What’s your favorite nation? Sammies nomination!

SN&R’s Sound Advice music column goes prime time to champion the 2010 Sacramento Area Music Award nominees

Jake Desrochers, who moonlights as DJ Blackheart, tears into the Les Paul. His two kids, Jaden and Hunter,are what motivate him to do what he does.

Jake Desrochers, who moonlights as DJ Blackheart, tears into the Les Paul. His two kids, Jaden and Hunter,are what motivate him to do what he does.

Photo By David Jayne

Find out more online at www.sammies.com.

Dear music scene: Please quit MySpace immediately and move on with your social-networking lives.

I’m serious. I was shocked to discover that MySpace even still exists. And that nearly every Sacramento band or musician’s MySpace page looks so wack it apparently was designed by the same colorblind deejay who learned his Web skills from Highlights magazine.

Please, it’s so much easier to share music on Facebook, or sites such as Bandcamp and SoundCloud. So unless Tom really is your uncle, it’s time to hit delete.

Here’s why: This year, we decided to let SN&R’s readers bear the burden of selecting the 2010 Sacramento Area Music Award nominees. All SN&R had to do was tally up the votes, plug bands into appropriate genres and call it a day. It should have been so dang easy.

But every rosy idea has a thorny hiccup. And who knew voters would end up nominating thousands of musicians for this year’s Sammies, which meant verifying artists’ names and viability on your awful MySpace pages. For hours. Even days.

I tried to pawn this off on interns, but they’d conveniently all disappeared to get someone coffee. What a thankless task, this Sammies 2010 ordeal.

All right, so I’m just fishing for sympathy.

It was 100 percent worth it.

Yeah, award shows such as the Grammys tend to celebrate all that’s rotten in the world of arts and entertainment. And sure, undoubtedly people will not agree with this year’s Sammies nominees. I can already sense the nasty e-mails coming my way and hear the gang outside my apartment brandishing pitchforks and torches (note to haters: I’ve moved).

So this year, I propose a different attitude: Use this list of Sammies nominees as a starter kit. Visit the artists’ websites and listen to the tunes. Then, go a bit deeper. Buy an album or even hit up a gig.

The Sacto music scene is pretty divided as it is. So let’s make the Sammies—and MySpace—the two banners under which local musicians can unite and move forward.

This year’s Sammies nominees include gnarly thrash-playing kids, indie rockers, jazz fiends and blues hounds from Midtown. As you travel outward to the suburbs, screamo and electro-prog rockers with pointed haircuts who play a new noise at venues such as The Boardwalk or Club Retro join the mix. Even metal types who jam at off-the-grid spots such as On the Y and punk and hardcore regulars at places like Fire Escape Bar and Grill in Citrus Heights are represented.

The Sacto scene is as all over the map, as is this year’s Sammies nominees.

Consider the 10 artists up for Outstanding Album/Release: two indie darlings, two local-scene veteran rockers, a pack of suburban screamo kids, a folk crooner, a chamber-pop troupe and three very different local rappers.

Even bands in the same genre have little in common. Of the seven Outstanding Country/Americana nominees, I’m sure half have never worn cowboy boots.

The differences continue. The Outstanding Deejay nominees are as likely to spin house as they are hip-hop. And don’t even begin to explore the minutiae of a new category such as Outstanding Indie/Electro/Progressive, an increasingly popular yet obscure genre of bands who a play a fresh mix of glam-inspired alternative dance rock.

Hell, even the teenagers are Balkanized: This year’s Outstanding Teen Band nominees includes a girl pop duo, four Davis kids who sound like Pavement, bluesy rockers, a pre-high-school punk trio and a foursome thrash outfit who writes songs with titles like “I Bitchslap Zombies.”

They say Sacto is one of the most diverse cities in the nation, and this too holds true with its music scene. In the end, some 215 artists or bands are nominated in 31 different categories. This means that potentially 1,000 individual musicians are up for a 2010 award.

It could have been easy, but it never is.

Sarah Volkov began drumming over a year ago and now sits at the kit for locals Fight Inside.

Photo By David Jayne

How Sammies democracy works: Instead of staying home this past Friday night and finishing this explanation of how and why SN&R ended up with these 2010 Sammies nominees, I went out to a bunch of shows, lost my bike and ended the night trying to break into an underground music venue to get it back.

I’ll get to the details, but for now let’s just say I blame Random Abiladeze for everything.

Abiladeze is a great local rapper—he’s nominated for Outstanding Emcee this year and won the award in 2009—but if he didn’t send a text reminding me of last Friday night’s show with Zuhg (also Sammies nominated) at Harlow’s, I would have never gone out and gotten into so much trouble.

That’s the problem: I usually receive a bunch of text messages from local musicians or promoters pimping gigs, and try to at least make an appearance. I want to see people perform. And support the scene. There’s no TiVo or reruns. It’s a one-time deal, and you don’t want to miss out on something great—such as that Sufjan Stevens gig at Old Ironsides a few years back. (I’ll never forgive myself.)

Anyway, since we’re being honest, let’s also be 100 percent transparent about this year’s Sammies nomination process.

SN&R’s call for nominees began on July 15 and ended August 12. People were allowed to nominate whomever they wanted, which resulted in thousands of bands and artists’ names in the hat.

My job was to take the top vote getters and place them in genre categories. I do not specialize in pigeonholing, and in many cases I had no clue what bands belonged where. This lead to consulting local music-scene stakeholders: musicians, promoters, venue owners, audio engineers, photographers, groupies, guitar techs, bartenders, coke dealers, waiters, etc.

In the end, some great local artists didn’t make the cut. But the resulting list is still the largest, most inclusive set of Sammies nominees in SN&R’s 19 years of handing out music awards.

And there are some new categories, the most obvious and popular being Outstanding Cover Band. Ten groups have been recognized—among them, zombies who play Black Sabbath tunes, suburbanites who bow at the throne of Steely Dan, and four cover bands that call the Bay Area home but rep Sacto so hard we felt they deserved to be acknowledged.

This year’s two biggest awards are SN&R’s Hall of Fame and the Readers’ Choice nominees. The HOF recognizes local artists who’ve stood the test of time, put out lasting tunes and also gigged aplenty, both locally and abroad. Hip-hop troupe the CUF and punk rockers the Secretions fit this bill, for sure, but I was shocked to discover that local legends 7Seconds—who still tour, including a jaunt to Europe this summer and a forthcoming appearance at Los Angeles’ FYF Fest this September—was not already a HOF member. Consider their inclusion past due and about damn time.

Of course, all the Sammies nominees are equally deserving. The coveted Sammie award doth not discriminate.

Even that text messager Random Abiladeze is worthy. And last Friday’s jam with Zuhg bore unexpected fruit: It was the first time I’d seen a rapper perform a rendition of “Lonely Blues.”

As for my brush with trespassing: After the Harlow’s gig, I lost track of time at a local dive bar listening to a punk-rock dude describe how he ended up being held at gunpoint by New York City cops with members of Agnostic Front. By this time, I’d forgotten my bike at a nearby math-rock show, which is how I ended up with barbed-wire cuts on my arm trying to get it back.

But all ends well in the local music scene: The venue’s promoter drove the bike to my front door early Saturday morning in the back of his Volvo station wagon.

Next year, SN&R will add a “Badass Local Underground Music Promoter” category, for sure, and this dude is going to take the cake.

The fine print: This year, unlike some in the past, SN&R readers will vote on the nominees and determine the eventual Sacramento Area Music Award winners. Voting begins September 2 at www.sammies.com.

Winners will be announced at the 19th annual Sammies Awards and Festival on Saturday, October 9, from 6 to 10 p.m., which will be a block-party celebration on R Street between 14th and 15th streets, including afterparties at the Shady Lady Saloon and R15. Visit www.sammies.com for more information. Direct hate mail (or praise) to <script type="text/javascript" language="javascript">{ document.write(String.fromCharCode(60,97,32,104,114,101,102,61,34,109,97,105,108,116,111,58,109,117,115,105,99,64,110,101,119,115,114,101,118,105,101,119,46,99,111,109,34,62,109,117,115,105,99,64,110,101,119,115,114,101,118,105,101,119,46,99,111,109,60,47,97,62)) } </script>. Please don’t try to MySpace me, because I don’t have an account.

Nick Miller


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2010 nominees

Sammies nominees (clockwise beginning top left): Ricky Berger, Kevin Seconds, Dead Western, Sea of Bees, One Eyed Rhyno, Allyson Seconds, DJ Mr. Vibe, Blame Betty, Method Echo.

Photo Illustration by David Jayne

Critics’ Picks

SN&R Sammies 2010 Hall of Fame inductees

7Seconds, www.7seconds.com

The CUF, www.myspace.com/numberrthis

The Secretions, www.myspace.com/secretions

Album/Release

Bag of Kittens by Allyson Seconds, produced by Anton Barbeau

The Bridge by DLRN, produced by Jon Reyes

Devil May Care by Mike Farrell, produced by Dana Gumbiner and Farrell

Doom Bird by Doom Bird, produced by Robert Cheek

Full Course Meal by Blee, produced by Chase Moore and J-Intell

Matriarch by Ellie Fortune, produced by Andy Morin

Mind Candy Re-Wrapped by Mean Doe Green, produced by Jack Paper

People People by Musical Charis, produced by John Baccigaluppi

Plan B by A Lot Like Birds, produced by A Lot Like Birds

Songs for the Ravens by Sea of Bees, produced by John Baccigaluppi

Nominees (clockwise beginning top left): Zuhg, Jae Synth, Tony Passarell, Jahari Sai, Hotwire, Lifeliner+, the Secretions, Dusty Rogers,Autumn Sky, the Nibblers, Ten After Two.

Photo illustration by David Jayne

Readers’ Picks

Readers’ Choice

Arden Park Roots, www.myspace.com/aproots

Autumn Sky, www.myspace.com/
autumnskymyspace

DJ CrookOne, www.myspace.com/crookdocdawho

DLRN, www.dlrnmusic.com

The New Humans, www.myspace.com/
thenewhumansmusic

The Nickel Slots, www.thenickelslotsmusic.com

Prieta, www.myspace.com/prietaslays

Mahtie Bush, http://mahtiebush.blogspot.com

Sea of Bees, www.seaofbees.com

Sister Crayon, www.sistercrayon.net

Blues

Aaron King, www.myspace.com/aaronkingtheimperials

The Hucklebucks, www.thehucklebucks.com

Lee Bootz and the Southside Shuffle, www.myspace.com/southsideshuffle

Rick Estrin & the Nightcats, www.rickestrin.com

The Soothers, www.soothersblues.com

Cover Band

The Cheeseballs, www.cheeseballs.com

Children of the Grave, www.myspace.com/childrenofthegrave666

Departure, www.myspace.com/departureband

Hip Service, www.hipservice.com

The Indestructibles, www.indestructibleband.com

Pop Fiction, www.popfictionlive.com

Renegade, www.myspace.com/styxtribute

Steelin’ Dan, www.steelindan.com

Tainted Love, www.taintedlove.com

Wonderbread 5, www.wonderbread5.com

Country/Americana

Dry County Drinkers, www.myspace.com/drycountydrinkers

The Golden Cadillacs, www.myspace.com/thegoldencadillacs

Light Rail, www.myspace.com/lightrailmusic

Mae McCoy and the Neon Stars, www.myspace.com/maemccoyandtheneonstars

The Nickel Slots, www.thenickelslotsmusic.com

Not an Airplane, www.notanairplane.com

Whiskey Dawn, www.whiskeydawn.com

Dance Night

Fuck Fridays at TownHouse Lounge with DJ Shaun Slaughter, www.facebook.com/shaunslaughter

Hump at The Press Club with DJ Whores, www.facebook.com/djwh0res

Play at The Park Ultra Lounge with Peeti IV, www.facebook.com/thedjpeetiv

Risqué at Club 21 with Mike Diamond, DJ Sex &Weight, Must.Not.Die and My Cousin Vinny; www.risquenites.com

Wednesdays at Mix Downtown with DJ Gabe Xavier, www.myspace.com/gabexavier

Deejay

DJ CrookOne, www.myspace.com/crookdocdawho

DJ Filth, http://tribeoflevi916.com

DJ Larry Rodriguez

DJ Kool Kuts, http://twitter.com/djkoolkuts

DJ Nocturnal, www.myspace.com/djnocturnal916

DJ Oasis, www.djoasis.com

DJ Rock Bottom, www.myspace.com/dj_rock_bottom

DJ Roger Carpio, www.myspace.com/recordclubsacto

DJ Rated R, www.myspace.com/djratedr916

DJ Whores, www.facebook.com/djwh0res

Electronic

Ryan Lindow, http://soundcloud.com/ryanlindow

Dusty Rogers, www.myspace.com/dustyrogersmusic

Kiro, www.myspace.com/kiro111

Lifeliner+, www.myspace.com/lifelinermusic

Melee Beats, www.meleebeats.com

Psylence, http://soundcloud.com/psylence

Raleigh Moncrief, www.myspace.com/raleighmoncrief

Resynthesize, www.myspace.com/resynthesize1

Tha Fruitbat, www.myspace.com/thafruitbat

Undecided, www.undecidedonline.com

Emcee

5th Ave, www.dlrnmusic.com

A.R.A.B., www.myspace.com/alwaysriseabove

Blee

Bueno, www.myspace.com/bueno

C-Plus, www.myspace.com/cplusmusic

Dezit Eaze, www.myspace.com/deziteaze

Illecism, www.myspace.com/illecism

Izreal, www.izreal.net

Mahtie Bush, http://mahtiebush.blogspot.com

Mean Doe Green, http://twitter.com/meandoegreen

Mr. Lingo, http://mrlingo.bandcamp.com

Poor, www.myspace.com/holdenclaufield

Random Abiladeze, www.randomab.com

Ruby Ibarra, http://rubyibarra.tumblr.com

TAIS, www.taismusic.com

Experimental

The Buk Buk Bigups, www.myspace.com/thebukbukbigups

G. Green, www.myspace.com/ggreenz

Ganglians, www.myspace.com/ganglian

Pregnant, www.danielispregnant.com

Tera Melos, www.teramelosmusic.com

Folk

Blvd Park, www.blvdpark.info

Dead Western, www.myspace.com/soundsofloveandspace

Ellie Fortune, www.elliefortune.com

Kate Gaffney, www.kategaffney.com

Lasher Keen, www.lasherkeen.net

Funk/Soul/R&B

Dane Drewis Band, www.danedrewis.com

Darryl Moore, www.myspace.com/darrylmooremusic1

Fish Cat Fish, www.myspace.com/fishcatfishmusic

The Nibblers, www.myspace.com/thenibblersfunk

The Tender Cinders

Hardcore

Boundaries, www.myspace.com/boundariesmusic

Havenside, www.myspace.com/havenside

Hoods, www.myspace.com/sactohoods

Pressure Point, www.pressurepointoi.com

Take Pride, www.myspace.com/takepride916

Hard Rock/Alternative

Single Second, www.myspace.com/asinglesecondsacca

Dogfood, www.myspace.com/dogfood

Eightfourseven, www.eightfourseven.com

The Ruin, www.myspace.com/wearetheruin

Track fighter, www.myspace.com/trackfighter

Hip-hop/Rap

Aquifer, www.myspace.com/aquifermusic

DLRN, www.dlrnmusic.com

Live Manikins, http://livemanikins.blogspot.com

Tribe of Levi, www.tribeoflevi916.com

Who Cares, www.myspace.com/whocaresmusic

Hip-hop Producer

Chase Moore, www.myspace.com/twicewise

Goldfingaz, www.myspace.com/fireworksrecords

Hippie Sabotage, www.hippiesabotage.com

J-Intell, www.myspace.com/j-intell

Jae Synth, www.myspace.com/jsynth

Jack Paper, www.myspace.com/jackpaper

Jon Reyes, www.myspace.com/jonmakesbeats

Lee Bannon, www.myspace.com/leebannon

Nicatyne, www.nicatyne.com

Npire Da Great, www.myspace.com/npiredagreat

Styles 1001, www.myspace.com/ltstyles1001gtproducer

Indie

The Babs Johnson Gang, www.myspace.com/thebabsjohnsongang

Charles Albright, www.myspace.com/talkaboutcharles

Chllngr, http://soundcloud.com/chllngr

Doom Bird, www.myspace.com/doombird

The Dreaded Diamond, www.myspace.com/thedreadeddiamond

Exquisite Corps, www.myspace.com/exquisitecorps

The Kelps, www.myspace.com/thekelps

Knock Knock, www.myspace.com/knockknocktheband

Lite Brite, www.litebriteband.com

Sister Crayon, www.sistercrayon.net

Indie/Electro/Progressive

Green Audio, www.myspace.com/seegreenaudio

K Será, www.myspace.com/ksera

The New Humans, www.myspace.com/thenewhumansmusic

The Speed of Sound in Seawater, www.myspace.com/thespeedofsoundinseawater

This Luxury, www.myspace.com/toughluxury

Industrial/Rock

Chaos and Terror, www.myspace.com/cat

Death Valley High, www.deathvalleyhigh.com

Kill the Precedent, www.myspace.com/killtheprecedentktp

Savi0r, www.myspace.com/savi0r

Jazz

Jahari Sai, www.myspace.com/jaharitrio

Ross Hammond, www.rosshammond.com

Harley White Jr., www.myspace.com/harleywhite

Tony Passarell, www.myspace.com/421224638

Joe Berry, www.myspace.com/joemarcelberry

Latin

Atapaz, www.myspace.com/atapaz1

Dinorah Curkendall, http://dinorahentertainment.shutterfly.com

Los Blazing Hangovers

Luvtaxi, www.luvtaxi.biz

Sol Peligro, www.myspace.com/solpeligro

Metal

Dismal Lapse, www.myspace.com/dismallapse

DropSeven, www.myspace.com/dropsevenmusic

KnifeThruHead, www.knifethruhead.com

Master Leather Daddy

Times of Desperation, www.myspace.com/timesofdesperation

Pop

Color the Sound, www.colorthesound.com

Method Echo, www.methodecho.com

Pets, www.petstheband.com

The Reel, www.facebook.com/WeAreTheReel

Witzend, www.myspace.com/witzendrock

Punk

Another Damn Disappointment, www.myspace.com/anotherdamndisappointment

Bastards of Young, www.myspace.com/youngbastards

Blame Betty, www.blamebetty.com

Boats!, http://boats-punk.blogspot.com

Bygones, http://bygones.bandcamp.com

Final Summation, www.myspace.com/finalsummation

Our Hometown Disaster, www.myspace.com/ourhometowndisaster

The Pizzas, www.myspace.com/lovethepizzas

The Walking Dead, www.myspace.com/walkingdeadtaz

Whiskey and Stitches, www.myspace.com/whiskeyandstitches

Reggae/Jam/Roots

Arden Park Roots, www.myspace.com/aproots

The Kinetics, www.myspace.com/thekineticsrocksteady

SouLifted, www.myspace.com/souliftedmusic

Storytellers, www.myspace.com/storytellers

Zuhg, www.myspace.com/zuhg

Favorite 2010 Reunion

Far, www.thebandfar.com

Kai Kln, www.myspace.com/kaikln

Oleander, www.oleander.net

Phallucy, www.myspace.com/phallucypalace

Pocket for Corduroy, www.myspace.com/pocketforcorduroyrip

Rock

Chelsea Wolfe, www.chelseawolfe.net

Goodness Gracious Me, www.myspace.com/ggmband

Diciembre Gris, www.facebook.com/dgris

The Inversions, www.myspace.com/theinversions

Lonely Kings, www.myspace.com/lonelykings

Mondo Deco, www.myspace.com/mondodeco

Phantom Jets, www.myspace.com/phantomjets

Prieta, www.myspace.com/prietaslays

Stenographers, www.myspace.com/stenographers

Walking Spanish, www.myspace.com/walkingspanish

About SN&amp;R&#8217;s cover models:<br>Couple Jake Desrochers and Sarah Volkov are pivotal figures in the Sacto rock-music scene. Desrochers deejays in town but is best known for local punk-rock troupe Lonely Kings, that formed in 1995 and still tour today (and are nominated for &#8220;Outstanding Rock&#8221; in this year&#8217;s Sammies). Desrochers also gives fly haircuts at Spanish Fly (1723 J Street) in Midtown and has been featured on the program Split Ends. Volkov, in addition to modeling, also is a musician; she plays drums for a rock outfit called Fight Inside, who have a show on October 13, at PowerHouse Pub in Folsom.

Photo by David Jayne

Screamo/Post-hardcore

A Lot Like Birds, www.myspace.com/alotlikebirds

Aloversplea, www.myspace.com/aloversplea

Carcerys Vale, www.myspace.com/carcerysvale

Dead City Sunday, www.myspace.com/deadcitysunday

Journal, www.myspace.com/journalmusic

Ten After Two, www.myspace.com/tenaftertwo

Singer-songwriter

Aaron Ross, www.myspace.com/aaronmanuelross

Allyson Seconds, www.myspace.com/bagokittens

Appetite, www.myspace.com/chiefbriggum

Autumn Sky, www.myspace.com/autumnskymyspace

Be Brave Bold Robot, www.myspace.com/bebraveboldrobot

Justin Farren, www.justinfarren.com

Kepi Ghoulie, www.myspace.com/kepighoulie

Kevin Seconds, www.kevinseconds.com

Ricky Berger, www.myspace.com/rickyberger

Sea of Bees, www.seaofbees.com

Teen Band

A Fist Full of Freaks, www.myspace.com/fff916

Dog Party, www.myspace.com/dogpartylive

Hotwire, www.myspace.com/hotwiredavis

One Eyed Rhyno, www.myspace.com/oneeyedrhynorocks

Simpl3 Jack, www.simpl3jack.com

Turntablist

DJ Mike Colossal, www.myspace.com/djcolossal

DJ Phase, www.myspace.com/reverseheaven

DJ Mr. Vibe, www.myspace.com/djmrvibe

DJ Rated R, www.myspace.com/djratedr916

DJ Luke ScratchRocker, www.myspace.com/djbeatcleaver