"The johnny's"

I have decided by my own accord, to recognize some musicians, bands and people in our scene. I have tons of praise for the jammers in our area. Here are my own categories and who I have chosen. No order or anything.

Coolest CD cover: This one goes to Artemia. I believe their singer Blaine is the one who painted it. It's very cool and original. They also win for coolest fliers too. Look at the one picture from them on Artemia's Spotlight Lick. Pure awesomeness.

Musician to look out for in 2012: This is a tie for me. Both people I have choose are brilliant at several instruments. One is Evan Miller. I met him a while ago. I heard him playing drums and was FLOORED. Heard him play bass, my jaw dropped. Heard him play guitar and was FLOORED again. I was so impressed I hooked him up with Rob Boggs to work with us at Quest Sound. The second person is Greg Warnier. The same goes for him as went for evan. Amazing drummer, bassist and guitar player. The kid has the chops and the passion. Expect great things from these two in 2012.

Band your going to have the most fun seeing: This band is False Flag. You will always have fun going to see them. They gave me the pleasure of sitting in with them once. They released a cool cd this year too.

Coolest "New" Band: She and She. If you have been in the scene you have known Brandy Dougless from her solo work. This is what she is doing now. Greg Warnier on drums, a Kate Anderson on bass and the biggest singing secret in Augusta, Drea Suarez. The band plays with a love for what they do, have great harmonies and have a great sound.

Best Sounding CD: Aretmia. Bar none Eric Rinker has the best ear for recording in our area. If you like their music or not there is NO DENYING how well that cd sounds. He has a gift. He would corner the market for a studio in our area if he wanted too. I have listened to a bunch of tracks coming from our area. There are some good things coming from other people, Eric just takes it to a new level.

Band Whos Time Has Come: Radar Cinema. I have watched these guys for years work their asses off to get a solid line up and sound. They achieved that in 2011. They released a killer and ambitious cd , Bird meets Worm, and really hit their stride this year. Congrats guys. Your hard work paid off.

Band who I am glad did a re-union: JJ Maj. Although I missed it due to being sick, they are a local band that did a re-union that actually should have did one. One of the best local bands ever.

Favorite Place to Play and Hear a Band: The Cork and Bull in Aiken SC. Check it out and you will see why. People pack the place out and LOVE live music.

Best promoter of local music or their own band: Michael "Dork" Dinkins. He promotes, promotes , promotes and does it without over hyping or annoying the hell out of you. He puts his money where his mouth is too. He will go to shows just as much as he asks you to go to his. his bands always kick ass too. he never makes a false promise about "how badass his show is gonna be" or load up your facebook with crap. He does promotion well and actually makes you want to come out to a show.

Best Writers of Augusta Music: Tie between Stoney Cannon and Brian "stak" Allen. Stoney knows the local scene better than anyone and just plain writes good. he keeps you interested in his piece, even if you dont know about local bands. Brian writes well too. His best writing quality to me is his honesty. Most local music writers write only good things about local bands ( i can see why, its a small town and everyone is friends or wants to be) but Brian is honest. If he tells you something it's because he is really thinking it. He doesnt go out of his way to write crap on someone just to fling it. Good or bad he tells you his opinion. I like that. Not everything is good.


Band i Like to See: Electric Voodoo. Riley williams is a great guitar player and his band plays some killer tunes. Big props to them. Go see them. Do it. I tell you, Do It NOW!


Most Original Sound: Sibling String. They are made up of guitar/vocals Jacob Beltz, Bass Deveron Roof, Guitar Mike Baidime, drums Dave Mercer and multi instrumentalist Henry Wynn. They play alot downtown and go see why. No other band plays the instruments that they do and make them cool. Killer band with some of the best players in our area.

These are what I think was the tops for 2011. At least at the moment I was writing this. There is SO MUCH good music in our area. These bands and people are just what tickled my fancy for the past year. I am excited to see what comes out in 2012. Cheers!