2007 Performer of the Year
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20.00% Plow*
Others with Votes (more than one):
* On the ballot
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With four years of Whammy-filled award shows now under their belts – and the Performer of the Year award again firmly in their grasp – Plow have established themselves as one of Fort Wayne’s favorite bands. Their hard rock sound and serious musicianship – as well as the fun they obviously have sharing it with their audience – have launched the former rivals who comprise Plow into a band that plans to stick around for a lot of years and future Whammy shows. After overcoming some good-natured teasing and competitive rivalry, Dan Middleton and Eric Bair of Spork were used to vying with Shane Wyant’s Tested on Animals for gigs at bars around town. But when Bair and Wyant met to form a band together, enlisting Middleton to join them, that rivalry quickly became friendship and led to a band that, four years after its formation, has tallied nine Whammy Awards. Rounding out the band is Jason Bair, the latest in a line of drummers who have completed the quartet. “The fourth or fifth drum change later, here we are,” says Middleton. “For some reason we have a hard time keeping drummers. We’re like Spinal Tap, I guess.” Middleton thinks the key to Plow’s success has been in their change of focus, becoming more audience-driven in their approach to performing. “We’re trying to do something that other people like,” he said. “I think in our previous bands we always wanted to play what we wanted to play and were playing mostly for ourselves. And that can be good in some ways, but it’s not as good for the fans or the bar owners. You have to play what people want to listen to. Now we may learn a song but throw it out if the audience doesn’t respond to it. And we keep learning songs and throwing out songs until now our setlist is very strong. “We decided that we wanted to make money and to be popular but have fun, as well. So we work hard to play what people like to hear.” Wyant says playing last year’s Three Rivers Festival, as well as opening once again for Sevendust, provided highlights for Plow in 2007. He and Middleton both say that their Whammy awards – especially for Performer of the Year – mark an important accomplishment, one they anticipated from early the year before. “Winning the Whammy for Performer of the Year, as well as others, is probably our biggest and proudest achievement of the year,” says Wyant. “To even get nominated is really an honor in itself. There are so many great bands in this town, and so much talent.” “We start to think about the Whammys in the middle of the year,” says Middleton. “We definitely tell all of our fans to please vote for us. But we can’t control [what they do], so it means a lot when they actually do. And, of course, we all vote for ourselves.” If the band had any reservations, they were apparent after they claimed their first 2007 Whammy of the evening, the award for Best Metal/Hard Rock Performer. Their ambivalence about taking the prize in that category was evident in the moments immediately following. Given a few hours to consider it, Middleton says he and his bandmates are still unsure of their worthiness in that category. “The way I feel, and I think I speak for the rest of the band when I say this, there are a lot of really good metal bands in Fort Wayne. I’m a recording engineer and have my own studio, Digitracks, and I work with a lot of metal bands who work really hard. We’re hard rock, but Best Metal Band should really go to a band that puts forth the effort and the time to write their own material. But that’s the only category that I would question. We’re happy to accept all of the other awards in other categories in the future.” Those other awards included Best Rock Performer/Covers, Best Live Performer/Band and, of course, Performer of the Year. For all, especially the latter, the members of Plow thank many who made it possible. “I’d just like to thank everyone who participated and voted,” says Middleton. “And I’d especially like to thank Doug [Driscoll] for everything he does. There’s just nothing else out there like the Whammys, and all of his efforts are very much appreciated.” “We can’t thank every single person who voted enough,” says Wyant. “To pull out four awards this year is just unreal. We love playing and doing what we do. We put a lot of time and effort into our live shows and it feels great that everyone voted for us and it really shows that this town loves to rock, because that’s all we want to do! We love all the fans, and we promise to keep Plowing through 2008!” Plow are already putting together a great campaign to defend their title next year and continue to work at Digitracks to perfect their sound. Wyant says fans can expect more of what they already love. “For 2008 we plan to rock even harder than 2007. We plan on playing down in Indy and the surrounding areas more. We won’t be letting up anytime soon, so playing new songs and getting the crowd hyped is definitely in the very near future.” Middleton seconds that emotion. “It’s been a great voyage, and we plan to keep doing more well into the future.” (Michele DeVinney) |
Copyright 2008 Ad Media Inc.
