Fresh off the polls, the results for our Artist of the Year Readers' poll are in! We'd like to thank everyone who voted in support of their favorite artists, and a hardy congrats to everyone who made the poll this year!

1. All of our top nominees brought their A-game when it came to letting fans know about the poll, but the long arm of Smooth Hound Smith (pictured above) had the reach to snag them the top spot. This bluesy-folk duo had a busy 2015-2016 between putting out a new album, releasing a couple live videos while maintaining a demanding tour schedule, and even dropping by the Daytrotter studio to record a killer session. Now they can add winning the top spot as the Deli Nashville Artist of the Year to that list!

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2/3. If anyone ever tells you that a single vote doesn't mean anything, point them right here to our TIE for second place. Terrible came out swinging with a commanding early lead, but Damned Rivers wasn't about to sit back and let the poll slide by them. Both groups put up a strong fight for the top spot in our Alt-Folk category and, listening to these groups side-by-side, we can't help but think this is a great chance to get two top-notch bands talking to each other about sharing the stage sometime. Or maybe Damned Rivers could make an appearance on that rad-ass live series Terrible has been producing. How about it, guys?

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4. In fourth place is electronic dance-freakout project Night Auditor. Their live show is not to be missed, and we happen to know that they're working on funding a new album, so how about you click on over to their Bandcamp and congratulate them by picking up a tape copy of the excellent Romance EP?

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5. In fifth place is the bluesy-as-all-getout Bentley Caldwell. He released a way-solid album back in 2014, which you should check out at your earliest convenience.

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Again, congrats to everyone who was included! Our nominees went out of their way to promote the poll, and they certainly deserve your attention.

If you want to take a look at the results organized by genre, check them out here:
ALT FOLK - ALT ROCK - AMERICANA - ELECTRONIC - INDIE POP - INDIE/PSYCH ROCK - REVIVAL ROCK - SINGER-SONGWRITER

Thanks to everyone who shared and voted, and remember to keep an eye on the Deli year-round for all the freshest coverage on new music coming from Nashville!

The Folks at The Deli

2015 may be behind us, but we here at the Deli spent the past year with our ears tuned to the future. Now that the dust from our most recent journey around the sun has settled, we're excited to reveal the results of our Open Submissions poll. We asked local Nashville artists to submit their work, and the list below reflects our editors' rankings of what we received. Next we'll be revealing the results of our local jurors' nominations, followed by one more round of voting by our readers and our writers. Stay tuned and keep it coming in 2016, Nashville.

Step Sisters Score: 7.5/10

10 String Symphony Score: 7.5/10

Cosmic Coast Score: 7.33/10

Birdtalker Score: 7.33/10

Smooth Hound Smith Score: 7/10

Damned Rivers Score: 7/10

Annalise Emerick Score: 7/10

Honorable Mentions:

Erin Rae; Robert Sieben's Sidecar Sazerac; Jack Berry; Oh Grandpa; Ashley Leone; The Drag; The Ignorist; Brave Town; Future Thieves; Gnarly Parkers; Michael McQuaid

Smooth Hound Smith is a foot stompin' American roots and blues duo comprised of "One-Man-Band" Zack Smith (guitars/vocals/foot drums/harmonicas) and Caitlin Doyle (vocals/percussion). Established in 2012, they record and perform a varied and unique style of folky, garage-infused rhythm & blues. 
They are going to celebrate the release of their new album on May 30th at The Basement. The record may feature single "Crazy Over You" (streaming below), which was uploaded on Soundcloud in the second half of 2014.

Thanks to all the artists who submitted their music to be considered for The Deli's Best of Nashville Year End Poll for Emerging Artists. We had a record number of submissions from Nashville this year - 49! - thanks so much for the overwhelming response!

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4. I'm an Island - 7.66

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5. Chrome Pony - 7.5

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6. Jack Berry - 7.33

6. Smooth Hound Smith - 7.33

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8. The Cunning - 7.11

Honorable Mentions (scores above 6.5)

Koa, Yumi And The System, Stewart Eastham, Everyone Moves Away, Creature Comfort, DEDSA, Aaron Moses, The Double Intenders, Sugar Lime Blue, David Newbould.

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WHAT’S NEXT: These results end the first phase of the poll. We have already unveiled full list of nominees that also includes the artists nominated by our local jurors (see left column here). It's now time for our readers to influence this Year End Poll for Emerging Nashville Artists with their vote - look out for th readers' poll on the right column of this same page!

The Deli Nashville