William Camargo

Lit accepting their OC Impact Award

Last Saturday night, a well-dressed army of local music fans, press and artists packed into the City National Grove of Anaheim for the 12 annual OC Music Awards. Like most awards shows, the night's festivities went  bit longer than necessary with a few fumbles here and there and a mixture of intentional and unintentional comedy to make the night memorable.

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Mary Bell / OC Weekly

Robert Jon & The Wreck get something shiny to put on their mantle.

OC Music Awards Best Live Band Finals
House of Blues Anaheim
February 26, 2013
Last night, the final round of the Orange County Music Awards battle for best live band gave us one big-bad ass rock show that tested our attention to detail. Rolling out a well-crafted line-up (not a filler band in sight), five finalists vied for a chance to win a ton of prizes, including a slot of the Vans Warped Tour, recording time at Red Bull Studios, Guitar Center gift certificates, a performance slot at the OCMAs and the Warped Tour and a year's supply of Wahoo's Fish Tacos (hopefully not delivered all at once without the proper refrigeration). In the end, it was southern rock band Robert Jon & The Wreck who pulled it out after a receiving some seriously stiff competition.

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Mary Bell / OC Weekly

Jeramiah Red

After Tuesday's seventh and final preliminary showcase at the Yost Theater, the finalists for this year's Best Live Band Showcase Finals have been announced. After 35 bands competed, only five have advanced to compete next Tuesday at the House of Blues in Anaheim. More »

Mary Bell

The calm before the dance storm.

It was cold and rainy, and the Wahoo's free-taco goodness was moved inside. The neon lights of the old-timey Yost shined bright, as the concert series' final showcase echoed inside the highest ceilings of all the venues. Having attended the Detroit Bar for the series opener and now this closing night, one thing has endured through every guttural yell, cymbal crash, distorted riff and keytar swing: the camaraderie between all the bands. After Time and Energy's avant-chaotic yet sonically soothing set, Edgar Trento (bassist for Electro City) made it a point to hug and congratulate a fresh-from-the-stage Jorge Rios on the duo's performance. His smile was genuine, and his beard was bushy.

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Mary Bell / OC Weekly

Midnight Hour

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Mary Bell / OC Weekly

Wheeland Brothers

Last night, the fifth installment of the Best Live Band showcase for the OC Music Awards led us down the long and beaten path of rim shots, scatting guitar and melodic bass lines as rastafied rock acts represented themselves to the fullest. Why they always group bands of the same genre together on the same night is beyond me, but hey, it probably makes things a little easier for the judges. Watching slow tempos and euphoric vocals take over the night, I felt like this week's complementary Redbull should have been served out of an organic coconut.

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Lit

You might say the special honorees at this year's OC Music Awards come from very different worlds. On one had, you've got a band who has been hitting us over the head with FM alt-rock for almost two decades. On the other, a guy who has made a career in classical music handling the largest orchestra in the U.S.
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Listening to bluegrass band Moonsville Collective play a jam at last night's Orange County Music Awards showcase about a Tennessee moonshiner named Popcorn, it occurred to me why this competition is so difficult to judge. Not only do I have zero points of reference in my own musical experience with which to compare these guys, but there's nobody in the whole damn competition with which to compare them. Though a person has to appreciate the skill of Ryan Welch, who effortlessly switches between guitar and mandolin, and sings perfect harmonies with a large band joyously rocking lap steel and upright bass, it's hard to escape the feeling that this band, who almost won the acoustic competition last year, should be focusing its efforts on County Fairs.More »

Shannon Nehls / OC Weekly

Beneath The Buried

OC Music Awards Showcase: Night 3

The Slide Bar Rock-N-Roll Cafe
January 22, 2013

The OC Music Awards Showcase continued it's excursion on the quest to find OC's best live band for night three at the Slidebar Rock-N-Roll Cafe in downtown Fullerton. To test the nominated bands originality, stage presence, crowd participation and overall appeal where a few of the elite members of the OC Music Awards Academy which is comprised of music journalists, radio personalities, booking agents and industry professionals who help support our local music scene. Starting at 8 p.m., the showcase featured and interesting array of bands including Anna Vexa, Snakebit Drifters, Fiction Reform, Beneath the Buried and Death Hymn Number 9 who all brought their own eclectic crowds and energy to the Slide Bar stage.

See Also:

*OC Music Awards: Night 2 Puts Singer-Songwriters On a Frosty Pedestal
*OC Music Awards Showcase: Night 1-Detroit Bar-January 8, 2013
*Coachella "Leaks," Confirmations and Rumors

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A Jameson gal

In a genre in which fashion practically forces allegiance to all things plaid, paisley and plain, folk artist Annie McQueen easily qualifies as a conscientious objector. Studying her from the soles of her black platform boots to the fur to the mystical, Stevie Nicks-esque accessories all the way up to her fiery, red hair, she rarely takes the stage without sticking out before she sings a note. But the clothes aren't nearly as big as her voice. Springing herself on the unsuspecting masses over the past year, this La Habra Heights native was one of a handful of pleasant local surprises toward the close of 2012. Flaunting a wall-rattling range à la Joy Williams of the Civil Wars, the anthemic "Burned"--off her latest EP, Cold Hearts--shows a promising partnership between her and lauded local producer Jon O'Brien; you can get a taste of it tonight during the second week of the live showcases for the Orange County Music Awards. We recently spoke to McQueen about her bohemian hillbilly aesthetic that refuses to be ordinary.

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