It’s Friday, Nov. 2, and all the beautiful people are in the Fremont Theater for the 2018 New Times Music Awards. There’s glitz, there’s glamour, and there’s a whole lotta music filling up the old art deco theater.
First up are the youth category winners—Rio Fleming, Sacha Carlson, and Escaping Monochrome—who deliver short but crafty sets of their original music, reminding everyone in attendance that there’s a deep well of talent ready to rise through the ranks of the SLO County music scene.
The first genre-winner performance features Open category second place winner Brass Mash. First place winner Shadowlands unfortunately was unable to perform because one member had a previous gig in LA, but Brass Mash delivers a foot-stomping set of all-horn mash-ups.
Ultimate Best Live Performance winner and Country/Folk/Americana winners the Cimo Brothers are up next, putting on a dazzling display of musicianship and generating tons of stage presence and charisma. They look hard to beat, and they are!
Izara was set to perform next as winner of the R&B/Blues genre, but laryngitis struck! Luckily, second place winner Haniah stepped in at the last minute to take her spot, delivering a soulful set of R&B.
Arthur Watership, winner in the Rock/Alternative genre is up next, demonstrating why they’ve been getting so much airplay on KCBX 90.1FM’s Morning Cup show. They’re crazy creative, and the music is complicated without being fussy. This is turning into a truly eclectic show!
The final act is Rogue Status, a North County hip-hop collective of talented emcees, and they’ve come to win! About 50 people get out of their seats and rush the stage to dance. Rogue’s got the beats, the grooves, the samples, and the swagger, and the judges are torn … but in the end, the Cimo Brothers are the big winners!
To top things off, the very first NTMA winner, Damon Castillo, was awarded a new bronze Newtie Award. New Times owners Bob Rucker and Alex Zuniga crafted his first award out of wood 10 years ago, with an actual vintage-looking microphone mounted on the base. It was the prototype of the cast bronze Newties we started awarding the second year. Now Castillo has one that will last forever.
We’ve come a long way, baby! Here’s to the next 10 years! And 10 more after that! Congratulations to all the winners! Thanks to all who attended! Support live music!
And the winners are …
Best Album
1st John Stephen, Acustico
2nd Jim Conroy, Magical Door
3rd Doug Macrae, A Time for Everything
Best Songwriter
1st Jill Knight, “Carolina”
2nd Stephen Styles, “California”
3rd Banjer Dan, “Life’s a Gamble”
Country/Folk/Americana
1st Cimo Brothers, “Good Times”
2nd Black Match, “Same Old Things”
3rd Don Lampson, “Solitary”
Hip-Hop/Rap
1st Rogue Status, “Peaceful”
2nd Kody Balboa, “I Know”
3rd Famous Deuce, “Mafia”
Open
1st Shadowlands, “Wilderness”
2nd Brass Mash, “Toxicity From A Rose”
3rd David Alm, “Oceano”
R&B/Blues
1st Izara, “Fight to Survive”
2nd Haniah, “Twisted”
3rd Crooked Eye Tommy, “Baby Where You Been”
Rock/Alternative
1st Arthur Watership, “Holy Lighter”
2nd Oceanaire, “26”
3rd Mathias Clark, “Sail Away”
Youth
1st Escaping Monochrome, “Is It Sad”
2nd Sacha Carlson, “Oblivion”
3rd Rio Fleming, “Be the Blaze of the Night”
Readers’ Choice Rogue Status
Best Live PerformanceCimo Brothers Δ
Glen Starkey is New Times’ senior staff writer. Contact him at gstarkey@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Nov 8-18, 2018.