Unsigned Only 2016 winners declared

Ingrid Andress: UO 2016 grand prize winner (PRNewsFoto/Unsigned Only Music Competition)

This year’s UO music competition sees Colorado songwriter Ingrid Andress crowned as grand prize winner, and the 2017 contest opens

Unsigned Only has announced the winning entrants of this year’s music competition. Selected from almost 6,000 entries, the 28 winners will share more than $150,000 in prizes, including a grand prize package of merchandise, services and $20,000 in cash. Judges included Aimee Mann, The Killers, The Struts, Bone Thugs N Harmony, David Crowder, Aaron Shust, Lucero, Colt Ford, Frank Foster and Rapsody, as well as a selection of music journalists.

The overall grand prize was awarded to the performer and songwriter Ingrid Andress for the song Footprints. In addition to winning cash and prizes, Andress also receives one-on-one mentoring from a group of music industry executives. Hailing from Colorado, she began her music career performing in the television industry. After touring and singing on two seasons of NBC’s The Sing Off as a part of the a cappella group Delilah, she attended Berklee College of Music on a vocal scholarship. She now lives in Nashville where she collaborates and performs with various country and pop artists.

“Andress is a remarkable young artist who displays a great depth of talent and versatility, stretching out into the Country and Pop genres with a unique sensibility that is creative and current,” commented competition founders Candace Avery and Jim Morgan. “The stripped down version of her winning song Footprints allows you to hear her raw, honest talent and undeniable gift as an artist.”

After learning that she had won, Andress said, “You always hear about this happening to other people, but I never thought it would happen to me. It’s such an amazing and rare opportunity to have people care about you and your music. It’s very inspiring to feel supported by an organization who just want you to do well because of your music ability and your love for your art.”

Unsigned Only also awards a first and second place in 13 categories of contemporary music, including: Adult Album Alternative, Adult Contemporary, Americana, Christian, Country, EDM, Folk/Singer-Songwriter, R&B/Hip-Hop, Rock, Pop/Top 40, Screen Shot, Teen and Vocal Performance.

For a complete list of the 2016 competition winners and to hear the winning songs, go to unsignedonly.com/winners. Unsigned Only is now accepting entries for the 2017 competition, and more about entering can be found at unsignedonly.com

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