Dedicated to celebrating up and coming talent in all areas of music, this year's inaugural ETA gave out eight awards with Best New Solo Artist going to British rapper Truth, who scooped a high profile gig at the Camden Crawl and a Shure KSM9 condenser microphone for coming first in the category that's voted for and judged by members of the public.
Asked about the awards and what it means to be playing on such a prestigious bill, Truth said, "Winning the award for Best New Solo Artist is great. It's the first award I've ever won, to be honest. The management team is happy, everybody's happy. We're part of a production team as well - Blackout Entertainment - so really this award is an achievement for everybody.
"For the Camden Crawl gig I used a Shure mic - an SM58. We've always used them anyway. They're pretty much the standard mic . . . you just know you're going to get something great out of them. And that's the truth of the matter - there's not much competition as far as SM58s go.
"I haven't had a chance to try out my prize yet - the Shure KSM9 [handheld vocal condenser mic] - but I'm heading back in to the studio soon and I'll be taking it with me to try out on some new material."
(Jim Evans)