Rising Star Ingrid Andress Wins Grand Prize in 2016 Unsigned Only Music Competition

Aimee Mann, The Struts, Colt Ford, Bone Thugs N Harmony, Aaron Shust, The Killers, Lucero, and Many More Select Winners

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Sep 15, 2016, 08:35 ET

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Sept. 15, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Unsigned Only Music Competition today announced its 2016 winners. Selected from almost 6,000 entries, the winners represent some of the best unsigned artists worldwide in contemporary music. Unsigned Only awards more than $150,000 in prizes split among 28 winners, including a Grand Prize package of $20,000 in cash (US) and much more in merchandise and services.

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UO 2016 Grand Prize Winner - Ingrid Andress

Judges included Aimee Mann, The Killers, The Struts, Bone Thugs N Harmony, David Crowder, Aaron Shust, Lucero, Colt Ford, Frank Foster, Rapsody and music journalists from Rolling Stone, Guitar Player, Paste Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, LA Weekly, Yahoo Music, The Boston Herald, and many more.

The overall Grand Prize goes to the gifted 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 upper echelon music industry executives from Atlantic, Warner Bros., RCA, Epic, Razor & Tie, Disney Music Group/Hollywood Records, Nettwerk Music Group, Black River Entertainment, and others.

Hailing from Highlands Ranch, CO, USA, Ingrid Andress began her music career performing in the TV 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.

Founders Candace Avery and Jim Morgan state, "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. 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 the Grand Prize, 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 (AAA) Adult Contemporary (AC); Americana; Christian; Country; EDM (Electronic Dance Music); Folk/Singer-Songwriter; R&B/Hip-Hop; Rock; Pop/Top 40; Screen Shot; Teen; and Vocal Performance.

Unsigned Only is sponsored by: Berklee College Of Music; Bombplates; Celebrity Access; D'Addario; Disc Makers; Eventric; Gretsch Drums; Groove 3; Indie Bible; Intellitouch Tuner; LANDR; Lurssen Mastering; Musicians Institute; Radio Airplay; Sony Creative Software; and The Music Business Registry.