Best New Performer
|
20.0% Matt Sturm Band*
Others with Votes (more than one):
Black Cat Bone, Edible, Hoitey Toiteys, Jacobís Well, Kevin Hiatt Consort, Laura Marenco, Leeko, Matt Gates Band, Megan King Best New Band
Best New Solo Artist
* On the ballot
|
By the time the best new performer award was announced, I had made too many trips to the bar to think or act in anything resembling a professional manner. Matt Sturm recognized this immediately. “How much have you had to drink,” he asked. “Plenty,” I replied. “Driscoll’s buying.” I proceded to mumble a few questions the answers to which I can neither remember nor decipher from my scribblings. But then again, Sturm may have been on his way as well. At least that’s what he said when I caught up with him at B-Sharp Guitars. He also answered my questions, again. “It’s a great honor, to be honest with you,” he said of winning. “I was thinking Brown Bottle Band or Definitely Gary. I thought any bands that can draw close to 200 people on a Tuesday night should definitely win.” Sturm, who’s joined by guitarist Thom Grant of Red Ball Jets fame, and drummer Jamie Simon and bassist Jerry Sparkman, both formerly of the Blue Moon Boys, is also in the unique position of having won the Best New Performer award, twice, a fact he finds entertaining. Sturm, a Monroeville native, is one of the many talented new musicians who cut their teeth at local coffee houses, Toast & Jam, in particular, during open mic nights, where learning to play in front of an audience is for many young performamers tantamount to openeing their heart. It’s a lesson Sturm learned well, well enough to play with the likes of Grant, Simon and Sparkman. “That’s really the best part,” Sturm said. “They make it worthwhile and fun and exciting and a great experience.” |
Copyright 2004 Ad Media Inc.