2009 SAINT JOHN MUSIC AWARDS

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2009 SAINT JOHN MUSIC AWARDS

Postby Malcolm Boyce » Mon Oct 05, 2009 8:59 pm

Anyone know if there's a complete list of winners anywhere on the net?

I wish I could have caught this little gathering this year. Hope stuff like this keeps happening in our little berg.

Here's hoping they expand their categories to include a wide variety of things and involve an even broader base of talent. I see the opening for songwriters and people performing and recording their own music to get specific acknowledgment in the same way as those already recognized.

Perhaps a "technician" of the year category next time...
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Postby Mathieu Benoit » Mon Oct 05, 2009 10:12 pm

I really wanted to go this year, but I had to check my testicles for unusual lumps that particular afternoon. Great news... No lumps! There's always next year though! If they have a technician of the year award next year, don't worry it'll likely go to a guitar player/singer that knows everything about sound.

BTW there is another yearly award ceremony in SJ, and they have categories like songwriting and such.
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Postby kevin shephard » Tue Oct 06, 2009 12:40 am

Here are your winners for the 2009 Saint John Music Awards

Guitar player of the Year – Mike Hanlon

Bass Player of The Year – John Collier

Drummer of The Year – Kevin Shephard, Robin Kelly

Vocalist of The Year - Melanie Pitre

Group if The Year – Big Easy

Single Act of The Year- Delbert Worden

Instrumentalist of The Year – Matt O’Connor

Names for Local Legend awards have been released and include Brent Mason, Dave Kindred, Laurie Moody, Theresa Malenfant

Legacy awards and tributes will be made to Perry White and Vic McIntyre
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Postby Mathieu Benoit » Tue Oct 06, 2009 1:36 am

I love Mike Hanlon's playing, he's a wicked player. John Collier and Kevin are obviously well deserved too, as are most of the rest of the winners/nominees. I dunno... I don't think that the nominees really represent a full cross section of what goes on in Saint John though. I mean a few years back it was basically just members of Party Line that were getting nominated. It's a bit clique-y for my taste.

I'll say this, I'm happy for the people that were nominated and had fun. But at the end of the day whether Kevin Shephard (for example) wins an award or even gets nominated he's a great player. Period. That fact hasn't changed. So I guess I don't get the point.

Sorry that I'm sounding so negative about it, I just don't care for it. Music isn't a sport. My 2 cents... But if it's important to some people out there, then by all means enjoy yourselves. I spent all day Sunday working my ass off to get ready for a new gig. I simply don't have the time to sit around and try to figure out who's better or worse than me, and what criteria that assessment should be based on.

I do however have the time to post on here and hopefully stir up enough controversy to make this a good thread with some discussion on this matter. :twisted:
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Postby Jef » Tue Oct 06, 2009 8:17 am

I tend to agree with you there Matt. I think musicians should treat one another as colleagues rather than competitors.
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Postby kevin shephard » Tue Oct 06, 2009 10:35 am

Thanks for the compliment, Matt!

Well, I know I, for one, and most others did not see this as a "competition". It was a fun day, provided great exposure, was very light-hearted, and it was awesome to be in room with all that talent. I had the chance to meet some great people and musicians that I only knew by name. Big Easy got to "reunite" and jam out a couple of tunes. One thing - it was up to the people of this city to nominate the musicians and artists. The nominees were chosen by their peers, and the winners were voted for by their peers. I agree that perhaps they should split some of the categories up, and add a few others. Penny Blacks were nominated as group of the year, for example, but maybe they don't get the exposure that some of the bar bands get, because their name isn't on some club's marquee every week of the year. Maybe there should be a category for favourite original act, or something like that. And there definitely should be some technical categories as well.

This awards show is new. It needs to be evolved, but it is a great thing to have here, and the possibility is there for it to eventually embrace every facet of our music scene; it just needs more support, more nominations and votes from the people who have decided that it is for one group of people only. There is so much talent in Saint John - musicians, songwriters, and it seems to me that some groups of musicians like to put others in a certain categories with much less credibility. I heard someone call it the SJ Cover Band Awards, for example. Such ignorant pretentiousness drives me effin nuts (I felt honoured (albeit surprised) to have been voted for, and because I happen to play in a cover band now and again, comments like that from fellow musicians in our tiny community just deflates it - not to mention that there were many original acts nominated)......The music scene here is small as it is. It is just a nice thing for the people and musicians in the community to recognize each other once in a while in events like this.....and in order for it to satisfy the broad spectrum of talent we DO have in our fair city, that majority of that spectrum has to support it, and if it doesn't, there's no point in commenting on it really.

There's my one cent worth.

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Postby Mathieu Benoit » Tue Oct 06, 2009 10:55 am

kevin shephard wrote: I heard someone call it the SJ Cover Band Awards, for example.

I'm not going to lie to you, I never said that... but I hate to say it, I don't disagree based on my experience from previous years.

The fact that a great band like the Penny Blacks were nominated is great, and it may show that my hostility is misguided (which would be great.) However personally I don't care for contests in general. So don't think that I'm picking on this one in particular. But I think that the real benchmark is exposure. You wanna show appreciation for my craft? Awesome, then hire me. I can't eat an award, I can't trade it for goods and/or services. There's a lot of questionable players in town gigging all over the place while your Mike Hanlons and Kevin Shephards are sitting at home twiddling their thumbs. I dunno...

Am I making any sense here? Feel free to say no.
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Postby Malcolm Boyce » Tue Oct 06, 2009 1:21 pm

I have a large post brewing on this. I'll get to it later tonight.
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Postby Mathieu Benoit » Tue Oct 06, 2009 1:27 pm

Malcolm Boyce wrote:I have a large post brewing on this. I'll get to it later tonight.

Good, I'm bored. Arguing with myself is incredibly uninspiring. :-P
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Postby adam » Tue Oct 06, 2009 1:44 pm

We did a similar thing earlier this year (and last) for us hip young folks and I would not be offended if it was called the "Saint John Indie Bands Nobody Has Ever Heard Awards" or whatever.

Realistically, this DID have a serious lean toward cover bands. That's neither a good thing nor a bad thing. It's just a thing. Obviously there are lots of more than capable players in the cover band circuit. I was grateful (and surprised) to have been included as a 'nominee' here, just as I was for t'other one.

This spring's awards, for the record:

Best Female Artist - Jessica Rhaye
Best Male Artist - Adam Mowery
Best Group - Wooden Wives
Best New Artist - Telecasts
Best Album - Hospital Grade - Secrets & Sawdust
Song Of The Year - Hospital Grade - If I Said Helvetica
Most Likely to Make It Big - The Shinjuku Mad
Best DJ - DJ Hawk
Best Musician - Adam Mowery
Best Venue - a khord* (CURSE!~)
Best Concert - Hard Feelings, February 14, a khord
Best Radio Station - CFMH
Best Fan - Nick Cameron
Best Album Artwork - Hospital Grade – Secrets & Sawdust
Best Record Store - Backstreet Records

(Obviously some of these categories are giveaways-- radio station & record store especially-- but we definitely approached this with a 'just for fun' attitude anyway.)

I didn't see there as being any real "competition" here, and I'm sure this is also true of this iteration of the Saint John Music Awards. Like I said, I appreciated the recognition, and it's nice to draw attention toward people who are making serious and positive contributions to ANY music community. For example-- not that I'm in the same league of playing or circuit-- I'm not going to step up my bass playing so I can DESTROY John Collier in the contest next year. John's a fantastic player and I'm glad other people see that too.
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Postby Mathieu Benoit » Tue Oct 06, 2009 2:19 pm

There's some people taking this shit far too seriously though... I mean it's not the ECMAs, so why does facebook give me the impression otherwise? Maybe that's my problem with this, some people are really weird about it. I suppose I shouldn't fault the event for that though. I doubt I'll change my mind on it, and I know that privately a lot of you agree, I've already spoken to some of you about this. Many of you may publicly disagree with me and that's fine, but I just don't like the feel of it. The GC "Idie" Music awards however (oddly enough) doesn't feel nearly as pretentious to me, and I'm not sure why that is, it's just my opinion for whatever it's worth. Maybe it's because the nominees/winners aren't so weird about it. Oh and Clinton being the host is definitely a big factor, that guy is a dreamboat.

As always YMMV. Work is slow today...
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Postby kevin shephard » Tue Oct 06, 2009 2:39 pm

Was I one of the ones being weird about it? I hope I'm not one of the ones being weird about it......
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Postby Mathieu Benoit » Tue Oct 06, 2009 2:48 pm

kevin shephard wrote:Was I one of the ones being weird about it? I hope I'm not one of the ones being weird about it......


Of course not. No one involved in this forum actively is included in my rant. Lurkers? Possibly. I really hope so actually.

It's cute that you worry about my opinion...lol Seriously though, without getting into it, it's not you that I'm talking about. Nor is it just this year, it's been going on for a few years. So I've had sometime to develop my hate-on.
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Postby kevin shephard » Tue Oct 06, 2009 4:45 pm

Phew. ;-)

I don't know. I think it is a good fun thing. It's definitely not a good thing for people to take it too seriously.....I definitely agree with you there. That should be said about any awards show, for that matter.....
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Postby clinton » Tue Oct 06, 2009 11:50 pm

I think I was nominated for Best Male Vocalist for Penny Blacks if I'm not mistaken. I play drums in Penny Blacks by the way.

Congrats to the winners and I agree with basically everything Adam said and mostly with what Matt said.

My back hurts a bit and I think I might make some popcorn.

bye
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Postby Malcolm Boyce » Wed Oct 07, 2009 1:25 am

"Award" shows in general mean different things to different people. I think the healthiest way to look at them is that they are great ways to shine some light on some talented people. As well, the "awards" are, a lot of the time, secondary to the gathering of like minded people to enjoy the camaraderie and share experiences about things that matter to most of the group involved.

If you have ever been around some of the larger "Awards" events, you should note that the showcasing of talent, and the trade shows are the substantial part of the gathering... not the "awards" which are mostly for those outside the circle to focus on.

These events, all the way up to the largest, are super "clique" driven. This is not just something we see in the local versions of these types of things. They all try to be, and sell themselves as, inclusive to all types of artists, with varying degrees of success.

This "Saint John Regional Music Awards" is from what I've seen the closest local thing to the larger music association gatherings. I would like to see it expand to be more inclusive to a greater variety of artists and organizers. Don't forget, the "East Coast Music Association" started out not that many years ago, as a gathering not much different than this one in a bar in Halifax. I'm sure the diversity at that little event was pretty lacking as well.

There really is no reason why this event can't expand to become more than it currently is. I think it's just one example of what this small market needs to develop a greater level of community than we already have.

With respect to Matt's scorn. You really need to get what you want out of these types of things. As I said to a good friend who found himself nominated for an ECMA. Don't be afraid to feel good about a nomination, let alone an award. That being said, just because you're "in the club", don't buy into the hype that these things matter more than a little indication that you've done something that someone other than your family thinks is good.

Oh, the "Cover Band Awards" comment is ignorant to the variety of people that were involved in this little event this year. I wasn't even there or involved but I know there were some super prolific original recording artists on that little stage.

Instead of picking which "Saint John" awards show you like, let's get everyone together to include us all next time around.
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Postby clinton » Wed Oct 07, 2009 9:14 am

Malcolm Boyce wrote:"Instead of picking which "Saint John" awards show you like, let's get everyone together to include us all next time around.


What does this mean? How were you over-looked at the music awards show promoted by BBQ Records and Giraffecycle? Or were you implying that these recent awards at Bowties were too exclusive and should have included more of the uptown (or for lack of a better term "indie") community?

I do not ask this with any ill will, I'm just trying to fully comprehend what you're saying. I may agree ....
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Postby Mathieu Benoit » Wed Oct 07, 2009 9:52 am

clinton wrote:I think I was nominated for Best Male Vocalist for Penny Blacks if I'm not mistaken. I play drums in Penny Blacks by the way.

facepalm

Malcolm Boyce wrote: As well, the "awards" are, a lot of the time, secondary to the gathering of like minded people to enjoy the camaraderie and share experiences about things that matter to most of the group involved.

I do this from time to time with people. We'll get together at the studio with some beer and shoot the breeze. However this very concept (that I completely agree with) tends to get lost on some.

Malcolm Boyce wrote: These events, all the way up to the largest, are super "clique" driven. This is not just something we see in the local versions of these types of things. They all try to be, and sell themselves as, inclusive to all types of artists, with varying degrees of success.

I get this, and I agree with you completely. This is why I said, I'm not picking on this awards show in particular, I'm not a huge fan of them in general.

Malcolm Boyce wrote:There really is no reason why this event can't expand to become more than it currently is. I think it's just one example of what this small market needs to develop a greater level of community than we already have.

Agreed, but that's going to require some kissing hands and shaking babies on the part of a bunch of different people. Unless we make a Middle Audio presents: Saint John Music Awards, and invite everyone we think is awesome, which would likely span across both the coverband scene and the indie scene. Malcolm can get us the Imperial for now, but in 2 or 3 years when we're huge then warrbeat can give us the keys to Harbour Station. ;-)

Malcolm Boyce wrote:With respect to Matt's scorn.

8-)

Malcolm Boyce wrote:That being said, just because you're "in the club", don't buy into the hype that these things matter more than a little indication that you've done something that someone other than your family thinks is good.

:idea:


clinton wrote:What does this mean? How were you over-looked at the music awards show promoted by BBQ Records and Giraffecycle? Or were you implying that these recent awards at Bowties were too exclusive and should have included more of the uptown (or for lack of a better term "indie") community?

Regardless what Malcolm is implying, I see this as being a bit of both. However the organizers of each show may not see the point in expanding their platform.

Either way, I love you guys and you all deserve a whack of awards. So I'm gonna start an awards show at the Flaming Bird because I love that place.
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Postby clinton » Wed Oct 07, 2009 10:20 am

Awards for everyone, I'm with you Matt!
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Postby roachie » Wed Oct 07, 2009 12:57 pm

Instead of having an "awards" show at the Phoenix, why not just book a "show" and have a backline and a pile of different acts... get a couple party subs, beer, and cake as the award just for playing... oh, and hopefully pay the bands. Maybe have Subway, Moosehead, and Betty Crocker throw in some $ to sponsor the event.
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Postby Mathieu Benoit » Wed Oct 07, 2009 1:08 pm

roachie wrote:Instead of having an "awards" show at the Phoenix, why not just book a "show" and have a backline and a pile of different acts... get a couple party subs, beer, and cake as the award just for playing... oh, and hopefully pay the bands. Maybe have Subway, Moosehead, and Betty Crocker throw in some $ to sponsor the event.


Not to sound capitalist but I like this because money's involved. That's my gratification... That and playing with Roach.
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Postby Malcolm Boyce » Wed Oct 07, 2009 1:43 pm

clinton wrote:
Malcolm Boyce wrote:"Instead of picking which "Saint John" awards show you like, let's get everyone together to include us all next time around.


What does this mean? How were you over-looked at the music awards show promoted by BBQ Records and Giraffecycle? Or were you implying that these recent awards at Bowties were too exclusive and should have included more of the uptown (or for lack of a better term "indie") community?

I do not ask this with any ill will, I'm just trying to fully comprehend what you're saying. I may agree ....
What I was trying to say, poorly I guess, is that I would like to see some co-operation between all groups in our area instead of folks picking "sides". There really isn't much gained until we try to involve a greater percentage of everyone in our locale.

I would suggest openly that those involved, in both gatherings that I'm aware of, meet to discuss their common ground, and where they differ in their outlook. I'm making suggestions to avoid the all too prevalent "we don't need those guys anyway" mentality that can be all too present.
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Postby Mathieu Benoit » Wed Oct 07, 2009 1:51 pm

Malcolm Boyce wrote:What I was trying to say, poorly I guess, is that I would like to see some co-operation between all groups in our area instead of folks picking "sides". There really isn't much gained until we try to involve a greater percentage of everyone in our locale.

I would suggest openly that those involved, in both gatherings that I'm aware of, meet to discuss their common ground, and where they differ in their outlook. I'm making suggestions to avoid the all too prevalent "we don't need those guys anyway" mentality that can be all too present.


That's all I'm saying.

That and also:

Image
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Postby clinton » Wed Oct 07, 2009 3:52 pm

Malcolm Boyce wrote:
I would suggest openly that those involved, in both gatherings that I'm aware of, meet to discuss their common ground, and where they differ in their outlook. I'm making suggestions to avoid the all too prevalent "we don't need those guys anyway" mentality that can be all too present.


1.That meeting sounds more like a mob family than making music. 2. I don't think that mentality exists...or if it does I don't see it.
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Postby Mathieu Benoit » Wed Oct 07, 2009 3:57 pm

This entire fucking thread sounds more like anything than making music.

Oh and it exists on both sides, but it's not everyone. It's 15% of each group (give or take.) 75% just don't know who the others are. The ramaining 10% actually belong in both circles and enjoys them both equally.
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