The 22nd Annual Review Music Awards Nominees & Winners

It is entirely humbling to realize that the metronome of Father Time has counted off twenty-two years since the first presentation of the Review Music Awards took place at the historic Fordney Hotel in Old Town Saginaw.  The evolution of our local music scene has come full circle, encompassing generations of talent that continue to pursue the dream of creativity, vision, and music that is vibrant.

Over the years this event has traveled many halls & theatres throughout the Tri-cities, but what remains eternally exciting for me is the fact that the music we salute and honor, both with this ceremony and in this special edition of The Review has reached and branched out in so many amazing directions, solidifying the stature of talent we are fortunate to have circulating amidst our ranks here in the mid-Michigan area.

Obviously, a lot of changes have occurred in the Music Scene over the past 22 years. Apart from the explosion of the Internet and the empowerment of musicians through venues such as MySpace.com, one thing that remains consistent is the need for musicians to have venues to perform so they can reach the flesh & blood of audiences; another is for them to receive this well-deserved recognition from their peers and fans.

The Review Music Awards is the oldest and most unique ceremony of its kind in the Tri-cities, pre-dating and inspiring such offshoot endeavors as Saginaw On-Stage and The All Area Arts Awards.

It is the only ceremony of its kind that connects people, audience and artist together insofar as the public at large determines winners. But in the final analysis, every musician nominated is a winner, for how can there truly be a 'loser' when it comes to the gifted pursuit of creativity. Or to paraphrase Alan Arkin in Little Miss Sunshine, "The true definition of a loser is somebody that doesn't even try."

This year in an effort to evolve and refine the Music Awards Ceremony, it gave me great pleasure to welcome and thank the D-Street Entertainment Foundation for conducting our first ever 'Critic's Choice' awards, which is a welcome compliment to the popular vote selections, giving greater balance to the mix between creativity and popularity.  D-Street polled several area disc jockeys, music writers, and club owners to arrive at their winners, which included The Screaming Casanovas as Best Rock Band, the one and only Larry McCray as Best Blues Group, Steel Wheels as Best Country Group, and Matt Besey as Best CD for his brilliant work The Prisoner.

It is not an easy task, conducting elaborate nominating procedures, tabulating ballots, locating musicians, sending out invitations, and planning an event of this magnitude; but in the end, the fact we had over 2,000 people respond makes it all worthwhile.

Finally, while conformity, indistinguishable mass commercialism and competing entertainment distractions may pose seeming pitfalls to the growth and evolution of live musical entertainment, it excites me now as it did 22 years ago to know that the tri-city musical heritage continues to write its own songs and step to the beat of its own drummer.

In that sense, this is only the beginning.

Below is a breakdown of all nominees and winners in each category. The total number of nominees in each division is noted in parenthesis, while the top five nominees are noted in each category along with each winner.

Review Artist of the Year
(18 nominations)
Ray Torres
Milligram Smile
I Became the Sky
Quinn Keon
The Banana Convention
WINNER: The ThunderChickens

Artist or Individual Making The Biggest Impact
On the Local Music Scene in the Past 20 Years
(9 nominations)
Bob Martin
Pat Kuhn
Brian Bennett
Mike Brush
WINNER: Bo White

Best Concert Group/Album/Project

(6 nominations)
The ThunderChickens
PHI
Brian Rombalski's Three Worlds
I Became the Sky
The Kincaids
WINNER: The Banana Convention

Best Tejano/Cojunto Group
(12 nominations)
Ms Caliente
Los Deastres
Tequila Band
Cojunto Alegria
WINNER: Los Carnales

MISCELLANEOUS AWARDS

Best Bartender
(11 nominations)
Ken Aldridge - The Cloverleaf
Dickie - Club Empire
Kevin Spillane - Club 46
Harv - Indian Barry's
WINNER: Tim Avram - Whites


Best CD Release
Brett Mitchell - Small House
Scott Baker & Universal Expressoins - Between Seasons
The Banana Convention - Dirty Negatives
4 Til Ruin - Nostalgia's Shade
WINNER: Matt  Besey - The Prisoner

Best Solo
(11 nominations)
Andy Reed
Ashely Alderton
Aaron Johnson (Excaliber)
Shar Molina
Daniel Patrick
WINNER: Quinn Keon

Best Original Band
(22 nominations)
PHI
The Banana Convention
Hokori
Quinn Keon
Road Dawgz
WINNER: The ThunderChickens

Best Variety Band
(12 nominations)
Craig John Band
Common Groove
PHI
3rd & Soul
The Banana Convention
WINNER: The ThunderChickens

Best Duo
(6 nominations)
Bob & Brian Show
Micah & the Squirrel
Levi & Hooker Man
Honesty & Dean
Frank Willett & Pepper Jones
WINNER: The Kincaids

Best Alternative Band
(10 nominations)
Common Groove
The ThunderChickens
PHI
Frokus
I Became the Sky
Sprout
WINNER: The Banana Convention

Best Soundman
Juan - Hyperman
Bill Richter
Bryan Hampton
WINNER: Al Limberg

Best Metal Thrash Band 
PHI
The Miscreants
Downseed
Milligram Smile
Hokori
WINNER: Power Trip

Best DJ/MC
Tim Morningstar
Captain E Man
DJ Deeze
Crazy Craig
WINNER: DJ Woody

Best Band Website
Thunderchickens.net
Common groove
PHI
Quinn Keon
Hokori
WINNER:
TheBananaConvention.com

Best Rap Artist
Jekel
Akademic
Tyronne
Astray
WINNER: Jonny Zero

Best Lightman
Blair McAllister
Shaun Crawford
WINNER: Al Limberg

Best Waitress
Andrea Warle - The Olive Garden
WINNER:
Chelsea - The Hamilton St. Pub

ROCK AWARDS

Best Drummer
(16 nominations)
Steve Nyquist - Sprout
Chirs Marks - I Became the Sky
Russ Kolb - Hokori
Doug Hetherington - Road Dawgz
WINNER (TIE):
Matt Kramer- The ThunderChickens
Matt Hucul - Colieda/Holy Gun

Band Deserving Wider Rec
(14 nominations)
Phi
Holy Gun
Downseed
I Became the Sky
Hokori
Road Dawgz
Born
WINNER: The ThunderChickens

Best Rock Guitarist
(17 nominations)
Josh Jekel - The ThunderChickens
Brian Coonan - Common Groove
Joe Bonham - I Became the Sky
Frank Willet - Road Dawgz
WINNER:
Ray Torres -
Banana Convention/Holy Gun


Best Rock Bass
(19 nominations)
Justin McKinnon - The ThunderChickens
Jeff Poirier - Smokin 'Joe Black
Ryan Fitzgerald
Drew Lamia - PHI
Phil Murray - Downseed
WINNER:
Sean Drysdale -
The Banana Convention

Best Rock Songwriter
(10 nominations)
PHI
Chris Mohn
Chris Howard
Josh Jekel 
Matt Nyquist
Herd
Hokori
WINNER: Aaron Johnson

Rock Rookie of the year
(8 nominations)
Smoking Joe Rock
Holy Gun
Frokus
PHI
Herd
WINNER: The ThunderChickens

Rock Instrumentalist
Patrick Dunn - Colieda
Nate Cupp - Downseed
Drew Pentkowski
Mike Wardynski - Sprout
Mike Cooley - Herd
WINNER:
Melissa May - ThunderChickens

Best Rock Band
(20 nominations)
The ThunderChickens
PHI
Holy Gun
The Banana Convention
I Became the Sky
Downseed
The Sinclairs Band
Herd
WINNER: Milligram Smile


Best Male Rock Vocalist
(23 nominations)
Pat Brennan - Phi
JJ - Herd
Nate Cupp - Downseed
Noah - I Became the Sky
WINNER:
Aaron Johnson - Sprout

Best Female Rock Vocalist
Taylor Keenan - Footloose
Noel Howland - Jedi Mind Trip
Elissa Lord- I Became the Sky
Pepper Jones - Road Dawgz
WINNER (TIE):
Melissa May - The ThunderChickens
Shar Molina - The Banana Convention

Rock Musicawn DWR
(14 nominations)
Andy Reed
Aaron Johnson
Nate Cupp
Steven Nyquist
Doug Hetherington
WINNER: Shar Molina

Favorite Rock Club
(8 nominations)
Bemos
Old Tyme Roadhouse
Hamilton St. Pub
Empire Club
The Stables
WINNER: White's Bar

Best Rock Keyboardist
Tim Puckett
Loren Kranz
Dan 'Swivel' Sliwinski
Tom Behmlander
Noel Howland
Elissa Lord  -
I Became the Sky

COUNTRY AWARDS

Favorite Club
The Cloverleaf
Harvest Coffee Shop
Winner: The White Crow

Best Drummer
Doug Hetherington - Road Dawgz
WINNER:
John Lorrison / The Craig John band