2008 ROCKWIRED AWARDS

CONTENTS HOME BEST MALE ARTIST BEST FEMALE ARTIST BEST BAND BEST ALBUM BEST SONG VOTE NOW!!! POLLS CLOSE FEBRUARY 22, 2008 THE WINNERS  WILL BE ANNOUNCED SATURDAY MARCH 1, 2008 ON ROCKWIREDLIVE WITH YOUR HOST BRIAN LUSH ON CLICK ON THE LOGO ABOVE

THE NOMINEES FOR BEST SONG ARE: 'BLACK AND GOLD' SAM 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 'DEVIL'S ROAD' KING KARMA Just when you thought that good old-fashioned balls-to-the-wall blues-based hard rock was no more, along comes KING KARMA to prove you wrong. They may be slightly under the radar but thats got nothing to do with the raw power of this hard rock foursome. Their self-titled debut( KING KARMA, CENTURION RECORDS), produced by the legendary JIMMY JOHNSON (LYNYRD SKYNYRD, BOB SEGER) is the perfect introduction. It's been a while since we've heard rock n roll served up with this much gusto and passion (vocals by SHAUN WILLIAMSON). Ax-man MARKUS WOLFE gives us one of the great guitar performances in recent years while TODD RONNING on bass and RICK FEDYK on drums provide us with that never failing, thunderous, LED ZEPPELIN-ESQUE rhythm section. KING KARMA are definitely one of the tightest rock n roll packages around (get it out of the gutter!!!). Just give the tracks BREATHE, DEVIL'S ROAD, and I'M LISTENING a spin. This stuff is addicting! (READ MORE) CLICK HERE TO E-MAIL YOUR VOTE FOR KING KARMA 'PALM OF YOUR HAND' VANESSA VAN SPALL Singer-songwriter VANESSA VAN SPALL didn't simply happen upon music. It was something that was always with her. At the age of 16, VAN SPALL recorded a demo that actually ended up in the right hands. A deal was in the works, but life had otehr plans for VANESSA. You see, the deal was never signed. This was no mere oversight by an administrative assistant at some record company. VANESSA simply walked away. "I think was a lot of things; fear of success and fear of failure, and a fear of confronting your dream." says VAN SPALL. "It's like you set this goal for yourself and then suddenly, the possibility of failure is right in front of you. Maybe, I wasn't ready to face that yet at that age. I also kind of felt that my life was pulling me in other directions as well." (READ MORE) CLICK HERE TO E-MAIL YOUR VOTE FOR VANESSA VAN SPALL 'HIGHWAY ONE' DEAD ROCK WEST Few bands successfully walk that delicate line between loud, gritty four-to-the-floor rock n roll and the sweet, plaintive sounds of country as the Los Angeles-based DEAD ROCK WEST. Fronted by lead singers, FRANK LEE DRENNEN and CINDY WASSERMAN, the band is getting numerous comparisons to that other L.A. based band X, fronted by that legendary team of JOHN DOE and EXENE CERVENKA. "It's funny. We've been getting the EXENE CERVENKA/JOHN DOE comparison a lot and I find it kind of curious because when I started the band I was thinking more along the lines of EMMYLOU HARRIS and GRAM PARSONS." says singer/guitarist FRANK LEE DRENNEN. " I just find it curious how people relate to things. I know how I come at it but that doesn't mean that that is going to be a listeners experience." (READ MORE) CLICK HERE TO E-MAIL YOUR VOTE FOR DEAD ROCK WEST 'KILLIN' WHEEL' KAZ MURPHY Singer-Songwriter KAZ MURPHY is three albums into his career as a solo recording artist, yet his latest release 'HOME FOR MISFITS' has all of the energy and excitement of a debut album. This CD is more than a mere collection of roots rock songs. It's a colorful cast of characters from the teenaged girl freshout of high school and off to the Iraq War in KILLIN' WHEEL, the outsider in the City of Angels in WAITIN' ON ELVIS, or the crazy old lady in the streets who partied with all the movie stars back in the 50's  on ANYTHING SHE WANTS. These poetic portraits are given the Americana Rock treatment and will without a doubt bring back a memory or two of WARREN ZEVON or GRAM PARSONS. "People call it Roots Rock but I think it's all just Country Music, really." says MURPHY of his music and the Southern California roots rock scene which he is a part of. "It  [The music scene] goes all the way back to the western swing bands that were in LA for years in the twenties and thirties and all the way up to guys like  BUCK OWENS, DWIGHT YOAKAM and GRAM PARSONS. Theres a whole scene of bands that tie into that and really it's an authentic western culture." (READ MORE) CLICK HERE TO E-MAIL YOUR VOTE FOR KAZ MURPHY