saturday april 11th spawned a night of glitter, media, booze, backless dresses and tuxedos........oh yeah there was music also.

the klammies is a yearly event giving out awards for best this and best that and best the other thing. it was nice in the aspect that all of these bands, regardless of style were together enjoying themselves out in the lobby and getting quite saucy. the part that got to me, and always has, is the topic of my opinion.....why?

it seems to me that the whole idea of an "award" has been curved into this competition, this race of the champions, if you will. judgement placed upon the musicians, by the masses, into this spectacle awarding an engraved ice scraper to the "best?".

in my opinion, it's a horrific sacrifice of pride and devotion to a musicians talent. who are you in competition with? most of the time when i bring it up in conversation, i get the response that, "hey, i didn't ask for the nomination, they chose us". well in respect to that, when you read that review of your CD or show, to you take it that seriously? do they or could they truly know. what's the difference between a writers review, regardless if they like it or not, and the popular voting of a local awards event. the pride of your talent and individuality become numbed for an evening.

please don't get me wrong, i'm not by any means trying to shit on the heads of the people that were awarded. i'm sure the feeling was great, being acknowledged for your talent. i just don't think that in the midst of all of the glory, people think about how it came to light. sometimes the madness shines in the method, and not the result.

in reality, lets look at the catagory "song of the year". how in the hell can you compare the songs of bands with such diversity as "the gadjits", "outhouse", "ultimate fakebook", "sufferbus" and "the black water"....HOW? i could never infringe the idea that our song is "better" than theirs, much less any other band, so why should i let someone else. sure it's going to happen everyday by someone, but they're not going to organize a public event out of it.

sure i might be overreacting to this. but when i see sportscasters and anchorpersons on a stage saying band names they can't even pronounce, you begin to think, and this opinion is what i thought. there are starving artists among us who are trying their upmost to make a living out of it, either to be a superstar, an artist or both. don't you think that's competition enough? for me personally, my love of music is an obsession, a lover whom i am devoted to forever. i'm confident that it's integrity will succeed.

linked from this column is a letter i found on the web from nick cave to MTV concerning his nomination for best male artist. it speaks for itself and in my opinion, is profound.

view Nick Cave's letter to MTV

...............................things change.........................

please remember this is my opinion, nothing more nothing less. i'm just a starving artist like anyone else in a world where work is humiliation and mortality is a cruel joke.....