Grievous Angel
Outstanding Acoustic Group, Outstanding Country Group - Detroit Music Awards

Grievous Angel has been delighting fans at festivals, concert venues and juke joints throughout Michigan for years now, delivering their own rollicking brand of American roots music. Revving up at the fabled crossroads where folk, rockabilly, blues, and alt-country were born, they burn rubber through the backwoods of the American south. This musical road trip careens through west Texas, Memphis and the gut-funky soulful side of their own native Detroit. The map blew out of the window at the last truck stop, so just sit back and enjoy the ride.

 
Billy Brandt
Outstanding Acoustic Vocalist, Outstanding Folk Artist - Detroit Music Awards

Having spent decades in the music business supporting other bands and artists, Billy Brandt found his own musical voice and steps into the spotlight as a singer-songwriter for the first time in his amazing career. Influenced by the likes of Gram Parsons to Neil Young, he's molded his sound by creating his own unique guitar picking...creating a haunting melody which stays with the listener long after the song is over. His deep roots in alt-country have earned him a loyal following.

 
Sarana VerLin
Outstanding Acoustic Instrumentalist - Detroit Music Awards

Sarana VerLin has worked with many people including grammy award winners Don Was and Steve King and producer Ben Grosse. Early in her career she was voted into the Detroit Metro Times Music Hall of Fame alongside prestigious musicians such as Aretha Franklin and Iggy Pop and was one of the original members of Dark Carnival, a rotating group of superstars including the late Ron Asheton. She has been compared to Stevie Nicks by way of Sandy Denny and her current style is dedicated to exploring the boundaries of Celtic Folk, Rock, Country and Americana. Where those lines blur is where she thrives!

 
Jill Jack
24 Detroit Music Awards

Jill Jack released her first 4 CDs on Drum Dancer records before launching her own company, Uphill Productions. Her genre-blending style of folk, rock, country, Americana and just plain good songwriting reaches out and connects wherever she goes. Her strength has always been her live shows and the connection with her audience.

 
Red C
Winner of 8 Detroit Music Awards, Red C scored a loud, loyal following in the Midwest and on the East Coast. Lead singer Susan Calloway is now a solo artist who now performs with Tony Levin (bassist for Peter Gabriel) and Greg Suran (former guitarist for Goo Goo dolls) among others.

 
Spank
Some things you save because they're just worth playing over and over again. Like Spank's CD. A heavy dose of rock and roll with a hint of alt-country, the songs themselves are beautiful with tightly focused lyrics and a feeling somewhere between melancholy and redemption. Guitarist Tim Diaz won best Detroit Music Awards Rock Instrumentalist 2 years running.

 
Ash Can Van Gogh

Ash Can Van Gogh performed primarily in the Detroit area from 1985-1989. The band received multiple music awards from the then Metro Times Music Awards which is today's Detroit Music Awards. Accolades included Band Deserving Wider Recognition, Best Folk Band, Best Instrumentalist, Best Acoustic Artist...which goes to show the difficulty in pinning down the musical style of this band. They weren't folk, they weren't hard rock but somewhere in between.