Local artists wax Grammatica
The Grammy Awards may not go to the artists the local bands are pulling for due to the lack of attention they are giving the “mainstream” tunes, but music is as alive and kicking in Athens as it should be.
“Good music makes me feel like composing and performing,” said local musician Claire Campbell. She’s better known as one half of the sisterly duo that belongs to the band Hope for agoldensummer.
ALLISON WEISS MAKES HER PICKS
Pick for Record of the Year: Gnarls Barkley
Quote: “These guys put together something really innovative and should be rewarded for that originality. The production of this song took a lot of creativity.”
Pick for Best New Artist:
Imogen Heap
Quote: “She’s got something to offer that’s a lot more original than most mainstream female singer/songwriters,” Weiss said. “Her voice and musical arrangements are both very different, interesting and beautiful.”
Final Word:
“As a musician, it’s important to know what’s going on in the mainstream so you can decide whether you want to follow that or come up with your own thing,” Weiss said. “Plus, mainstream music is there for a reason. If it’s awesome to somebody, it could be awesome to me. I’ll give anything a chance.”
THE 49TH ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS
When: 8 p.m. Sunday
Where: CBS
More Information: www.grammy.com
Mainstream music is usually not chock full of talent, Campbell said. She said she believes the Grammy’s are more of a sales push than a display of actual ability.
“On rare occasions it actually merits remark,” she said. “Most of these people probably didn’t even write these songs, and I can guarantee you that if the Grammys were based on artistic merit and not on album sales and modern technology, then either the Dixie Chicks would take all or people I know would have been nominated.”
JoJo Glidewell of the Modern Skirts said he also thought music in the limelight was without much of the creativity found in the local music scene. He said the other members in his band try to listen to all different types of music but inevitably end up steering clear of the MTV hits.
“Much of it, in my opinion, is thoughtless and derivative and utter garbage,” he said. “Occasionally, there is a band that does something interesting or really substantial, but that’s typically the exception rather than the rule.”
Record of the Year
For the locals, Gnarls Barkley took the cake in racking up most of their votes on Record of the Year. The award is given to the single or track deemed most worthy from an artist’s album.
With the song, “Crazy,” the anomaly of Gnarls Barkley’s music attracted much attention from the musicians interviewed.
Allison Weiss, a local singer/songwriter, said, “These guys put together something really innovative and should be rewarded for that originality. The production of this song took a lot of creativity.”
The other nominees – James Blunt, Mary J. Blige, Dixie Chicks and Corinne Bailey Rae – were barely noticeable to Weiss and the other artists.
“I’m going to take this opportunity to say that James Blunt is probably one of those most annoying singer/songwriters I’ve ever listened to,” Weiss said. “If he wins anything this year, I’ll be thoroughly disappointed in the future of mainstream music.”
Best New Artist
The Best New Artist nominees are Imogen Heap, James Blunt, Chris Brown, Corinne Bailey Rae and Carrie Underwood.
Weiss and Campbell said the award should go to Imogen Heap. They agreed that she was original and interesting, if only because of her name.
"She's got something to offer that's a lot more original than most mainstream female singer/songwriters," Weiss said. "Her voice and musical arrangements are both very different, interesting and beautiful."
Campbell said it probably doesn't take more than liking someone's name or recognizing someone from an annoying song to pick the winners. She said she didn't knowing most of the nominees or their music besides Imogen Heap.
"I like her name, so, um, let's vote for her since that is probably about how much thought is put into these nominations anyway," Campbell said.
Song of the Year
The category for Song of the Year is given to the songwriter of a single or track from an artist’s album.
The nominees are “Be Without You” (Mary J. Blige), “Jesus, Take the Wheel” (Carrie Underwood), “Not Ready to Make Nice” (Dixie Chicks), “Put Your Records On” (Corinne Bailey Rae) and “You’re Beautiful” (James Blunt).
Campbell said Carrie Underwood should win for her song’s ability to accomplish what country artists are fated to do – whine.
“Country seems to be the only genre where you are expected to make music that uses every possible trick to wrench every last tear from the listener’s bloodshot eyes while he is driving his big rig home at 3 a.m., hopped up on cocaine and QT big gulp,” she said.
Local music rocks
Payton Bradford, drummer from Ice Cream Socialists, disagreed on every category in saying that all of the awards should be given to local or less mainstream bands. He said he didn’t believe the nominees were worthy of the awards they would be given, with the exception of Gnarls Barkley.
Naming artists such as The Decemberists, the Drive-By Truckers and The Hold Steady, Bradford said some bands rocked in 2006.
“The Decemberists’ record is great – better than anything they’ve ever recorded,” he said.
“The Walkmen made their best album as well, which is fantastic garage-y songwriting. The Wood Brothers’ record is the most original blend of folk, jazz, blues and bluegrass that I’ve heard in a while,” he said.
The other bands mentioned many local artists that they believed were making a difference in music locally such as Of Montreal, Venice is Sinking and Anna Kramer.
Dangermouse from Gnarls Barkley, hailing from Athens, can be proud of his friends back home who support his nomination, beyond the other artists involved in the Grammys.
“As a musician, it’s important to know what’s going on in the mainstream so you can decide whether you want to follow that or come up with your own thing,” Weiss said.
“Plus, mainstream music is there for a reason. If it’s awesome to somebody, it could be awesome to me. I’ll give anything a chance,” she said.
