WYCE’s 15th annual affair doled out 18 Jammies to regional artists while two dozen acts rocked a full house at The Intersection on Friday. See the full list of award winners. (Photos, video)
By Mary Mattingly, Alec Juarez and John Sinkevics
LocalSpins.com
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Grand Rapids Afro-beat ensemble Afro Zuma and hip-hop artist Rick Chyme took home the most hardware during Friday’s Jammie Awards show at The Intersection, but champions of West Michigan’s music scene may have been the biggest winners in the eclectic celebration of 130-plus regional albums released over the past year.
“It’s the party of the year,” gushed organist Jim Alfredson, who spent two hours of white-knuckled driving on the road from Lansing just to play what most Michigan musicians consider the must-attend event of 2014. More than 1,000 people packed the nightclub in downtown Grand Rapids on Friday.
The drive paid off: Alfredson and his band Dirty Fingers lit up the stage with a stellar display of musicianship, and later tied with singer-songwriter Joshua Davis for best roots album of the year. (Davis braved an even scarier, longer drive from Traverse City to play the Jammies.)
The 15th annual awards celebration hosted by community radio station WYCE-FM (88.1) boasted two dozen brief performances on two stages, spanning blues, rock, folk, jazz, Americana, funk, hip hop, electronica, pop and world music with more than a dozen of these acts playing the Jammies for the first time ever.
WYCE’s slate of volunteer programmers cast votes for nominated albums in several categories, with separate jury prizes also awarded based on voting by critics and music industry representatives. Listeners’ choice honors were based on tallies from online voting by fans.
AFRO ZUMA AND RICK CHYME EACH SNAG THREE AWARDS
Afro Zuma’s self-titled debut album not only snagged album of the year honors, aka The Big Jammie, but also won honors for best album by a new artist and the special jury prize for best album by a new artist.
The jury prize for best album went to Chyme, who also won for best song of the year for “1000 Miles from Nowhere” and for best hip hop album for “The 5iveit LP.”
Grand Rapids jam band Ultraviolet Hippopotamus, which recently won the Local Spin of the Year Award from LocalSpins.com, won a Jammie for best alternative album for “Translate.” See the full list of Jammie winners above.
WYCE also presented special Legacy Awards to legendary West Michigan folk singer and guitarist Joel Mabus (who also performed on Friday), late Kalamazoo singer-songwriter Patrick Carroll (who released his poignant, much-acclaimed studio album “Glow in the Dark” not long before he died of complications from a lung infection) and late Grand Rapids concert promoter Don Dorshimer (owner of The Orbit Room who passed away unexpectedly last fall).
Sponsored by Bell’s Brewery for the second year in a row, the Jammie Awards show was scheduled to coincide with this weekend’s sold-out Winter Beer Festival taking place at Fifth Third Ballpark on Saturday. And The Jammies boasted a truly a welcoming atmosphere: Attendees were garbed in all manner of PJs, ranging from zebra-striped slippers to bright red onesies.
A HECTIC EVENING WITH PLENTY OF HIGHLIGHTS
The hectic evening at The Intersection – coordinated by WYCE honchos Kevin Murphy, Matt Jarrells, Pete Bruinsma and Nicole Leach, with some equipment supplied by Rainbow Music – was full of highlights, both on and off the stage.
Here are some choice comments and images compiled by the Local Spins team which included writers Mary Mattingly and Alec Juarez and photographers Anthony Norkus and Anna Sink.
THE BANTER
“It (introduces) new guys to the social hang (with other local musicians.) It’s a great way to get our stuff out in a broader community.” — trumpeter Brad Fritcher, Brad Fritcher + trois
“I love it. All your friends are here in one place at one time.” — singer-songwriter Lucas Wilson
“It’s a once-a-year occasion that gets better each year. It’s like a family reunion; all the other bands are great. We get to get together (at the Jammies) and dig on each other’s stuff. Everyone’s gigging. We’re usually too busy to see each other’s stuff. It’s 50 yards from stage to stage to see different genres. It’s an incredibly unique event and I am thankful to the sponsors, WYCE and The Intersection for putting it on. There’s too much competition in the music industry, this helps to revitalize the community aspect (of music).” — Jim Shaneberger, blues guitarist and singer
“They gave me the Legacy award, that’s why the Jammies are special to me. I don’t live in Grand Rapids; I made a special trip because I knew they had a prize waiting for me. It’s fun to be here.” – Joel Mabus, guitarist, banjoist and singer-songwriter
“We haven’t really seen many hip-hop artists play at the Jammies before, so it’s really exciting to be onstage tonight. I wouldn’t say that we’re the first hip-hop group to ever play the Jammies – Rick Chyme probably played last year – but it’s definitely something new. … It was fun; I liked the energy and crowd. I see (the Jammies) as an affirmation for hard work. It’s good to see the community behind the artists.” — hip hop’s Dante Cope
“WYCE is a community radio station. It’s the reason why anyone knows these songs, and why the programmers volunteer to perform and organize this. To get recognized by your community like this is pretty awesome.” — hip hop artist Rick Chyme, who snagged three Jammie Awards on Friday.
“I procrastinate really badly about going to shows, so I miss concerts all the time. I hadn’t been to the Jammies ever before, but I saw that Lasso was playing tonight, and I’m really into them, so it’s beyond incredible that I got a chance to see them and a bunch of other groups, all for free to boot.” – Richard Thompson of Grand Rapids
“Every year seems to get better than the last, and the crowd that comes is so welcoming… The atmosphere of the Jammies is definitely my favorite thing about it.” – Natalie Carpenter of Grand Rapids
“Since only arriving a month-and-a-half ago, this is one of the most beautiful welcomes to a city I’ve ever seen. It’s as if the event’s saying ‘Hey, this is where we’re all going to be hanging out. We want you to come and be a part of the party.’ Wow. On an award night, you want to honor the people who do really beautiful things, but you don’t want it to go to people’s heads. So what do you do? You have everyone wear their pajamas. Everyone is relaxed, no one is overdoing it, and the atmosphere becomes so un-pretentious. It’s just perfect.” – DarlenYa, who provided one of the evening’s performance highlights on The Stache stage.
“I’m very honored to be nominated and win. I appreciate WYCE’s attention to local music. It means a lot to me and other local musicians.” – Jim Alfredson, frontman/keyboard player in Jim Alfredson’s Dirty Fingers, upon winning jazz album of the year
“We feel very honored. The other nominees … are people we respect. We’re very proud of everyone.” – Laurel Premo, fiddle player and vocalist for Red Tail Ring, after winning Americana album of the year
“Vincent (of the Vincent Hayes Project): I think he’s amazing and is going to go national. As a programmer at WYCE, once in awhile you come across a gem and Vincent is one of these gems. I am looking forward to what the future holds for him.” – Nancy Gallardo, Grand Rapids
“This is the (third or fourth) time I’ve attended the Jammies. Dante Cope was awesome, they were sweet. Red Tail Ring was also great.” – Tom Gunnels of Grand Rapids, banjo player for The Crane Wives
HIGHLIGHTS
Brad Fritcher + trois in The Stache — The band got to experience first-hand the intimate and soulful jazz that Brad Fritcher + trois is steadily becoming known for. The Jammy-nominated group transitioned seamlessly between tracks and the set showcased the group members’ effortless improvisation, onstage communication and contrasting textures.
Dante Cope in The Stache — Grand Rapids’ Dante Cope brought hip hop tinted by a multitude of other genres with his high energy, rapid-spitting show in The Stache. The inclusion of many guest rappers, combined with Cope’s fluidly jagged sax lines against the driving percussive beat, ensured that the crowd could not sit still.
Afro Zuma on the main stage — The night’s big winners also impressed during their evening-ending set, which had The Intersection’s capacity crowd gyrating and cheering the 13-piece band’s dance-happy world music approach.
DarlenYa in The Stache — Claiming she had played with her bandmates for the first time just the night before, DarlenYa proved her mettle with an absolutely mesmerizing set in the front lounge, which boasted capacity crowds and bracing performances all night long, from The B-Sides to the Wallace Collective.
The Bangups on the main stage — Grand Rapids’ The Bangups once again proved that a two-man rock band can fill any size stage with the sort of fervent garage-rock wallop that they deliver.
Local Spins photos by Anthony Norkus and Anna Sink
Email John Sinkevics at jsinkevics@gmail.com.
Copyright 2014, Spins on Music