As the Dust Settles, a Word of Thanx

Talking too much on stage.

Wow. Just wow. What can I say, a week after and the dust is finally settling (and almost all the bills paid)?

And where do we go from here?

And what do we do next year?

I've been thinking about all that. Here's what I've managed to keep straight in my head:

HUGE huge thanx to all of you who supported the idea of the Lexi Music Awards before there was a show...before there was a bit of press....before there was even a facebook group to help spread the word.


Thanx to all who jumped in 100% once we started to get the word out. Once we started the FB group. Once I said, "I need help".

Miles Osland opening the show with a bang!

Thanx to the press who jumped to our aid, loving the idea and willing to "go to press", go the the airwaves, utilize precious/expensive column inches and air time to allow us to share our idea.

Thanx to everyone who got involved in the discussions (some pretty heated) both in public and behind the scenes to help us carve this idea into reality. To those who had time or made time to make a call, or send an email, or hook us up with a deal to keep expenses manageable. To those who gave their energy, their time, their money to help make this bird fly.

To each and every one of you who braved the weather to make the show (and to those who tried but were trapped behind the snow and ice).

To Heather Parrish for everything; to Donald Mason for all the ideas and helping secure the Lyric; to Peter J. Felice for the amazing original music to start and end the program.

To that handful of people who came to our face-to-face meeting, and to Miles Osland, Blakeley Burger, Lucy Becker, Fred Kearns, Tripp Bratton and his amazing ensemble, Ben Lacy & Alan McKenzie, Palmer Tolly and Heather, who all agreed to perform before we even secured the venue.



To Laura Kirkpatrick and Dan Wu and Drew Curtis for saying "yes" when it was still an idea, and to Bill Meck and Kristen Pflum for the same. And again to them all for being great on stage.

Ron Pen, Melissa & Michael Johnathon, & Rupal Patel.

Thanx and an extra hug to Max Corona, Ange Canessa, and Les Campbell for their calm AND their pep talks, and to Edd MacKey and Sarah Jennison for saving the day, and to the wonderful Nancy Flippin for trusting and believing.

To Ruth McLain Smith, Raymond McLain, Dr. Ron Pen, Dr. Scott McBride, and Dr. Donald Grant. And Liz Fink Davenport (Greenhouse 17) and Ryan Tyson (Crowne Trophy). And Rasheedah El-Amin and Jack Wollman at the Lyric. And Russ & Sandy from Drum Center. And Karen Shrader for all the last minute help. And Tom Martin for helping to get the ball rolling.

Stickmen surprising the audience!

Ranada West-Riley at Lexington Diner, and Dave Medley & Chris Fedele at WLEX. Bryan Campbell at UPS Beaumont and David Harrod of Harrod Concrete and both Nancy McQuesten Pauley and Kris Milburn at Pinot's Palette.

My son Damien and You Can Only Imagine for the photographs, posters, printed programs, and much more!

And Kay Foley for showing up, as always, camera in hand, right next to Reda Floyd, camera in hand, too!

And the presenters doing double duty and the beautiful presenter guides who showed up in gowns and worked for free, just to help us make it real. And Paul & Heather for taking answering my 10pm, and 2am and 4am text messages like it was a normal thing.

And to everyone I forgot to thank here, because even a week after and my head is spinning.

Hanging with "best guitar" recipient Ben Lacy!

Sooo...where do we go from here? I've already announced a plan for Lexi-Fest: a series of multi-artist, multi-genre shows at various locations throughout the year to both keep the Lexi Music Awards in everyone's minds, spread the word to those who don't know yet, raise awareness of the vast musical talent pool in Central KY, and raise money for charity.

Sounds simple enough? Hahaha!!! Let's see where this train goes, shall we?

Sooo...what do we do next year? Let's just throw the teaser out now. I spoke to a LOT of people for this year's show. I have plans already in the works for guest "celebrity" presenters, both local and not-so-local....for performers and, well, performances....for special announcements, lobby music, merchandising, and more.

Ultimately, we plan to expand our categories, to feature even more music, to maybe even have a live house band handling the walk-downs and transitions.

But let's not get to far ahead of ourselves. We still have a LOT of outreach work to do, to spread the word throughout Lexington and throughout the region.

Heather bringing the house down!

So first order of business, I have to tend to my teaching & performance & recording business - get my gig schedule ready for the next 12 months, work on a new album, promote my group lessons at CoC and Willis, my song-writing clinics, and that sort of thing. You know, so I can pay the bills.

But then it's time to roll up the sleeves and get back at it. Just as before...go big or go home, into the fire, where angels fear to tread, full speed ahead, and all those other inspirational phrases.

Soooo...who is with me?