Tuesday, March 7, 2023

9th Lexi Music Awards: "...and the winner is..." & Wrap-Up

CONGRATULATIONS, ALL!

"We don't compete with each other - we complete each other." - Jonathan Goodwin (Goodwin Brothers)

Photos/Videos - I will edit this to include links to photos & videos of the event, so check back periodically. But we can sure start with the video of The Wallace Sister's performance!

EDIT: See photos at the official FB group HERE and videos are at the playlist HERE....and check photo link again as we're up-loading photos today and tomorrow.

Apology - As stated in my brief at the beginning of the show, I dropped the ball and didn't leave proper correction time...which mattered as soon as 50k homes and hundreds of businesses were suddenly without power following the Friday storm.

That we had major issues with the program and several plaques is NOT the fault of printer or plaque shop. They were dealing with hardships of their own, and I didn't factor in adequate space for redirection. I will do better next year. My apologies to everyone whose name was butchered or left off...like Austin Jones of Burgandy Box Studio being omitted and Miles Osland suffering the insult of 3 different misspellings of his name, and the like. The proper list of nominees is found HERE.

That said...it was an amazing show AND amazing after-party!

The Team - My undying gratitude to Bill Meck and Dave Medley of WLEX TV-18, the entire staff & crew of the Lyric Theatre, Linda & Roy at Highbridge Springs, Sheila at Ale-8-One, Ginny at Botany Bay, Molly & Richard & the entire staff at Goodwood, and Teri, Michael, & Neil at Three Chord Bourbon, as well as our anonymous private sponsor!

In addition, a monster thanx & huge hugs to Edd MacKey & The Lexington Fashion Collaborative (& Keegan for stepping up to the plate under pressure), my partner-in-crime Angelee Feltner for managing performance flow, Max Corona for organizing our presenters,Teresa for being ready for anything, Jay Hamon for video, Damien McLean for photography, Joshua McLean for this year's event poster...and to Rachel & Eric at Lexenomincs!

And as always, to everyone who voted, organized others to vote, wrote in suggestions, helped track down contact information, & more....with extra nod to Donald Mason and Dane Sadler, who for several years have led the charge to award Les McCann the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Performances - Our house band Mojo Tones kicked 15 minutes of pre-show music to set the mood and then the lights dropped for the beginning of the event. The Wallace Sisters opened with the national anthem and then Bill Meck brought them back up for a second song, their stellar cover of the classic "Killing Me Softly".

Devine Carama & JK-47 set the house on fire and reminded us all that hip-hop turns 50 this year! The Lexi-Fest "Unplugged Battle" champions Trippin Roots stepped up with their full electric band and were just as incredible, and the Mojo Tones had everyone dancing on the way out at night's end!

Award Recipients - without further delay, here - ladies & gentlemen - are your 9th Lexi Music Awards award recipients!


(INDUSTRY awards)

Venue of the Year
Manchester Music Hall


Music Store of the Year
Drum Center of Lexington


Music Company of the Year
Overtones/Listen Locally


Recording Studio/Engineer of the Year
Sneak Attack/Jason Groves


Live Sound Tech of the Year
Wallace "Gator" Harrison


Radio DJ of the Year
Kenny C. Cummings


Instrument Repair of the Year
Don Brandenburg


Jay Flippin Music Educator Award
Miles Osland - UK School of Music


(PERFORMANCE awards)

Female Vocal of the Year
Vanessa Davis


Male Vocal of the Year
Cody Morgan


Bass Player of the Year
Steve Nall


Brass/wind Player of the Year
Matthew Polashek


Drums/percussionist of the Year
Trey Bledsoe


Keyboard Player of the Year
Jonathon Goodwin


String Player of the Year
Emily Miller


Ben Lacy Award for Guitar Excellence
Tanner Blevins


(STYLE awards)

Americana/folk Artist of the Year
Trippin' Roots


Bluegrass Artist of the Year
Goodwin Brothers


TeeDee Young Blues Excellence Award
Rachel Crowe


Classical Artist of the Year
Whit Whitaker


Country Artist of the Year
Taylor Hughes


Funk/R&B/Reggae Artist of the Year
Brett Higgins


Hip-Hop/Rap Artist of the Year
Devine Carama


Jazz/Latin/Big Band/World Artist of the Year
Bigg Sugg & the Jazz Funkers


Metal Artist of the Year
Grave Yard Romeos


Pop Artist of the Year
Vinyl Richie


Punk Artist of the Year
Ciggy Tuna


Rock Artist of the Year
Bedford Band


Singer-Songwriter of the Year
Vanessa Davis


Cover/Variety Artist of the Year
Five Below Band


(SPECIALS awards)

Song of the Year
"No Peace" City Awake


Album of the Year
"Can't Get There From Here" Eric Bolander


Critics Choice
Goodwin Brothers


Community Service
Five Below Band "Honor Flights"


Lifetime Achievement Award

Les Campbell
Ron Browning
Jessie Laine Powell
Les McCann