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At least five musicians or bands with ties to Prince George's County earned top honors at the 2009 Washington Area Music Awards Sunday in Fairfax, Va.

The Wammies are the Washington, D.C., region's equivalent of the Grammys.

Mike Surratt of Lanham, who led Prince George's County artists with six nominations, won a Wammie for World Music Vocalist.

Hotspur, a rock band, won a Wammie for New Artist of the Year. The band founders - lead singer and guitarist Joe Mach and keyboard player Dave Trichter - are both Beltsville residents.

"It was our first year being a part of the Wammies, and we didn't know what to expect," Mach said. "It was a really neat, really classy event. A sold out room, 7-to-800 people in the room."

Hotspur was one of the bands asked to perform at the show. They played "If These Walls Could Talk," a track from their latest album, "You Should Know Better By Now."

"There was a little back-and-forth on which song we would do," Mach said. "We're used to doing whole concerts, not just one song. We had to put it all into that one song."

Mach said they chose "If These Walls Could Talk" because it might appeal to an older audience. Most of their fan base ranges in age from 16 to 23, Mach said.

"A lot of people have heard of the band, but this was their first chance to see us," Mach said. "We had people come up after and say, ‘I'm not really into your kind of music, but I can tell you guys have your heart into it.'"

Diamond District, a combined effort of some of the top young rappers in Prince George's County, won a Wammie for Rap/Hip-hop Recording for their "In the Ruff." The group is composed of rappers X.O. of Washington, D.C.; YU, who grew up in Suitland; and Oddisee of Largo.

Chick Hall Jr. won a Wammie for Country Instrumentalist. He's the son of Chick Hall Sr., a leading figure of the Bladensburg music scene for the latter half of the last century and the former owner of Chick Hall's Surf Club.

Jazz band Spur of the Moment, which plays monthly at one of Prince George's County's jazz clubs, won a Wammie for their "Urban Renewal" album in the Urban Contemporary Recording category.

The Wammies do not list hometowns of the numerous musicians and groups who were nominated, so it is possible a Prince George's County artist or group won and is not mentioned here.

E-mail Ken Sain at ksain@gazette.net.