RAMIs award best in area music industry

Whiskey Train was awarded Album of the Year for “For Pete’s Sake” and Big Empty was named the People’s Choice Artist of the Year at the 21st Annual Rockford Area Music Industry (RAMI) Cocktail Party and Awards Ceremony April 13 at Tebala Shrine Temple in Rockford. Pictured, Shattered Picks, who finished second in the 2012 RAMI Youth Charity Jam, were among the performers at the April 13 ceremony. (Photo by Jon Lambert)

Rockford musicians Daniel James McMahon (left) and Miles Nielsen were honored for Outstanding Achievement at the April 13 RAMI Cocktail Party and Awards Ceremony. McMahon and Nielsen scored the instrumental music for the film “Undefeated,” which was co-directed by former Rockford resident Daniel Lindsay and which won an Academy Award in the documentary feature category Feb. 26. (Photo by Jon Lambert)

Staff Report

The best in local music were honored during the 21st Rockford Area Music Industry (RAMI) Cocktail Party and Awards Ceremony April 13 at Tebala Shrine Temple.

Following is a complete list of award recipients by category:

Acoustic Rock/Folk — Kelly Steward

Blues — Lizzi Neal Band

Christian/Gospel — Epiphany

Classic Rock — AudioDrive

Country/Bluegrass — Jaime Campbell

DJ — DJ Jordan Chance

Female Lead Vocalist — Amy Nickel

Funk/R&B — Whalebone

Hard Rock/Metal — IRON CROSS

Indie/Alternative — The Poets Dance

Fresh Hot Fritters perform at the 21st Rockford Area Music Industry Cocktail Party and Awards Ceremony April 13. (Photo by Jon Lambert)

Jazz — Dean Moriarty Jazz Band

Latino — Escape

Lighting Engineer — Erik Myles

Live Sound Engineer — “Johnny B” MacDowell

Male Lead Vocalist — Dan Curington

New Act — Micky Rosenquist & The Black Squirrel Project

Oldies — Vintage Vinyl

People’s Choice: Artist of the Year — Big Empty

People’s Choice: Radio Station — Q98.5 WXXQ

People’s Choice: Special Event — Byron Fest

Kelly Steward, a winner in the Acoustic Rock/Folk category, performs. (Photo by Jon Lambert)

People’s Choice: Venue — Whiskey’s Roadhouse

Pop — Sweet Lucy

Rap/Hip Hop — Static

Recording Studio — Darkhouse Productions

Rockabilly — Dirty Fishnet Stockings

Stagehand/Rigger — Rick Abrams

Stage Manager — Luis Lara

Studio Sound Engineer — Andrew Carlson

Tribute Band — Fake Your Money Maker

Tribute Band — Rubik Steel

Composer of the Year — Michael Mastroianni, “After Dark”

Song of the Year — Epiphany, “Jona”

Album of the Year — Whiskey Train, For Pete’s Sake

Hall of Fame — Dwayne Barker, studio sound engineer, Barker Recording Studio; The Usual Suspects; and Southern Heritage

Lifetime Achievement — Rulee Stallman and Vito J. Dangelo

In Memoriam — Michael Vaccarello and Wanda Rae Boan

Outstanding Achievement — Miles Nielsen and Daniel James McMahon

Community Service Awards — John Russell Ghrist and Steve Summers

Emcees for the evening were Chip Messiner and Don Beinborn. Perfomers included the three top winners of the 2012 RAMI Youth Charity Jam — Daybreak, Shattered Picks and Marie Ivory — as well as New Royal Travelers, Fresh Hot Fritters, Kelly Steward, Galaxia, Radio Stars, Big Daddy Woo Woo with the Rockford Steppers Club, and IRON CROSS.

For more about the RAMIs, visit http://ramiawards.com/.

From the April 18-24, 2012, issue