Qualifying Artists for the Next Winery Music Awards
October Elimination Round 5 (Finals!)
River Oaks Hot Springs & Spa , Paso Robles, CA
* Songs may take between a few seconds and a few minutes to load depending on your type of connection
Holiday And The Adventure Pop Collective
Encinitas, California
Two crazy vocal front men on fiddle, guitar, tuba, trumpet and piano perform a genre-swingin country, rock, pop, R&B, experimental jazz, jam.
The colorfully-monikered, California-based ensemble has already won enthusiastic acclaim for its "Adventure Pop" sound, displayed on indie releases and in their notoriously crazed live performances. Playing over 200 shows in the past two years, Damon Orion from the Santa Cruz Good Times calls them, "a true band for the new millennium."
Dominic Castillo & The Rock Savants
San Luis Obispo, California
Dominc is a jazz musician who studied music at Berklee in Boston and philosophy, literature, history and science at St. John’s College in Santa Fe. He has a formed a rock band to combine his studies along with the likeness of Elliot Smith, Elvis Costello, Radiohead, Jeff Buckley amongst others. "Writing songs, playing shows, recording with the Savants...the jazz and the books, the punk rock of my youth and Mom's soul music, all these apparently disparate elements seem to come together when I'm writing and recording," according to Castillo. Dominic is supported by a great band, The Rock Savants: Jonathan Barker on guitar, Nate Szytel on drums and Kelly Masigat on vocals/guitar/keys.
Shannon Curtis
Los Angeles, CA
When she was 7, her piano teacher told her she played like a boy. Today, Shannon Curtis still kills her piano and delivers a vocal performance that is, in her signature style, breathtakingly intimate and earsearingly powerful. The Los Angeles Times describes Shannon as "a beautiful piano player who sounds like the love child of Fiona Apple and Norah Jones." As a performer, she endears her audiences with her living room demeanor and sparkling humor. As a songwriter, she is candid and unafraid. Shannon is currently touring in support of her debut EP "Boomerangs & Seesaws," released in July 2007 on Saint Cloud Records.
Amber Norgaard
Tucson, Arizona
Amber Norgaard went home to Tucson, AZ after the second Elimination Round with a "Best Song" citation for her composition "Rising.". Amber then went on to win the Tucson Area Music Awards for Up And Coming Artist Of The Year. Amber's music is a mix of pop, folk and rock, written with well-crafted, honest lyrics that address the human experience. The TUCSON LIFESTYLE Magazine states she's "a singer/songwriter to be reckoned with," and THE IOWA ENTERTAINER comments, "Her lyrics don't paint a picture, they grab your arm."
Debra Arlyn
Debra Arlyn is a soulful piano-pop singer/songwriter with many accomplishments to boot. Debra won the "'06 singer/Songwriter Award", and was a finalist in the "Billboard World Songwriting Contest". Her music has been placed on the WB tv network and several independent films. By writing and producing her sophmore album, "Complicated Mess",
Debra won comparisions to Carole King and Alicia Keys. Most importantly, Debra has the ability to emotionally engage her audience and deliver an honest and dynamic performance.
Machine
Templeton, California
Machine was formed in 2005 out of the collaborative songwriting efforts of friends Mike Buzzetti and Rolf Gehrung. Rolf's experience with writing music for film and TV meshed well with Mike's expertise in recording and writing. Together they formed the original guts of Machine, a high-energy, dynamic Rock/Alternative three-piece band. By definition, a machine is a device that converts energy from one source to another, which is precisely what Rolf, Mike and drummer Trent Lockridge accomplish, on stage and in the studio. Machine is currently endorsed by Jagermeister and is touring the Western U.S. in support of their album.
September Elimination Round 4
Silver Horse Winery , Paso Robles, CA
* Songs may take between a few seconds and a few minutes to load depending on your type of connection
**Paper Tiger has decided to withdraw from the competition.
Fair Trade
Sacramento, California
Hidden somewhere between the standard classifications of Rock, Pop, Jazz and Blues lies the idealistic sound of Fair Trade, taking the Sacramento music scene by surprise. In 2004 they won Sacramento's "Battle of the Bands" contest, held at the Powerhouse Pub in Folsom, CA, and later went on to open for Melissa Etherage, Live, and Train. Their music is infectious, making your body groove to a truly original sound that touches all ages and emotions.
Vanessa Van Spall
San Francisco, California
Vanessa Van Spall won her first statewide songwriting competition in second grade.At 16, she recorded her first demo, which was "picked up" by an industry person. But after many detours in her life she came to the realization that she wouldn't find the fulfillment she was looking for in anything other than music. Vanessa's lyrics provide heartfelt, bittersweet and piercingly incisive reflections on the ups and downs she has been through, capturing multiple moods and styles from unplugged acoustic numbers to more synthesized '80s influenced songs.
Paper Tiger
San Francisco, California
Members of Paper Tiger all come from different musical backgounds and styles. Pulling musical inspiration from such outfits as Built to Spill, Minus the Bear,and Smashing Pumpkins, Paper Tiger has crafted a sound all their own. Real, true to form, and pretense-free, their rock core follows the path that great bands have forged before them. Thoughtful, intense lyrics and melodies take you on a musical tour of emotion while never veering from their roots.
Jane Bolduc
Los Angeles,
California
The LA Weekly has described Jane Bolduc as a performer "with a voice like a prairie tornado". She stirs her audience with an urgency and vitality embodied in her voice, her performance and her songwriting. Jane has won awards for her vocal and writing talents, including songwriting competitions sponsored by Wildflower Music Festival, Berklee College of Music, the Virginia Organization of Composers & Lyricists, and The Portland Songwriter's Association, as well as being selected as Best Female Vocalist at the Talent America competition in New York City. Following in the steps of such stellar singer/songwriter performers like Shawn Colvin, Bonnie Raitt, Patty Griffin and Sheryl Crow, Jane Bolduc's dynamic, passionate, insightful and well-crafted songs effortlessly traverse the pop, rock, folk and country genres.
Holiday And The Adventure Pop Collective
Encinitas, California
Two crazy vocal front men on fiddle, guitar, tuba, trumpet and piano perform a genre-swingin country, rock, pop, R&B, experimental jazz, jam.
The colorfully-monikered, California-based ensemble has already won enthusiastic acclaim for its "Adventure Pop" sound, displayed on indie releases and in their notoriously crazed live performances. Playing over 200 shows in the past two years, Damon Orion from the Santa Cruz Good Times calls them, "a true band for the new millennium."
August Elimination Round 3
Silver Horse Winery , Paso Robles, CA
* Songs may take between a few seconds and a few minutes to load depending on your type of connection
Laurie Morvan Band
Los Angeles, California
With her Stratocaster guitar, Laurie Morvan covers the full range of blues-- from blazing hot speed to playful finger-picking to melodic slide guitar. There is no doubt that Laurie’s guitar playing sets the tone for the band. With well-crafted songs that immediately engage the listener with both vocal and instrumental hooks, and story lines that delve into gut-level issues, Laurie's powerful vocals span every mood from self-reflection and pain to whimsy and rebellion. The red hot blues rock of the Laurie Morvan Band features songs with big choruses, storytelling lyrics, three-part harmonies and searing guitar work over solid, deep in the pocket, blues rockin' grooves.
Assaf Spector & Birthday On Mercury
Brooklyn, New York
Born in Israel,
Assaf Spector started his performance and production career in music as a bass player, drawing influences from classic rock and eastern music while recording and performing with Israel's top artists. 1994, Assaf moved to New York and immersed himself in the sound of funk, r&b, hip-hop, blues and rock. He later joined the tour of Warner Brothers’ recording artist Lizzy West as a programmer and keyboardist and then formed a band with called "Nanuchka" where he performed as a drummer. As a producer, Assaf devotes himself to produce established and up & coming artists. As a singer songwriter, Assaf gets to unleash all his emotion under the influence of all the music that he had been explored and exposed to.
Sarah Hethcoat
Los
Angeles, California
At twelve, Sarah Hethcoat began studying voice and truly started to excel. She soon found herself landing leading roles in the world of musical theatre. She has appeared in over 25 musicals, including Civic Light Opera, Children's Theatre, Regional Theatre, and Touring Shows including London-based productions. As much as Sarah loved the stage, she felt she needed to venture outside of the characters she portrayed and come into her own sound and tell her own stories. In finding her own voice, her music evokes raw feeling and intensity. Her sound is best described as Pop/Rock with a danceable edge and energy and powerful hooks.
Matthias
Los Osos,
California
Matthias has been improvising songs since he was age eleven. He describes himself as an abstract expressionist song painter. A New York City artist raised on jazz, folk and rock, he is an automatic writer, a jazz singer, and guitarist whose voice is often compared to Don Henley, his guitar to Pat Metheny,and his lyrics to Bob Dylan. His funk band Body practices free jazz funk with his live gigs often including completely on the spot improvised songs. Audiences are amazed!
Justin Hopkins & The
Guilt
Hermosa Beach, California
Originally hailing from Portland, OR, Justin Hopkins and camp moved to Los Angeles in 2004 to record their follow up to their Building EP, and to get out of the Portland rain. Once they had sufficiently surfed their way towards inspiration, they began recording with producer Steve Sundholm and honed their distinctly un-distinct sound over the next couple years. Along with their self-made accomplishments, they have bonded many strong musical relationships. As part of a thriving hotel cafe scene, Hopkins has co-written and played with over a hundred different songwriters in LA, including Babyface, Carol Bayer- Sager, Shawn Mullins, Scott Fisher, Josh Radin, Zach Hexum, Stephanie Richards, Brian Arbuckle, Chris Pierce, Ernie Halter, Jesse Velenzuela, and many more.
July Elimination Round 2
Stacked Stone Cellars, Paso Robles, CA
* Songs may take between a few seconds and a few minutes to load depending on your type of connection
Andy Hill & Renee Safier & Hard Rain
Redondo Beach, California
Folk-Rock band with emphasis on great lyrics and melodies. Andy & Renee, along with their band Hard Rain, have taken their unique sound and multi-instrumental skills (as well as being riveting vocalists, they both play guitars and keyboards) to venues large and small all over the world.
Machine
Templeton, California
In 2004, Mike “Buzz” Buzzetti and Rolf Gehrung converged to covert their energy into a powerful combination of pop sensibility and modern rock and began to write and record one song per night using a drum machine as back beat. Leveraging Buzz’s past production work with the Plimsouls and Rolf’s experience writing songs for TV’s Dawson’s Creek and West Wing, they quickly had 12 tracks ready to record, but no drummer. The search for a drummer began. Two drummers came an went, and when all hope was lost, Trent Lockridge appeared, who answered an advertisement Buzz placed for a studio engineer apprentice. Trent happened to also be a drummer, and Machine was now complete.
Dominic Castillo & The Rock Savants
San Luis Obispo, California
Dominc is a jazz musician who studied music at Berklee in Boston and philosophy, literature, history and science at St. John’s College in Santa Fe. He has a formed a rock band to combine his studies along with the likeness of Elliot Smith, Elvis Costello, Radiohead, Jeff Buckley amongst others. "Writing songs, playing shows, recording with the Savants...the jazz and the books, the punk rock of my youth and Mom's soul music, all these apparently disparate elements seem to come together when I'm writing and recording," according to Castillo. Dominic is supported by a great band, The Rock Savants: Jonathan Barker on guitar, Nate Szytel on drums and Kelly Masigat on vocals/guitar/keys.
Delaney Gibson
Los Angeles, California
The press has described the budding singer/songwriter as “…An Undiscovered Brilliant Vocalist…” as recorded in the Ventura County Reporter. She has been honored by sharing the stage with many well known artists including: Barbara Streisand, Barry Manilow, Andrea Bocelli, and Russell Watson. Delaney was chosen to be one of a select number of performers invited to the 2007 Sedona Jam Emerging Artists Music Festival. She has starred on the Fox show “Boston Public” as a singer and dancer and MTV’s “My Own” remaking Natasha Bedingfield’s track, “These Words.” Delaney was given an honorable mention and received near perfect scores by the Billboard Song Contest for her song “Unattached.”
Amber Norgaard
Tucson, Arizona
Amber's music is a mix of pop, folk and rock. Written with well-crafted and honest lyrics, her songs address the human experience, touching issues that many people experience at some point in the journey of life. Amber was voted runner-up as the Up and Coming Artist of the Year in the Tucson Area Music Awards. She also received an "Honourable Mention" in the 2006 Singer/ Songwriter Awards.
June Elimination Round 1
Maloy O'Neill Vineyards, Paso Robles, CA
* Songs may take between a few seconds and a few minutes to load depending on your type of connection
Kerri Dopart
Kerri's songs touch emotional chords in everyone, reflecting a mix of her influences, like Faith Hill and Sarah McLachlan, and her own strength in original prose, magnetic melodies
and unique perspective, that when delivered with her head-turning angelic voice render listeners truly captivated. Her song Praying For An Earthquake earned Kerri the award for Female Vocalist of the Year – Country, by the Los Angeles Music Awards in 2006. She was also nominated for Female Singer/Songwriter of the Year.
Rocky Gaines
Rocky is a striking presence, an artist with an interestingly beautiful voice, commanding guitar accompaniment, and excellent songs, bringing an African-American influence to the traditional realm of Americana/Folk warmth and storytelling. Rocky Gaines has been selected a 2006 North East Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) Formal Showcase Artist!
Debra Arlyn
Debra Arlyn, an emerging piano-pop singer/songwriter, and Winner of the "2006 Singer/Songwriter Award", has defined her sound by producing her new album Complicated Mess. While being compared to Kelly Clarkson and Christina Aguilera, Arlyn maintains originality by blending classic songwriting (i.e. Carol King) with contemporary arrangements that move the listener beyond cookie-cutter pop.
Shannon Curtis
Shannon delivers a vocal performance that is, in her signature style, simultaneously intimate and powerful. Her tenure as the lead of modern rock band Paradigm gained her thousands of devoted fans nationwide. And now those very fans are falling in love with the newfound rawness and honesty that permeate her new solo project. Shannon draws comparisons to Fiona Apple and Sarah McLachlan and endears audiences with her living room demeanor and sparkling humor.
Kimberly Jean
Take a little bit of Sara Evans and add some Sugarland with a pinch of Gretchen to kick it up a notch. Stir it up and that's Kimberly Jean. She counts among her early musical influences such artists as George Jones, Alan Jackson and Martina McBride. Overwhelmed by over 64,000 plays of her music on ‘MySpace’ website. Kimberly recently released an independent CD titled “My Someday”, which has received great reviews, as well as being played on LA’s only country radio station, KHAY.
Results and Rankings
Click here to get the scoring of performances from previous Elimination Rounds, and check out the rankings to date. Postings will begin in May with the list of qualifying artists.
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