Cleveland’s top acts competing for Local Musician/Band of the Year

In the past few years, several Cleveland acts have been on the verge of breaking big or have already broken big.

The most notable success story is that of Machine Gun Kelly. The rapper with the rapid-fire delivery and punk rock look got a break when he landed a slot on the 2012 Warped Tour (and he almost caused a riot that year when he played Blossom and concert organizers threatened to pull the plug on his set) and signed a deal with Bad Boy/Interscope. He’s looking to put out an anticipated sophomore studio album by year’s end. He’s one of five artists that Scene readers nominated as Local Musician/Band of the Year in the Cleveland Scene Music Awards. The others are all solid choices too. Bethesda is a terrific alt-folk act out of the Kent area, the Modern Electric plays a style of indie rock it describes as “cinematic pop,” the Cloud Nothings is the indie project headed up by the musically adventurous Dylan Baldi and Fallen Captive is an up-and-coming metal act. Each act deserves to win. Click here to vote. A Music Awards showcase takes place at Peabody’s on Sept. 5.

This article appears in Aug 21-27, 2013.