Best Solo Acoustic Performer 39.50% Sunny Taylor* 20.04% Kenny Taylor* 17.15% David Todoran* 10.21% Matt Sturm* 7.13% Matt Gates* 1.54% Jim Martin 0.77% Mike Conley Others with Votes: Chris Dodds, Kevin Hiatt, Michael Schwarte, Angie Baker, Brian Lemert, Brian Martin, Hootchie Mama Getdown, Jill Mozema, Jim Miller, Joey O., John Forbing, Kevin Suraci, Matt Connelly, Sarah Brown, Toots 2000 Winner: Sunny Taylor 1999 Winner: Sunny Taylor 1998 Winner: Sunny Taylor 1997 Winner: NA * On the ballot

Matt Sturm, Sunny Taylor’s Evil Twin, said it best: “Maybe next year you guys should have a category like “Best Solo Acoustic Artist that’s not Sunny Taylor.” Taylor swept up four Whammy Awards and swept away the audience with a blistering set, backed by her new band, known simply as Sunny Taylor. She even beat last year’s total of Whammies by one. Is there anything this young woman can’t do? Don’t bet on it. Taylor and her new band will be playing a showcase in a couple of weeks in Louisville for representatives of Warner Bros. Records, a gig arranged by her new management company, 3.1 Productions of Nashville, Tennessee. If the showcase goes well — along with a demo CD she and the band are recording for 3.1 — who knows what success may lie ahead? Taylor and Sturm played the old switcheroo at the Whammy show. After a few minutes onstage with her now-former band, Taylor left and was replaced at the singer’s stand by Sturm, who will take her place and rename the band, Mad Room. After playing for a while, they all left the stage and Taylor returned with the new lineup: Phil Bradley on drums, Del Witte on guitar and Patrick Gillan on bass. They opened with Taylor’s “The Child That I Am” and proceeded to leave the audience with their collective mouths agape. “I loved the guys from the old band, but they did not share my passion to play. They all had steady jobs and girl friends and it got to be too much for them. I had played with other bands, but not full-time. The new guys play with a little more energy, they’re a little more edgy,” Taylor said. The new lineup signals a change, Taylor said, to a new approach to her music: More rock n’ roll, less pop. Taylor’s first solo performance was nearly six years ago. It must seem like a lifetime to her now. And judging by her latest performance at the Whammy show, things should get very interesting. Soon.

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