Monday, June 29, 2009

The 2009 Winners


Eric's Trip


Rheostatics

We are very pleased to announce the two winners of the 2009 Independent Music Hall of Fame:

1. Eric's Trip (originally from Moncton, New Brunswick)
2. Rheostatics (Toronto)

The jury completed their votes last week and these two icons emerged as our first ever winners. In the coming weeks you will see in depth features on both these bands right here on the Independent Hall of Music website/shrine.

To give you a taste of the jury debate on these winners, here are few excerpts from the original nomination proposals made by members of the jury:

1. Eric's Trip - nominated by Carla Gillis:

"Thoroughly D.I.Y. – in their case, homemade artwork and everything."

"Spearheaded the East Coast “Halifax is the Seattle of the north” movement in the early 90s."

"Totally original sound that mixed sludgy heaviness with vulnerable, highly personal soft-sung lyrics sung by a guy AND a girl."

"Never signed to a major."

"Influenced almost as many U.S. bands as Canadian ones, and many younger contemporary bands."

2. Rheostatics - nominated by Michael Barclay

"They combine the best elements of Stompin’ Tom, Jane Siberry, Max Webster, Mary Margaret O’Hara and Neil Young. They were incredibly eclectic and yet you always knew it was the Rheostatics."

"They were singular and unique; no other band in the world sounds like them, to this day."

"Deadly serious and downright goofy; operatic art rock and bare-bones punk rock; grand ambitions and self-sabotage—it’s all there."

"10 official releases (counting off the top of my head); one of them on a major label, the rest done to varying degrees of indie-ness and DIY. 29-year career (1979-2008)."

Stay tuned for more on these bands in the coming weeks.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

The 2009 Hall of Fame Short List

On behalf of the jury, we are pleased to announce the 2009 Independent Music Hall of Fame Short List.

In alphabetical order, we have:

DOA
Eric's Trip
Joel Plaskett
NoMeansNo
Rheostatics
Stompin' Tom Connors
The Evaporators
The Lowest Of The Low
Weakerthans

The two winners of the 2009 award will be announced on Saturday night at the Zunior 5th Anniversary Show at the Tranzac in Toronto. Stay tuned!

Monday, June 22, 2009

The 2009 Short List Coming Soon

For the past two weeks, the jury has been engaging as a group to define:

a) Considerations - the elements that matter when picking a winner.
b) Nominees - possible winners.

Key considerations include elements such as the national scope of the artist, the number of independent releases and a consideration of overall impact. As a next task, jury members made a case for their nominee in light of these key considerations.

We are just in the process of finalizing the short list and picking our winners. The two winners of the 2009 Independent Music Hall of Fame will be announced this Saturday at the Zunior 5th Anniversary Show in Toronto.