Opportunities abound at LEXI Awards
From a nationally recognized group like the Lexington Philharmonic to a small town band like All The Little Pieces, the 2nd annual Lexington Music Awards (LEXI Awards) is recognizing professional musicians in Central Kentucky. The LEXI Awards will be held at The Lyric Theatre on Jan. 31, 2016.
The awards not only recognize individual local musicians, but also feature award categories for areas such as best live music venue, best song, best music store, and best DJ. The goal of the awards is to bring more awareness and appreciation for local music within the Central Kentucky area.
“The task of organizing the awards is a big mountain to climb,” local singer-songwriter and nominee, Ray Adams, stated.
WLEX-TV 18, Skinny Devil Music Lab, Lexenomics, and the Lexington Herald-Leader sponsor the LEXI awards. A small committee of local musicians, music instructors, and businesses, are successfully taking on the challenge of organizing and producing this televised event. Vocalist and four-time nominee, Taylor Hughes, feels it’s also a challenge to simply be a local musician.
“Being a musician is hard work,” Taylor said, “It takes a lot of time, heart, passion, and guts to get up on stage and sing in front of people.”
A huge part of the success of any musician, either on a local or national level, is their willingness to work hard and sacrifice for their dreams. Many musicians sacrifice a lot, just trying to pay their dues. Paying your dues in the music community can certainly pay off, like it did for Rhyan Sinclair and her band, All The Little Pieces, who are nominated for the second year in a row.
“The best thing to come out of All The Little Pieces winning last year was meeting so many great people,” Rhyan explained. “That opened the door to some cool opportunities and I got to collaborate with so many awesome musicians throughout the year.”
To date, there has never been an award program in Lexington that honors local musicians, making the 2nd Annual LEXI Awards the starting point.
“I’m very happy musicians in this town are being recognized for what they do,” Ray Adams stated. “There’s no way to recognize everyone who deserves to be honored, but this is a good start.”
As local musicians face the reality that the odds are stacked against them, the ones who ultimately succeed never give up. Every single one of these nominees can say that they have never given up and they are now being recognized because of their resilience.
The LEXI Awards are open to the public. Those interested can purchase tickets, for $15, by calling The Lyric Theatre at 859-280-2201 or by visiting the www.LexingtonLyric.com online box office.