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2005 Best Country Music Performer 22.26% Dakota Sunrise* / Legendary Trainhoppers * (tie)
Others with Votes (more than one):
* On the ballot |
THE LEGENDARY TRAINHOPPERS & DAKOTA SUNRISE (tie)
It doesn’t happen often. A tie, that is. But here we are. In the Best Country Band category repeat champions Dakota Sunrise and the recently-formed Legendary Trainhoppers got the same number of votes. But really, when you look at the style of music each band plays, voters essentially came from separate camps. Just as "metal" and "punk" fall within the "rock" genre, Dakota Sunrise and Legendary Trainhoppers make up two sides of the "country" coin. Dakota Sunrise, professionally managed by DeLinRick’s Booking and Management Agency, also won the award last year. Playing a staple of Top-40 country radio covers and southern rock classics draws from the honky-tonk side of the genre and keeps the band in demand and constant rotation at the handful of country music venues in the area. The name Dakota Sunrise was crafted to give each member a vested interest and recognition in the band, specifically - (Curran and company (Curran lead vocals and guitar; D-Dallas McFarland (great country name, by the way) lead vocals, rhythm guitar and mandolin; A-Aaron Wood drums and humor; K-Jack Martinez vocals and lead guitar; O-John Curran lead vocals and guitar; T-Matt Wood, vocals and bass guitar; and A-Brian Hitchcock, keys and vocals. The group’s greatest strengths reside in unforgettable harmonies, memorable original songs, and ability to engineer the best sound in the Tri-State area. The group has spent plenty of time in the studio writing and recording their own songs. as well. Last year Dakota Sunrise was so wrapped up in the studio working on a follow-up to The Outlaw their newest released album "After the Dawn", that they completely forgot about the Whammy ceremony. The album is available for sale at any show, and you can view a copy of the cover by visiting the bands website at www.dakota-sunrise.com. If you ask any of the members what keeps them going week to week, it’s the fans and their support that makes it all possible. As for Legendary Trainhoppers, guitarist Matt Kelley pegs Bob Dylan as providing the musical inspiration for the band. "No Bob equals no Legendary Trainhoppers," Kelly says. By extension, Dylan leads to Woody Guthrie and the folk tradition of country music. The Trainhoppers (Kelley on guitar, mandolin and banjo; Jon Ross, lead drums; Chris Dodds, vocals, guitar and keyboards; Matt Sturm, vocals, keyboards and guitar; Dan Smith, vocals and guitar; Damian Miller, bass and vocals; and Phil Potts, lead guitar and vocals) have cultivated the Legendary part of their name to give the band and music a timeless, haunting feel. Even the artwork on Ramble On, their debut CD, a train chugging around a mountain bend, suggests a life on the road, a hobo who has vanished when you turn for a second look. The scene carries weight, like the decades old black and white photo of Kelly’s great-grandfather and friends holding instruments that is partly responsible for the band’s inception. When asked how many years the band has been around, Kelly says one, or one hundred. Stashing the myth for a moment, the band came into being last year when the members of popular local bands, Go Dog Go, (Kelley, Dodds) Brown Bottle Band (Potts, Miller, Smith, Ross) and Matthew Sturm Band (Sturm) in what is fair to describe as a supergroup. Their wide-ranging music styles and musicianship brought the band critical acclaim locally and nationally as well. The Trainhoppers made their public debut in front of renowned producer Scott Mathews last summer, then headed west to record for Mathews at his Marin County California studio. While the Trainhoppers may not be the first band that comes to mind when thinking country music Whammy, Kelly quickly puts such thoughts to rest. "Actually, being nominated for Best Country Band really is something of a dream come true," he says. "I absolutely love it." |
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