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Flagpole Magazine
October 9, 1991
Through Atlanta Darkly, with Heather Murphy...
Schmoozin’ at the NewSouth awards show
The air wasn’t electric, the silence wasn't deafening, there
wasn’t even a stinkin’ drumroll to announce the winners, but it’s the
closest thing Atlanta cculd get to the Grammy's.
After everything was said and done, there weren’t too many
surprises at the First Annual NewSouth Music Awards Show.
Winners included:
Indigo Girls: Best Duo, Best Vocal Group, Best Acoustic Guitar
ist (Emily Saliers).
REM.: Best Drummer, Best Electric Guitarist, Best Bassist,
Best Male Vocalist, Best Rock Band, Georgia Song of the Year
(“Losin’ My Religion’), Musician of the Year (Pete Buck), Band of
the Year.
James Brown: Best Soul Band.
B-52’s: Best Dance/Rock Band.
Travis Tritt: Best Country Band.
Luther "Houserocker* Johnson: Best Blues Band.
Now, according to Mike Watt of fIREHOSE. the only “alterna
tive" to music is silence, but Ellen James Society was happy to grab
the award for Best Alternative Band none the less.
Face of Concern was nominated in practically every category,
but took home only two awards for Best Pop Band and Best
Songwriter (Marc Stowe). Their live performance made a lot of
people shut-up and take notice — no small feat for the audience given the rudest and most
un-attentive award by show co-host Ryan Cameron.
Also performing live were Insane Jane (whose singer Yellow won Best Female
Vocalist), Follow For Now, and Basic Biack. Jackyl also played live, but for their chicken-
kicking, stool-smashing, pants-dropping set, I had to wonder if the whole thing was a take- foe ptoxy in Buckhead for refunds.]
off of Spinal Tap. Unfortunately, these jokers are serious.
After spending most of the day convincing themselves they
wouldn’t win because of financial politics, radio station WRAS
scammed the award for Best Local Radio Station and DJ Rob
“Stinky La Diva’ Nicholson was sent home caressing his award for
Best Local DJ. Music Director Jeff Clark also won Best Music Critic
Award for his efforts at an Atlanta newspaper far inferior to
Flagpole. Clark said he was forced to forfeit the award to David T.
Lindsay and Deacon Lunchbox who he said deserved the award
much more than he did.
Rounding out the night were awards to Brendan O'Brien for
Best Local Producer and P.S. Jonah as Best New Georgia Band
The Indigo Girls and drivin’ ’n’ cryin' were also honored with special
Humanitarian Awards for their work above and beyond the call of
duty.
A special "surprise' acoustic performance by drivin’ ‘n’ cryin’
finished the night, but not before they were joined on stage by
R.E.M.sters Mike Mills and Bill Berry for a sing-a-lor.g version of
“Straight to Hell".
Atic wards, most NewSouth registrants headed to Velvet
(awarded Best Dance Club), to smoke, drink, and stare at each
other. After the cigarette smoke cleared, and the chicken shit was
scraped off the stage, show attendees asked the same question: “So is that it?" Yeah,
that’s it, now go schmooze.
[A quick post-script for those of you anxiously anticipating the arrival of rap artists 3RD
Bass: don't hold your breath. They broke up and cancelled the remainder of their tour. Call
CMJ in NYC
Fredrick Darinen, author of the contro
versial book Hit Men: Power Brokers and
Fast Money Inside the Music Business, will
be the illustrious keynote speaker at the
11th annual CMJ Music Marathon, Oct. 30
— Nov. 2. Besides Dannen, Queen Latifah
and Julian Cope will also share the speaker
slot. I bet you can’t wait.
CMJ (College Music Journal) honors
new music mostly heard on college radio
stations. But of course college radio is
about the only place you’ll hear most new
acts anyway. Though Athens has its own
commercial alternative station (WPUP 103.7
FM) which broadcasts late evenings, most
of the country is still in the dark as to what
"new" music is all about. Music schmooze
fests have popped up all over the place
now and we certainly can’t rely on MTV
anymore to present independent acts,
hence CMJ borne itself out of the music rut
11 years ago and is one of the watchdogs
for new music worldwide.
The 1991 New Music Awards spon
sored by CMJ will be held Nov. 2 at the Ritz
(ooh, ahh) in New York City. Last year the
awards were broadcast live over MTV. This
year R.E.M. are up for three awards: Album
of the Year, Group of the Year and Song of
the Year. Other acts nominated for Album of
the Year include Jane’s Addiction for Ritual
De Lo Habitual, Jesus Jones for Doubt,
Kitchens of Distinction for Strange Free
World and Ride for Nowhere There are 21
(!) nominees in this category...There’s also
a category for Loud Rock Ablum of the Year
with nominees such as Megadeth, Mo-
torhead and Queensryche battling it out.
Whoever can turn it up to 111 suppose...Last
year, CMJ gave an award to U2 for Band of
the Decade, Album of the Decade...etc.
etc. Dressed as their alter ego, The Dalton
Brothers Band (with Adam in a dress and
wig), the band video taped their presenta
tion speech from a ladies bathroom in
Australia. Right Well, there won't be a
"Decade" award this year but maybe Perry
Farrell’s wife will be drunk again...
There will be over 350 acts performing
around New York City. Bands such as Ac
tion Swingers, Blur, Julian Cope, Das
Damen, Gin Blossoms, Innocence Mission,
Kentucky Headhunters, Mekons, Mr.
Bungle, Superchunk, Trip Shakespeare and
Webb Wilder will be plugging in at various
venues throughout the four day marathon.
Contact CMJ Music Marathon at 245
Great Neck Rd., 3rd Floor, Great Neck, NY
11021 for more information or call 516-466-
6000. The Vista Hotel is host to the panels,
exhibit room and Schmoozing and if you’re
a student with a current ID the cost is only
$95. Of course that doesn’t include room
and board and if you’ve ever been to NYC,
well. ..Call the Vista for info about bedding at
1-800-258-2505 and mention CMJ for dis
counts. If you go, take a stack of Flagpoles
and bring us back goodies... HM
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