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2007 Best Live Duo 40.41% Left Lane Cruiser*
Others with Votes (more than one):
Lee Miles & Kyle Morris, Island Vibe
* On the ballot
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Drummer Brenn Beck and singer/guitarist Joe Evans will never forget 2007. Along with taking the Fort Wayne area’s countless stages as much as any two other bands combined, Beck and Evans recorded their third studio album and signed a deal with a nationally distributed record label, Alive Natural Sound Records. Oh, and Evans also finished up a somewhat celebrated (read: award-winning) run as an undergrad at IPFW. Beck? Oh, he only helped shape the future of the area’s live music scene by – along with local promoter Jeff “Ando” Anderson – establishing a Hillgrass Bluebilly Entertainment presence in Fort Wayne, a move that has already brought a number of national artists to Fort Wayne stages. Just another year for the city’s two hardest working roots-minded blues rockers, right? Wrong. Left Lane Cruiser won Best Performer awards in the blues, rock and punk categories. The real victory, however, is the support they received from their peers after more or less hogging up three of the night’s genre Whammy Awards, more than any other single entity in a voting season. If you’re somehow not too familiar with the band, well, they play a raucous brand of Mississippi hill country blues with the energy of a garage-rock or punk-rock outfit. Loudest band in town? You bet. While collecting their awards and playing a memorable set on Whammy night, Beck and Evans could be found just about everywhere, maybe even trying to give their Best Punk Performer and Best Rock Performer awards away to the bands they felt deserved them. After winning the Punk award, for example, Beck took the mic with one thing on his mind: Pleasing Melani. “They’re the hardest working band in town,” he shouted to a cheering crowd. Evans and Beck could also win, if it existed, an award for Most Accessible and Friendly Rockers. Or how about Music Scene Builders of the Year? Their knack for friendly networking and constant hard work – as well as their always growing family-tight fanbase, which extends far outside of the whatzup area – has benefited other bands through the years, helping the city’s music scene continue to grow, both in quality and size. If you don’t yet have Left Lane Cruiser’s recently released major label debut record, Bring Yo’ Ass to the Table, well, do yourself a favor and pick it up. Hard-working, heavy-hitting, full-moon-howling and award-winning – Left Lane Cruiser ain’t no joke. (Greg Locke) |
Copyright 2008 Ad Media Inc.
