2008 ROCKWIRED AWARDS
CONTENTS
HOME
BEST MALE ARTIST
BEST FEMALE ARTIST
BEST BAND
BEST ALBUM
BEST SONG



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FEBRUARY 22, 2008

THE WINNERS 
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MARCH 1, 2008
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THE  NOMINEES FOR BEST MALE ARTIST ARE:

http://www.rockwired.com/Sachal.jpgSACHAL VASANDANI
There was a time in my life when the music of SACHAL VASANDANI was been considered my grandfather's music. SACHAL's debut CD EYES WIDE OPEN (MACK AVENUE RECORDS) pairs his own original compositions (the plucky STORYBOOK FICTION, and the swinging PLEASE, MR. OGILVY) with contributions by SADE ADU (IT'S ONLY LOVE THAT GETS YOU THROUGH) and interpretations of compostions by PERCY MAYFIELD and BILLY STRAYHORN. Maybe this says something about me, but the music that I once dismssed as my grandfathers music has become my music. In a strange way, this swinging, and soulful jazz sound speaks to me as it did a couple of generations before my own. "The songs come from an emotional arc that I was trying to convey." says VASANDANI. "I was trying to talk about a specifc theme of generally being a positive record that people could feel uplifted by but at the same time not shy away from confrontation. Sometimes, to ultimately uplift ourselves we have to recognize conflict and recognize loss and go through loss to get to a higher space. I kind of wanted to juxtapose in each one of the songs whether they were written yesterday or thirty years ago the idea of juxtaposing hope and loss." High minded? Definitely. But with EYES WIDE OPEN, hope and loss never sounded so beautiful. (READ MORE)
CLICK HERE TO E-MAIL YOUR VOTE FOR SACHAL VASANDANI

http://www.rockwired.com/olavcd.jpgOLAV LARSEN
Speaking as a person who has never visited Norway, I can only assume that the Scandinavian country is a million miles away from where anyone would expect to find a strong concentration of roots-americana music. But then again, ROCKWIRED has been pleasantly surprised in the past ( namely through the rock band HANGFACE - a ROCKWIRED favorite). However, rock music has been global for fifty years now, and no one stateside expects  music as American as Americana to be served up by a man from Norway. Hell, you wouldn't expect a man from Norway making this kind of music to be black. Even folks in Norway don't expect it. "They don't say it but when I make a joke about it, everyone starts to laugh. They almost seem relieved." says OLAV LARSEN of THE ALABAMA RODEO ALL-STARS.  "When they laugh it ussually tells me that they're thinking that it's weird for a man of color to be making this music."(READ MORE)
CLICK HERE TO E-MAIL YOUR VOTE FOR OLAV LARSEN


http://www.rockwired.com/samsparro.jpgSAM SPARRO
Australian-born electro-funk artist SAM SPARRO has come up with one of the most surprising releases of the year,and guess what? It's an EP. BLACK AND GOLD (MODUS VIVENDI) is a collection of six exhilarating tracks served up with JESSE VOGG's techno-electronic wizardry and SPARRO's haunting arrangements and soulful croon (with or without a vocoder). Listening to BLACK AND GOLD may bring back memories of early eighties dance and hip-hop with it's synth beats and precision, but BLACK AND GOLD is no nostalgia trip. It's hard to call six songs a revelation, but that's exactly what these six songs are. This is our first taste of an exciting new artist and  people will be wanting more than six songs after giving BLACK AND GOLD a listen. (READ MORE)
CLICK HERE TO E-MAIL YOUR VOTE FOR SAM SPARRO


http://www.rockwired.com/andywalo1.jpgANDY WALO
Swedish export ANDY WALO loves America. his love for the States has nothing to do with the GEORGE W. BUSH PR machine and everything to do with the blues. Growing up in Sweden, WALO was given an education in rock n roll by way of his older siblings' hand-me-down record collection. It was an education that emphasized sixties rock by the likes of THE BEATLES and THE STONES and later on, an interest in LED ZEPPELIN. This was music that spoke to him in an era where techno pop ruled the airwaves and MTV. However, his search for "that sound" had not ended. It was just beginning. ANDY read numerous interviews of various rock icons and their influences all pointed to one general direction - the blues. In time, the music spoke to him and WALO picked up a guitar and hopscotched back and forth between Scandinavia and England, making a living as a professional musician. During one gig, the members of ALBERT COLLIN's backing band witnessed a performance by WALO and shortly afterwards spent the next three days convincing this kid to come back to Chicago with them.(READ MORE)
CLICK HERE TO E-MAIL YOUR VOTE FOR ANDY WALO



http://www.rockwired.com/mitch1.jpgMITCH EASTER
After nearly 30 years of producing, and performing with various musical outfits, MITCH EASTER has finally released his first solo album DYNAMICO and it only took him 18 years. One can't accuse EASTER of jumping on something while it's hot. After his band LET'S ACTIVE disbanded in 1989, MITCH fell back on that other thing he does best; producing. In the nineties, EASTER's production credits included the likes of MARSHALL CRENSHAW, PAVEMENT and VELVET CRUSH. As impressive as those indie credentials sound just imagine the attention and notoriety the guy received when people learned that it was he who produced R.E.M.'s groundbreaking single RADIO FREE EUROPE and their first two albums MURMUR and RECKONING. With all the recognition for working with R.E.M. it was easy to overlook the fact that he had a rather fine band of his own with LET'S ACTIVE and even easier to overlook that MITCH EASTER has resurfaced with an excellent new release. (READ MORE)
CLICK HERE TO E-MAIL YOUR VOTE FOR MITCH EASTER