Arts & Entertainment

Local talent is rockin'

Wammie nominations are rollin' in

by Jessica Hayes

Tail Light Blues by Karen Collins and the Backroads Band gets several nominations for 2007 Wammies

Awards season is once again upon us, and the Washington Area Music Association (WAMA), is gearing up to recognize local musical talent with its annual Wammie awards. Never mind the writers strike or Joan Rivers’ intrusive questions, the Wammies are designed to specifically recognize and promote the achievements of area talent.

Local Takoma Park music label, Azalea City Recordings (ACR) is a folk and roots music label that maintains strong ties to its community. Far from the pop-music craze that has dominated much of the national music scene, Azalea City Recordings, begun in 1996 by Grammy Award winning engineer and producer Charlie Pilzer, promotes musicians whose work reflects the traditional music and folk sounds that are reflective of the local community from which they are drawn. “Takoma Park is lucky to have lots of really talented musicians who perform locally but maintain a national reputation as well,” said Pilzer. Having won the 2006 Wammie for Best Studio Engineer as well as taking home a special recognition award from the DC music community, Pilzer is somewhat of an authority on the importance of the awards and in supporting area artists. “ACR tries to find artists of a particular merit and skill, so we appreciate it when our peers in the industry recognize and nominate our artists.”

ACR boasts a large number of 2007 nominations. Karen Collins and The Backroads Band’s album Tail Light Blues, for instance, has received several nods, including Country Vocalist, Country Duo/Group and Record Design. Their sound, a mix of honky-tonk and traditional country, lends a strong voice to their original and cover tunes. Another of ACR’s artists, Jon Carroll, is no stranger to the Wammies, having been awarded the 2006 Wammie for Best Instrumentalist in the Pop/Rock category. This multi-talented artist, who has collaborated with such industry acts as Linda Ronstadt and Tom Jones, is up for 2007 Wammies in several categories, including Rock Male Vocalist, Musician of the Year and Album of the Year for his soulful album Love Returns.

Another local group, self-proclaimed “Afrofunk Big Band” group Chopteeth has been nominated for three Wammies, including Artist of the Year and Best World Music Group. Previously nominated, though never awarded, the group is pulling for a win for 2007. “A Wammie can help promote and market a group in terms of name recognition and will help to draw attention to the group’s career,” said Tom Carrico, manager of Chopteeth. The Takoma Park-based group boasts a 14-member band and has a sound that can be best described as a jazz-tribal music-classic dance-rumba-ska mix. The group is regularly featured at local DC, Maryland and Virginia venues and is known to wow the crowd with lyrics in as many as seven languages.

Wammies are awarded in a variety of categories from Best Instrumentalist in the Traditional Folk category to Best Record Design and everything in-between. “When people think of Washington, they don’t think of a thriving music center,” says Pilzer. “Mike Schreibman, founder of WAMA, deserves credit for promoting Washington and its music community.” Regardless of the winners and runners-up, area residents are supporting all of the local musicians.WAMA is an organization comprised of music industry professionals who strive to encourage and showcase the diverse musical talents of the local area. The main goal of the organization is to “promote Washington area music in general and to achieve national recognition for the region as an important center for live and recorded music.” WAMA promotes a range of talent, from the blues, folk and cabaret to jazz, rap and roots rock. The organization offers many programs for local and aspiring artists, including informational seminars and newsletters detailing issues that affect music industry professionals and charitable events to benefit the communities in which the artists reside.

The 22nd Annual Wammie Awards will be handed out on Sunday, February 17, at The State Theater in Falls Church, Va. Tickets are $18.00 for WAMA members and $25.00 for non-WAMA members and can be purchased online at wamadc.com.

David Eisner and
the Wammie

House of Musical Traditions owner and Institute of Musical Traditions president David Eisner was a WAMMIE award winner in 2005 for his work as a sound engineer. Eisner began his activities in sound engineering in 1985.
When asked about the award during an interview for the Voice Gift Guide in December he said that he was much moved by the welcome that had always been extended to him by the community of professional sound engineers to whom he owed much of the depth and knowlege he now posesses in that field. He “loves the work” and looks forward to much more of it in the years to come.