It’s Friday, November 12, and I’m in the place to be: SLO Brew Rock for the 13th Annual New Times Music Awards. The crowd is buzzing as we wait for the showcase to begin which will pit the five genre winners against each other to see who will take home the best live performance.

Coming Soon, Master of Ceremonies Suzanne Schonig of American general media and The Krush 92.5 and 93.3 KZOZ arrives on stage and opens the show.

“What’s up SLO Brew Rock? How are you? A huge thank you to all of our local musicians who enrich our lives throughout the year.”

That’s why we’re here: to honor the local bands who, night after night, turn up in bars, clubs and theaters to fill our lives with good music. The past year and a half has been an unprecedented time, canceling shows and tours and driving bands and music lovers underground, but tonight we come together and celebrate.

The first prize of the evening goes to the best songwriter, and as “Old Together” by drunken gypsies performs, singer Hilary Langdon takes the stage. Holding her Newtie Award, Langdon said, “This song was inspired by my husband. Thank you! Cheers!”

Next, Gray beak just received his award for best album for High tide/low tidea superb set of two CDs.

“I’m so honored and grateful for this musical community,” Kevin Graybill said. “It means a lot. It was my pandemic project. It kept me relatively sane for the last year and a half or so.”

The first to play is Miss Leo, Country/Americana/Folk winner for “Desert Queen”. Miss Leo also won third place for best songwriter for “Sparrow”.

“It feels good to be recognized and I’m glad you enjoyed it,” Miss Leo says as she and her band launch into their set. The music finally flows and the crowd digs it.

Next up is the Open category winner – the father-daughter act Louie and Talia Ortega—who won for their Spanish-language song “Mi Perro” (My Dog), a track from their upcoming album Rubyreleased on December 1.

“Thank you, new timesfor the price,” Louie says before passing the microphone to his daughter. “We really appreciate that.

“It’s a joy and an honor to be here with my dad and to share the stage with all the amazing musicians who won and contributed tonight,” adds Talia.

After their well-received set, it’s time for the Local Legend Award.

“This one is super fun,” Schonig said. “We love our musicians, don’t we? They’re amazing and that’s what we’re here for, but there’s also a whole ton of people around these musicians who make this industry and this industry work and work. scene in our local community.”

This year’s winner is Wally Barnick, longtime bassist and vocalist of the Cache Valley Drifters (CVD). Wally’s voice sings the cover of CVD’s cream “White Room” as I approach to receive Wally’s award because he unfortunately couldn’t do the show, but Schonig offers a glimpse of his long list of accomplishments as a musician, promoter, booking agent and music journalist.

Place now for the Hip-Hop/Rap performance, and the perpetual winners, Scammer statusscored first and second in the genre.

The hip-hop collective’s famed Deuce takes the mic, and the classy actor that he is, recognizes those lurking behind the scenes: “Hey, we just wanna say thanks, man, to everyone out there working. Everything everyone here who’s in the bar, everyone serving food and drink. We couldn’t do this without all of you, so thank you to everyone working tonight.”

RoAch Clip frontman takes the mic: “Yo, we’re cleaning up tonight! I don’t know what happened. We’re taking all the stuff home and we’re so grateful…we’re kinda cocky too, so thank you,” he joked.

Their set gets carried away, then it’s time for the Readers’ Choice Award, which this year is awarded to The Santa Cruz Family Group for their song “Mama”, which came third in the R&B/Blues genre.

“Remember to call your mom and dad and brother and sister,” Patriarch Bobby Santa Cruz said as he accepted the award, “because they’re waiting to hear from you! Goodbye, everyone! Thank you so much !”

“Oh my God, best advice ever! Schonig squeals.

Video courtesy of Paul Irving and Big Big SLO

Rock/alternative winners Lu Lu and the Cowherds play next, and as vocalist Donna “Lu” Meazell takes the mic, she celebrates her band: “Todd [Andrew], you are the best guitarist in the world, and it is so easy to write music with you and I thank you for that. I would like to thank my boyfriend for supporting me. I’d like to thank my friends and family, and that guy,” Meazell says, pointing to bassist Tyler Mitchell. “You’re like…I’ve been with that guy longer than anyone – 26 to play music together. Thank you for coming out and supporting us.”

The last act of the evening, R&B/Blues winners The Tipsy Gypsies take the stage and Langdon takes the mic: “We love what we do and we have a lot of fun together. We’ve been playing for over a decade. Thank you ! We are delighted to be here. Thanks to all the other musicians. We are honored to share the same stage.

As the crowd awaits the results, I hear people wondering about the impossibility of choice. Finally after several minutes, Schonig is ready to announce the news.

“Okay, the judges have judged. The bands have played. You enjoyed the show. Didn’t you? Once everything has been presented on this stage, please welcome one more, your winner of the best live performance… I’m gonna do the thing like they do on TV and I’m gonna wait for it… Lu Lu & The Cowtipers! Get your bubbly butt back here, girl!”

Yes, rock/alternative winner Lu Lu and the Cowtipers are this year’s top live artists!

“Thank you very much guys. We appreciate you! Meazell gushed, capping off another epic year.

best album

• Gray beak, High tide/low tide

• Drunk Gypsies, Ten

• About time, About time

Best Songwriter

• Tipsy Gypsies, “Old Together”

• Bob and Wendy, “When I Needed You”

• Miss Leo, “Sparrow”

Youth

• Rio Fleming, “Reaching You”

hip-hop

• Thief status, “In smoke”

• Thief Status, “Whatitdo”

• b poz, “Makin Moves”

Open

• Louie & Talia Ortega, “Mi Perro”

• The Bogeys, “Skelly Klater”

• Blythe Berg, “Noodles”

R&B/Blues

• The Pompous Gypsies, “The Hunger”

• Pete Pidgeon, “Wasted Child”

• The Santa Cruz family group, “Mama”

Alternative rock

• Lu Lu & The Cowtipers, “Just Begun”

• Ghost/Monster, “Nice Guys”

• Carbon City Lights, “Dive into a river”

Country/American/Folk

• Miss Leo, “Queen of the Desert”

• The fearless messenger of love, “Tennessee”

• Nicole Stromsoe, “I’m Fine”

Readers’ Choice

• The Santa Cruz family group, “Mama”

Drawing Winner

• Mike Boudreau won the Ernie Ball Music Man Δ guitar

Contact senior writer Glen Starkey at gstarkey@newtimesslo.com.