Two Northland acts are in the running for major honours after being named as finalists in the 2017 Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards.
Soulful Far North singer Teeks leads the way from the North with three nominations in the prestigious awards.
Teeks, (real name Te Karehana Gardiner-Toi), whose deep, soulful voice belies his 23 years, is a finalist in the Breakthrough Artist of the Year; Best Soul/RnB Artist and Te Mangai Paho Best Maori Artist categories.
Joining him as a finalist in the Te Mangai Paho Best Maori Artist category is Waipu teen thrash metal band Alien Weaponry. The nominations follow a stand out year for both.
Teeks and Alien Weaponry were both nominated in the prestigious Silver Scroll awards, with Alien Weaponry taking out the Maioha Award, which recognises exceptional waiata featuring te reo Maori, for their heavy metal anthem Raupatu. The song raises awareness of land confiscations by the colonial government.