Saturday, February 28, 2015

As the Dust Settles, a Word of Thanx

Talking too much on stage.
Wow. Just wow. What can I say, a week after and the dust is finally settling (and almost all the bills paid)?

And where do we go from here?

And what do we do next year?

I've been thinking about all that. Here's what I've managed to keep straight in my head:

HUGE huge thanx to all of you who supported the idea of the Lexi Music Awards before there was a show...before there was a bit of press....before there was even a facebook group to help spread the word.


Thanx to all who jumped in 100% once we started to get the word out. Once we started the FB group. Once I said, "I need help".

Miles Osland opening the show with a bang!
Thanx to the press who jumped to our aid, loving the idea and willing to "go to press", go the the airwaves, utilize precious/expensive column inches and air time to allow us to share our idea.

Thanx to everyone who got involved in the discussions (some pretty heated) both in public and behind the scenes to help us carve this idea into reality. To those who had time or made time to make a call, or send an email, or hook us up with a deal to keep expenses manageable. To those who gave their energy, their time, their money to help make this bird fly.

To each and every one of you who braved the weather to make the show (and to those who tried but were trapped behind the snow and ice).

To Heather Parrish for everything; to Donald Mason for all the ideas and helping secure the Lyric; to Peter J. Felice for the amazing original music to start and end the program.

To that handful of people who came to our face-to-face meeting, and to Miles Osland, Blakeley Burger, Lucy Becker, Fred Kearns, Tripp Bratton and his amazing ensemble, Ben Lacy & Alan McKenzie, Palmer Tolly and Heather, who all agreed to perform before we even secured the venue.

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Media Collection

Stories (in no particular order) covering the event:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NpCVIEdzE0

http://www.lex18.com/story/28172448/first-lexington-music-awards-held-sunday

http://www.kentucky.com/2015/02/19/3702904/walter-tunis-lexington-music-awards.html

http://chevychaser.com/2015/02/inaugural-lexington-music-awards-aims-to-bring-cohesion-the-lexingtons-music-community/

http://tadoo.com/event/first-annual-lexington-music-awards-at-the-lyric-theatre/

http://lexington.willismusic.com/2015/02/willis-music-nominated-lexington-music-award/

http://www.moreheadstate.edu/News/2015/February/Flippin_honored_during_Lexington_Music_Awards/

http://copiousnotes.bloginky.com/2015/02/23/lexington-music-awards-and-the-winners-are/

http://www.wkyt.com/yourtown/locations/lexington/headlines/LEXINGTON-MUSIC-AWARDS-LEXI-286343761.html

http://wuky.org/post/david-mclean-lexington-awards

https://www.facebook.com/92.1ClassicRock/photos/pcb.871055599584332/871055506251008/?type=1&theater

https://www.facebook.com/92.1ClassicRock/photos/a.313836985306199.71644.304332452923319/871335566223002/?type=1&theater


http://uknow.uky.edu/content/uk-musicians-wuky-dj-recognized-lexington-music-awards

More to come.....including another WUKY interview (with Nick Lawrence) and interview clips with Max Corona on WBVX.

PHOTOS:

You Can Only Imagine:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1562043137369033.1073741847.1439289806311034&type=1

Kay Foley:
https://www.facebook.com/kay.e.foley1/media_set?set=a.10204511716667443.1073742041.1668618393&type=1&pnref=story

Reda Floyd:
https://www.facebook.com/Redafloyd/media_set?set=a.10205176842073757.1073741965.1026440245&type=3


Plus video clips (cell phone cams, etc):

MJ lifetime achievement:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMADJVpWxy0

Stickmen performance:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43vEs9byazk



Monday, February 23, 2015

...and the Award Recipients are....

Please note I did not use the term "...and the winners are...". I think we all know EVERYONE was a winner last night.

Soooo...the inaugural LEXI Music Award award recipients are:


INDUSTRY:

best live venue
Natasha's Bar & Bistro

best music store
Doo Wop Shop

best music company
CD Central

best recording studio / engineer
Sneak Attack / Jason Groves

Jay Flippin Music Educator Award
Paul Felice

best live sound tech
Phillip Osborne

best radio DJ
Joe Conkwright - WUKY

best gear repair/customization/builders
Willcutt Guitars


STYLE:

best Americana/Folk
Michael Johnathon

best Blues
Tee Dee Young

best classical
Lexington Philharmonic

best Country/Bluegrass
Scott Said & Backroads


best Funk/R&B/Reggae
G-Funk Allstars

best Hip Hop/Rap
Hybrid the Rapper

best Jazz/World
DOJO (DiMartino-Osland Jazz Orchestra)

best Pop
Sydney Cubit

best Rock
All The Little Pieces

best Singer-Songwriter
Maggie Lander

best Cover Band
See Alice

Song of the Year
"Black Horses" - Avery Crabtree and Josh Brock


PERFORMANCE:

best Female Vocal
Mandy Reichert

best Male Vocal
Vincent Grino

best Drummer/Percussionist
Vincent Grino

best Guitar
Ben Lacy

best Bass
Jason Groves

best Keyboard
Kevin Holm-Hudson

best Brass/Winds
Miles Osland

best Strings
Ben Solee


SPECIAL:

Community Service Award
Woodsongs All-Volunteer Crew

Lifetime Achievement Award recipients:
Michael Johnathon

Jay Flippin

Bill Monroe

Loretta Lynn



Sunday, February 22, 2015

No, Thank YOU!

Just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who has lent a helping hand for their continued support and patience throughout this...the building of something new. With all its imperfections, false starts, trips-n-stumbles (and these imperfections are 100% on me) - the vast majority of of the response has been overwhelmingly positive.

I just wanna say that something like this isn't something anyone does alone. Anyone. Even Bill Gates - he'd just write a lot of checks to make it happen, but he'd still rely on others to get it done.

And no one here is getting paid to lend a hand (though we're writing a lot of checks - hahaha!).

So, to EVERYONE involved: My sincerest thanx for making this thing real.

See y'all in a few hours.

Saturday, February 21, 2015

T-minus 24 Hours and Counting...Down!

Well, a week ago the weather turned sour...shut Lexington down but good Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday...with schools out Thursday & Friday, too.

Today is Saturday and I'm inundated with calls, texts, emails, facebooks PMs, and the like....."Are we cancelling? Are we postponing? Will the show go on as planned?"

I can't find the words to express what a feat of trickery and balance it is to coordinate getting all these performers, presenters, and nominees together on ONE day at ONE time. Performers like Tripp and Ben and Miles often gig Sundays, too....about 25% of the nominees won't be present because they have other gigs....presenters like Laura Kirkpatrick (the supermodel from TV who lives in Mexico City, but happened to have scheduled a visit with her parents this weekend and so was available) or Drew Curtis (the "dot.com" wizard, founder and CEO of Fark.Com who is also running for governor of the state who just happened to be available this weekend, but is usually not).....

Not to mention the ugly business side of things. Like re-printing posters and programs and whatnot, or purchasing $1,000,000 worth of event insurance for another day. And the intangibles like momentum and perception of success that can impact our ability to pull this off again.

Nope - I'm dug in like an Alabama tick (as Blain Cooper said). Unless the Lyric Theatre closes or the roads are solid ice, we're gonna do this thing.

Counting down, folks. Cross your fingers.

Friday, February 20, 2015

Lexington Music Awards: creator's small idea turned into a big deal

Lexington Music Awards
article by Walter Tunis, photo by Rich Copley
6 p.m. Feb. 22 at the Lyric Theatre and Cultural Arts Center, 300 East Third. $15. (859) 280-2218. Lexingtonlyric.com.
David McLean purposely dreamed small when introducing the Lexington Music Awards. The self-employed musician and guitar instructor designed a way for local artists to celebrate their sense of achievement and community by booking an evening at Natasha's Bistro and Bar for a ceremony, and he would have been thrilled if 50 patrons showed up.
"That's what I really thought was going to happen," McLean says. "Then the count blew up."
While McLean had ideas for a local music awards show floating about in his mind for the past five years, the idea was put into motion with a Facebook page and blog. That helped establish award categories as well as gauge public interest in such an undertaking.
"If I got 100 people together, they were going to come up with better ideas than I would on my own," McLean says. "So basically, I started a Facebook page and invited some people on. Before I knew it, it got bigger and bigger......(for the rest of the article, go to the link below)




Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2015/02/19/3702904_walter-tunis-lexington-music-awards.html#storylink=cpy

http://www.kentucky.com/2015/02/19/3702904_walter-tunis-lexington-music-awards.html

Saturday, February 14, 2015

Press Release (January 30, 2015)

Howdy!

My name is David McLean. I'm the creator of the new Lexington Music Awards (which is designed to honor the music community not only in Lexington, KY, but the entire state of KY). I'm also the producer of the First Annual Lexington Music Awards show to be held at the historic Lyric Theater on Sunday, February 22 (6pm) in Lexington, KY.

The LEXI Music Awards (as they're also called) are designed to add cohesion and a true sense of community to the local & regional music scene; to help raise the "quality" bar; to educate artists and fans alike on what's going on in the whole music community; integrate Lexington into the wider (national) music scene; and much more.

We will be honoring all segments of the music community by presenting awards in 30 categories, from "industry" (best live venue, best music retailer, etc), "performance" (best vocal, best guitar, etc), "style" (best rock, best jazz, etc), and "special" (Community Service Award and Lifetime Achievement Awards).

The event will be MC-ed by Kristen Pflum and Bill Meck of WLEX TV-18. Special presenters include Laura Kirkpatrick (of "America's Top Model"), Drew Curtis (CEO of Fark.com), and more....music performances by jazz sax great Miles Osland, guitar wizard Ben Lacy, and more....presenter guides include Miss KY Teem 2014 Alex Francke, and others.

I'm contacting you today to announce our list of Lifetime Achievement Award winners. They are:

Michael Johnathon (special presenter Dr. Ronald Pen, UK)
Jay Flippin (special presenter Dr. M. Scott McBride, MSU)
Loretta Lynn (special presenter TBA)
Bill Monroe (special presenter Raymond McLain & Ruth McLain-Smith)

In addition, I'm pleased to announce that the "best music educator award" will be renamed the "Jay Flippin Music Educator Award" in honor of late Jay Flippin.

Please feel free to contact me for additional details.

Thank you!

WLEX TV-18 Spots

Dig it:


WUKY Interview with Joe Conkwright

Dig it:

http://wuky.org/post/david-mclain-lexington-awards

We also did "Curtains at 8" live with Nick Lawrence (with me was event coordinator Heather Parrish and live music by Carla Gover (who is nominated in the "folk" category). If we get this one, I'll post it, too!



Chevy Chaser article!


Inaugural Lexington Music Awards aims to “bring cohesion” the Lexington’s music community

POSTED ON FEBRUARY 12, 2015 
BY
 SARAYA BREWER



Lexington Music Awards organizers David McLean and Heather Parrish in front of the Lyric Theatre. The inaugural awards ceremony will take place Feb. 22.
On February 22, while Emmy-nominated celebrities line up on the red carpet in Los Angeles, Lexington will host its own awards ceremony honoring a unique pool of local talent that exists in and around our city.
Taking place at the Lyric Theatre, the inaugural Lexington Music Awards (or LEXI Awards, as organizers have dubbed it) will honor Lexington area musicians and music industry folks in 30 different categories, ranging from best venue to song of the year. The event is the brainchild of Lexington music teacher and musician David McLean, who said he tossed the idea for the event around for several years before deciding late last year that the timing was right to go for it.
- See more at: http://chevychaser.com/2015/02/inaugural-lexington-music-awards-aims-to-bring-cohesion-the-lexingtons-music-community/#sthash.g6GOO47h.dpuf