Jackie Connor / OC Weekly

Robert Jon & The Wreck rock the crap out of Detroit Bar's crowd Tuesday, Jan 8, 2013 for the OC Music Awards

The OC Music Awards kicked off its weekly seven-part series at Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa Tuesday night and featured five local Orange County bands who rocked the house while several D.J.'s kept the party flowing. Local standouts like Robert Jon and The Wreck left one hell of an impression as their explosive rock sound seemed to dwarf the stage. Sheer rock and roll with a southern twist, despite the fact that they are, well, local.More »

Now that we've shaken off the hangover of 2012, we've double checked our watches and realized that the first full week in January is time for one thing and one thing only: a new season of OC Music Awards madness. Today, the nominees for the 2013 Awards ceremony (hosted  at the City National Grove of Anaheim on March 9) were announced. We have to say, despite the a few predictable returners on the roster and the a list of big-timers who may or may not actually show up for the ceremony (*cough* No Doubt, The Offspring, Social Distortion, Young the Giant, Avenged Sevenfold *cough*)  there are a few key surprises in the nominee pool this year. We'll get into our analysis a little later, for now check out this list to review this cavalcade of artists making waves in our local music scene. If you don't know most of these names by now...you should.
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The Field Trip

Assuming the Mayan's apocalyptic predictions are a little off, we'll all be around to catch the next round of OC Music Awards goodness next year, starting with their eight-week stint of annual live showcases to decide the winner of OC's best live band. Today, the OCMA's announced the lineups for each of the shows. The process for picking the bands came after month of submissions from bands all around the county--in the end, 35 were chosen. The fun starts on Jan. 8 at Detroit Bar, where Fellow Bohemian, Alabaster Stones, Flying Sparks, Robert Jon & the Wreck and the Field Trip will perform on stage vie for your affections. All showcases are free and occur every Tuesday until the finale at the House of Blues Anaheim on Feb. 26. The venues range from ages and 18-and-over clubs to bars that are 21-and-over. See the full schedule after the jump.More »

Christopher Victorio/OC Weekly

Rodney Bingenheimer won the OC Music Award for Lifetime Achievement

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Mary Bell/OC Weekly

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The winner of this year's best acoustic band at the 2012 OC Music Awards was announced at last night's showcase held at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano. And the winner is...Allensworth. 
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Chris Victorio

Railroad to Alaska performs at last year's OC Music Awards

​The OC Music Awards announced the launch of its free iPhone app today featuring interviews, photos and playlists of bands participating in the nine-week competition. We here at Weekly World Headquarters were rightly hooked by the word "free," and proceeded to tap furiously at the faces of our phones summoning the bits and bytes of info to our tiny drives. 
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Meranda Carter

Parker Macy Blues

This morning, the OC Music Awards announced the finalists for Best Live Acoustic and Best Live Band for 2012. The contenders, who were picked by four judges, including the Weekly music editor Lilledeshan Bose, were among a slew of bands who competed in venues across the county during the past seven weeks. The eight finalists will perform in the final two showcases before the main awards ceremony, to be held at the City National Grove of Anaheim on March 3.More »

​Mandie and Ruby, Foxxhound, Danny Maika, Parker Macy, Tully James Wilkinson 
Continental Room, Fullerton
Feb. 7, 2012

The biggest criticism this curmudgeon will heap upon night six of the OC Music Awards has to do with the venue. Of all the beer bars and juke joint hosting this season's showcases, the Continental Room in downtown Fullerton is least conducive to a pleasant concert-going experience. More »

Brandon Ferguson

​Red9, Slime Kings, Death Hymn #9, Snakebit Drifters and Railroad to Alaska
Tiki Bar, Costa Mesa
Jan 31, 2012

Night five of the OC Music Awards saw the most consistent lineup of bands in the series thus far. That's not to say there weren't a few dips in what proved to be an exciting evening, but there certainly weren't any stinkers. 
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