year: The Glam Band

• Drummer: Junior Gamez

• Electric guitar: Tallan Noble Latz

• Female vocalist of the year: Donna Woodall

• Folk & blues song of the year: "Great Minds Drink Alike (With Horns)" — Altered Five Blues Band

• Folk/Celtic artist of the year: Frogwater

• Free reed & wind: Melissa Weishaar (Harmonica)

• Hard rock artist of the year: Sacred

• Hip-hop/rap artist of the year: Cujo

• Horn/big band artist of the year: The Hot & Dirty Brass Band

• Instrumentalist of the year: Kris Crow (piano)

• Jazz artist of the year: Erin Krebs

• Male vocalist of the year: Rich Hoffman

• Metal artist of the year: Thrasher

• New artist of the year: Driving Miss Crazy

• Northeast artist: Trash Pandas

• Northeast fan: Rachel Sebstead

• Northeast music teacher: Erin Krebs

• Northeast music venue: Fox Cities Performing Arts Center

• Northeast radio station: WAPL Home Brewed

• Northwest artist: Rising Phoenix

• Northwest music venue: Tiki Beach Bar & Grill

• Orchestral strings: Thea Vorass (cello)

• Percussion: James "Pie" Cowan (hand percussion)

• Piano: Dave Adler

• Polka artist of the year: The Squeezettes

• Pop rock artist of the year: Big Spoon

• Pop, R&B, rap & electronic song of the year: "Nobody Else Like You" — Alaria Taylor

• Punk artist of the year: Ratbatspider

• R&B/soul artist of the year: The Pocket Kings

• Rising star of the year: Smart Mouth

• Rock album of the year: "Lake Effect" — Lake Effect

• Rock song of the year: "Blood in the Water" — Would You Kindly?

• Saxophone: Tom Washatka

• Singer-songwriter of the year: Keith Pulvermacher

• Song of the year: "Great Minds Drink Alike (With Horns)" — Altered Five Blues Band

• Southeast artist: The WhiskeyBelles

• Southeast fan: Travis Steffen

• Southeast music teacher: Dave Schoepke

• Southeast music venue: Paulie's Pub & Eatery

• Southwest artist: The Jimmys

• Southwest fan: Kristin Shafel

• Southwest music venue: The Majestic Theater

• Southwest radio station: WORT-FM

• Specialty — keyboards & electronics: Kevin Schultz (organ)

• Specialty — strings: Leroy Deuster (pedal steel guitar)

• Specialty — wind: Erin Krebs (flute)

• Synthesizer: Marcell Guyton

• Tribute artist of the year: The Rush Tribute Project

• Trombone: Mike Clobes

• Trumpet: Eric Sperry

• Turntables & decks: DJ Trans Am

• Unique album of the year: "Firebird" — Cullah

• Unique song of the year: "My Hometown Milwaukee" — Jerry Grillo

• Video of the year: "Great Minds Drink Alike (With Horns)" — Altered Five Blues Band

• Violin: Chris Wagoner

• World/reggae/ska/Latin artist of the year: Natty Nation

Contact Piet at (414) 223-5162 or plevy@journalsentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter at @pietlevy or Facebook at facebook.com/PietLevyMJS.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Here are the winners of the 2023 Wisconsin Area Music Industry Awards