Tales From The OC Music Awards

The Academy Awards aired Sunday March 7th, and the red carpet was abuzz with celebrities, media, and high fashion. The most talented people in the industry gathered to pat each other on the back and say "job well done babe!"

But seriously... who cares! We had our own awards show the night earlier!!! And our red carpet was abuzz with some of Orange County's most talented musicians, industry professional, and friends. Oh yeah, a lot of interesting fashion as well.

The OCMA really kicked off on January 5th with the start of the season's showcase series. The first of which was at Detroit Bar featuring Kiev, Melanoid, Yellow Red Sparks, The Union Line, and Make Moon. Through out the next 2 months 7 showcases, split between the Live Band Showcases and the Live Acoustic Showcases took up every one of my Tuesday evenings. This year was a GREAT year for the showcases. Record attendance numbers, energetic and passionate performances, and some of the best venues in Orange County playing host made these showcases a success! Creating the buzz leading up to last Saturdays Awards at The Grove of Anaheim. The bands playing the showcases were actually playing for a nomination spot in the Best Live Band, and Best live Acoustic categories at the OCMA. Of course plenty of acts didn't make it to the finals showcases, so I just wanted to quickly choose a couple performances that I thought were worth highlighting.

Make Moon: The last band to play the first night of the OCMA Showcase series, and as usual they put on an epic performance. When watching Make Moon you can sometimes feel as if you are being transported sonically to a different place and time. It's psychedelic fun for the whole family, if your whole family does acid.

Barrett Johnson: The first night of the Acoustic Showcase series and Barrett Johnson captured everyone's ears and probably most of their hearts with his touching portraits of love, life, loss, and redemption. Needless to say, I cry when I listen to Barrett Johnson, but isn't music supposed to hit you that hard? The answer is YES.

Handsome G: I've seen Handsome G many times before and their set at The Continental Room was the perfect start to such an amazing night. Their blend of rock, pop, country, and fun makes them stand out on a bill usually soaked in take-yourself-too-seriously-indie bands.

Kurt Hunter: The talent Kurt Hunter possesses is amazing. I am convinced that Kurt could write just about any song for any occasion or mood. His vocal range is great and his presence on stage is charming. His set at the Gypsy Den only made me want to see him on a bigger stage.

Moostache: Opening up at this years only all ages venue until the finals you could see Moostache was in control from the start. To look around and see kids getting excited for a local band with such energetic performances and humor, but also sincerity makes me excited for the future, and excited for Moostache's future.

Parker Macy Blues: To see Parker Macy for the first time is somewhat of an experience. The soul, depth, and conviction with which Parker plays with can catch you off guard, especially since you wouldn't expect someone so young to play so powerfully. It's one thing to sound big when you're in a band with all those instruments, it's much more impressive when you can achieve the same thing when it's just you and your guitar taking on the world alone, and Parker Macy Blues does just that.

The New Limb: There is always a lot of talk going on about The New Limb, and it's well deserved! People love them! In the past few months I've started to see them more than just a really good indie band. I see them as a really good experimental band. Their sound has become this great balance between indie rock, pop, and experimental. That element I've often felt was there, but lately it seems they have started to embrace it a little more. You could see it in their set at The Gypsy Den on the last night of the Showcase series (not including the finals.) Hey, New Limb... EMBRACE THE EXPERIMENTAL! WE LOVE IT!

All these showcase led up to the last 2 final shows. The Live Acoustic finals included Stacy Clark, I Hate You Just Kidding, Mike Vitale, Marc B Music, and Billy Kernkamp. Kernkamp played an amazing set at the downtown Santa Ana venue, The Yost Theater. This earned him 4 days recording time at Red Bull Studios, 2,500 bucks from Fender, and a spot to play the OCMA at The Grove! The Live Band Showcase was equally exciting with performances from some of my favorite Orange County bands, including The Steelwells, BLOK, The Union Line, The Colourist, and Dusty Rhodes and The River Band! Dusty Rhodes won the title of best live band, as well as 4 days recording time at Red Bull Studios, 2,500 bucks from Fender and of course a slot to play the OCMA! Both Dusty Rhodes and Billy Kernkamp deserved their respective achievements but to me, the showcases and the awards aren't about the winning aspect or competition. It does something much more valuable. It brings people, music, and musicians together. It provides the opportunity for everyone to get to know each other a little bit better and makes the entire music scene in Orange County a little more cohesive and accepting. I think that is the real value in something like this.

But finally I'll get to the actual awards themselves!

The OC Music Awards in all manners and respects takes itself seriously as an awards presentation, event, show, whatever you wanna call it.  but the mood of it all is more of a party.  It's laid back, packed full of the best entertainment in Orange County, dare I say the entire west coast, and a ridiculous amount of fun!  Live performances included BLOK, Melanoid, The Steelwells, Dusty Rhodes and The River Band, The Dirty Heads, Lit, and Billy Kernkamp!  The nights all around winners were Dusty Rhodes, taking home 3 awards Best Live, Best Rock and Best Country/Americana.  Most of the winners were artists that have not yet experienced great commercial success, but are pushing the creative envelope forward.  Bands like BLOK, winning for Best Hip Hop, The New Limb, winning for Best Indie, and The Steelwells winning for Best Song - "El Capitan" and Best New Artist!  Artists like Atreyu, Thrice, and The Adolescents took home some big awards as well.  Atreyu for Best Metal, The Adolescents for Best Punk and Thrice with the notable Best Album for "Beggars." 

In execution the OC Music Awards were spectacular.  The performances were amazing, the artists enthusiasm and sense of unity felt within The Grove was inspiring.  It was a great night for Orange County music, with much of the credit going to Luke Allen and Ashley Eckenweiler.  This little team has managed to up the ante since they started working together on the OCMA last year.  Check out the complete list of winners below and check out all the bands nominated at www.ocmusicawards.com. 

Best album – Beggars, Thrice
Best song – “El Capitan,” the Steelwells
Best new artist – The Steelwells
Best rock – Dusty Rhodes and the River Band
Best country/Americana – Dusty Rhodes and the River Band
Best live band – Dusty Rhodes and the River Band
Best acoustic – Billy Kernkamp
Best folk – Yellow Red Sparks
Best punk – The Adolescents
Best indie – The New Limb
Best alternative – Stereofix
Best metal – Ateryu
Best hip-hop – Blok
Best pop – Stacy Clark
Best electronic – Electric Valentine
Best blues – Roman Alexander and the Robbery
Best surf – The Growlers
Best jazz – Translucent Ham Sandwich Band
Best world – The Dirty Heads
Best Latin – Boogaloo Assassins
People’s Choice Award – Duress
Lifetime Achievement Award – Jim Washburn