Whoo boy! What a time we had last night. Every year, I'm always so energized after hosting the awards ceremony -- not to mention hungover (more on that in a minute). As I mentioned last night (numerous times, apparently), I'm really in love with this town, with this scene and with the gifted artists who make this the place where I want -- actually, scratch that -- where I choose to live.
You see, when I first took this job way back in 2003, the scene was dramatically different than it is now. We were hoping (praying, actually) just to have one breakout act, just one group to steal some of the national spotlight to let everyone know we exist. Now it almost feels like we've become the center of the universe, with bands going platinum, being spotlighted on Pitchfork and in the New York Times -- or not being able to collect their award because they're on tv.
And the best part, we done it all while keeping each other honest. We haven't made a practice of pulling any punches around here when it comes to criticism, and so I can likewise appreciate it when we -- or in this case, I -- get taken to task.
Case in point: In another Showcase-related post, someone called me out for being sloppy drunk as the host of the awards ceremony. In particular, he was bummed that I tripped as I stumbled my way back up to the stage after taking a short bathroom break. Guilty as charged. I should've eaten more and drank (way) less, but that's besides the point. Regardless, I owned up and apologized.
Just the same, I walked away from the awards and woke up this morning feeling blessed and fortunate to have breath in my lungs, to do what I do where I do it and to be surrounded by so many good people in such a wonderful city. It was such a joy to see all the smiles on everyone's faces and to hear the gratitude and graciousness in the voices of those who won, from Ginger Perry giving it up to everyone else in her category to P-Nuckle giving props to the entire scene and doing its soccer chant one last time (after five wins, they're officially retired).
Later today, we'll get back to the business of scrutinizing the music and art being made here, but for now, if it's okay with you, I'm just going to go ahead and be proud of those soundtracking my life -- our lives. And that includes everybody, not just the winners listed below, but all the other nominees, those who weren't nominated this year and the fans. You're what makes this scene what it is.
2010 Westword Music Showcase Winners
ROCK: The Swayback POP: Speakeasy Tiger INDIE ROCK: The Still City INDIE POP: Flashbulb Fires SHOEGAZE: Moonspeed LO-FI/GARAGE: Get Three Coffins Ready INDIE FOLK/ACOUSTIC: John Common & Blinding Flashes of Light AVANT POP: Stella Luce SINGER-SONGWRITER: Rob Drabkin ROOTS/AMERICANA: Paper Bird COUNTRY/ALT-COUNTRY: The Hollyfelds PROGRESSIVE ROCK: The Skivies MODERN/ALT ROCK: The Epilogues HARD ROCK: Lords of Fuzz METAL: TAUNTAUN DEATH METAL/GRINDCORE: Zombie Hate Brigade METALCORE: Anchorage HARDCORE: Bankrobber PUNK: Lola Black POST-PUNK: Accordion Crimes HIP-HOP BAND: Air Dubai HIP-HOP GROUP: The Pirate Signal HIP-HOP MC: Hypnautic DIY/EXPERIMENTAL: Pictureplane ELECTRONIC: Savoy ELECTRO-POP: The Chain Gang of 1974 AVANT/ECLECTIC: Boba Fett & the Americans JAZZ: Ron Miles BLUES: The Informants JAM/IMPROV: Kinetix BLUEGRASS: Head for the Hills FUNK: The Flash Mob SKA/DANCEHALL: P-Nuckle GOTHIC INDUSTRIAL: The Siren Project WORLD: The Indulgers REGGAE/DUB: Judge Roughneck DJ DANCE: Brian Howe DJ HIP-HOP: Low Key DJ NON-TRADITIONAL: Ginger Perry READERS CHOICE: Petals of Spain
