2010 Best Local Rock CD Release -- Hard Rock/Metal
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44.23% Kill the Rabbit, Pieces*
Others with Votes (more than one):
The Staggerers, Year of the Bastard
Best Local CD Release -- Rock
* On the ballot
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The guys in Kill the Rabbit were sick as dogs on Whammy night, but you'd never know it. When local disc jockey Jason Lee and Three Rivers Festival Executive Director Jack Hammer announced that KTR won the Whammy for Best Hard Rock CD Release for their debut album, Pieces, they jumped up as if nothing were amiss, and, having given a few shout-outs to their fans and Dan Middleton at Digitracks (who produced the album), immediately began hugging everyone in sight -- their Derby Girl escort, Hammer, Lee, me. It was the first time I think a rock n' roll band almost brought a tear to my eye. They look so tough on stage, but they were genuinely moved by the whole thing. It was their first Whammy after all. "When we got that call, we were stunned for a minute," said frontman and master of the skinny jean Scotty Hayes. "We didn't know what to say. Marc and I hadn't prepared anything. We were just kind of like, 'Uh, wow ...'" So imagine how they felt when, at the end of the evening, their name was called for the Performer of the Year Whammy. "We were so excited. I'm still excited," Hayes said. "I'm as giddy as a schoolgirl." Speaking of giddy schoolgirls, when Kill the Rabbit followed their Performer of the Year acceptance with a 20-minute set that practically blew the doors off the place (and Piere's has some strong doors), the women in the audience seemed to shed 10-20 years. They were all in middle and high school again, staring up at the stage with worshipping eyes and singing along with their arms ceiling-ward. "That's why we do what we do," Hayes said. "It really touches us to see our fans singing our own songs back to us. I don't think it gets better than that." It very well might get better than that for KTR, who not only took top honors at this year's whatzup Battle of the Bands and had the pleasure of covering Tom Petty at Down the Line 5 at the Embassy, but now have the joy of seeing Pieces on the shelves at Best Buy stores all over Ohio, Indiana and Michigan. They've even got a gig at the Chicago's iconic Elbow Room in May. "It's been a great year," Hayes said. "A really great year." Especially when you consider the fact that KTR originally formed in 1993. Primarily a cover band, they broke up about four years later and didn't really reunite until 2008. A foursome at that time with Hayes on vocals, Marc Baker on bass, Sheridan Lippy on drums and Bob Finger on guitar, they made it to round two of BOTB. Then came 2009. Finger left to pursue other projects, and Tony Gardner and Mike "Patch" Adams joined on lead and rhythm guitars, respectively. It turned out to be the beginning of big things. They entered the Battle of the Bands and won handily. Then, two months later, Pieces came out to great fanfare. Soon KTR were booked every weekend everywhere. It'd be enough to give lots of guys a big head, but the members of Kill the Rabbit are famously humble. They're also great admirers of the Fort Wayne music scene. "The nominees that night are all fantastic bands and good guys," Hayes said. "We love Krimsha. Krimsha are the real deal, man. I love their music, and we've been honored to be classed with them a lot. And Teays Vein. Wow. All those hard rockers. They're awesome." The future is looking bright for Hayes and his mates, and, to steal the title from arguably their most popular song, there's a good chance no mister will ever condescend to them again. It's almost as if they can do no wrong in this town. They might, however, want to tone down their affectionate natures. The sickness on Whammy night might, Hayes said, have been preventable. "Our girlfriend's drummer said we should probably stop kissing each other all the time. Maybe she's right." (Deborah Kennedy) |
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