Julie Phillips,

Arts & Entertainment Editor

Tonight is one of my favorite events of AthFest, the Flagpole Athens Music Awards.
Aside from the general raucous revelry that ensues in cramming umpteen rock bands and their closest fans/friends under one roof for the evening, the lineup of musicians playing the show spans all genres and showcases the huge, huge wealth of talent in Athens — all that in one of Athens’ truly loveliest venues, the Morton Theatre.

Last week I spoke with Alicia Nickles, publisher and advertising director for Flagpole Magazine and organizer of the awards, and music editor Michelle Gilzenrat. Huge amounts of work go into the show, and I seriously bow down to them because it comes out great every year. Tonight’s lineup is excellent as always — I saw the UGA Redcoat Drumline perform outside Tasty World during an AthFest many moons ago and have held onto that memory since — their performance was mind-blowing, all precision and rhythm. Extra cool is that a totally different side of drumming will be represented as well tonight, with Moyuba, a phenomenal five-piece hand-drumming ensemble.

Another two-sider for the show is the pitting of two Athens bands in a duel — Spring Tigers vs. Twin Tigers for the obvious tiger title. All I’ve seen of either Tigers is the video for Spring Tigers’ “New Improved Formula”, an entry in Sprockets Music Video Show on Saturday at the 40 Watt.

Another treat is Kyshona Armstrong , who I met a couple of summers ago — she’s a friend of a friend, and at the time she’d just moved to Athens and was asking me if I thought she could get some gigs around Athens. She’s rocked that endeavor out, earning a name for herself first busking on College Avenue with her duo Molasses Skye and now as a solo artist. Amazing, amazing voice, deeply moving lyrics. By day she’s a music therapist, working with some of the toughest youths in the system (and people in prison as well). So just let me say Kyshona is a huge boon to and talent in this community and we are so lucky to have her in Athens.

I could go on — David Blackmon is an amazing fiddler; The Buddy System is my new favorite band, and I’m totally looking forward to some C-Fre$h. We’ll have a photo gallery and video tomorrow to go with — Oh, yes, our story tomorrow on the winners of tonight’s awards! Check out the finalists here

Looking forward to the show -- and with that, a big congrats to Flagpole on their 10th annual awards!