The Drive To Five: 2011 Comebacks and Goodbyes

Welcome back to the Drive to Five. This year of 2015 will mark the fifth edition of the Platinum Vinyl Awards. It has been a fun ride, and it gets bigger and better every year. Look for some giveaways to begin soon as well.

We get back into our time machine and return to the year 2011. I know, kind of a short trip. We are going over a bit of the same ground as in a past post, but we will add to it. Every year new groups enter the arena and hope to make their mark on the world. At the same time, due to either age, discouragement or various other reasons, a number of groups and artists drop out. We have already addressed the Class of 2011, as we call the new class. These will be the drop-outs of sorts. Of course there is a third class, that of the comeback. There is always that point time when artists say "Where shall I go? I can not dig, to beg I am ashamed..." There were two of those as well.

Like I said, these two were mentioned in a previous post. The first of those two Angie Turner, aka Miss Angie, has come back a long road from Triumphantine back in 2000. Time and Space came out in 2011 and garnered a dance song win, but fell short of the comeback. That award went to Burlap to Cashmere. All I can say is that it's good to force yourself to look back once in a while, somtimes you miss things. Miss Angie dropped off the radar after releasing the single Restore in 2012. However she released an EP in 2013 and is busy being a mom. Hope to hear from her again soon. 

One sort of semi-retirement goes to Eowyn Riggins, known simply as Eowyn. She has transplanted herself to Virginia with her husband and has put music on the back burner for now, but is still interested in starting a new band. We shall wait.

There was one official retirement in 2011. Underoath took the nomination and ran. They are missed, though the Hard Rock field has not suffered in their absence. Perhaps it was a good thing.

That clears out 2011 for us as well. Next time we shall take up the Third Awards, when we finally added a video awards section. Until then, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Heating It Up: Platinum Vinyl Award 4th Quarter Nominees - Dance

Continuing with our final roll out of the:

2011 Platinum Vinyl Awards 4th Quarter Nominees

We move onto the Dance Genre. The Nominations have improved in the second year. Already we have doubled the entries for folk and children's music. This quarter alone we have nine dance nominations, and the final nominee count is only seven. There will be some favorites left behind.

Dance Music

• Miss Angie - Time And Space
• Brittany Hargest - Love all the Way
• Jai - Culture Shock
• Cory Lamb - Break The Cycle
• Manic Drive - Epic
• Press Play - World Anthem
• Rapture Ruckus - Open Your Eyes
• Beckah Shae - Destiny (5)
• Warr Acres - Warr Acres

Remember a (5) indicates a perfect emerald rating. Stay with me as we continue to roll out the final nominees for the Platinum Vinyl Awards. There are additional categories this year and we have only just begun, so stay with me. As always, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Night Beat Rewind: July 2011

We have completed the first third of the final quarter of entries for the 2011 Platinum Vinyl Award. Boy things have gone by quickly this summer. August looks to be a little quiet. I guess when you're out on the festival circuit you can't have a CD coming out.

Not Exactly Precious Metal

The following handful of entries just missed making the Platinum Vinyl Awards initial cut. We had a very good July. It should make up for having a pretty sparse August.

• Opposition, Altars, 3.5 Emeralds
• Volition, As Hell Retreats, 3 Emeralds
• Out for Blood, Farewell Flight, 3.75 Emeralds
• Turn up the Music: The Hits of Point of Grace, Point of Grace, 3.5 Emeralds
• Kingdom Days in an Evil Age, Sleeping Giant, 3.75 Emeralds

As I have said, four emeralds is my bar. While I think Sleeping Giant and Farewell Flight have some potential, there was just something lacking with their releases. Maybe next time.

July 2011 Platinum Vinyl Nominees

This month was pretty good. We had almost two dozen possible nominees. Now remember, this is the initial list, and things will get whittled down before the finals. This is the first step.

• Brokenness Aside, No. 1, All Sons & Daughters, 4 Emeralds
• Stop the Funeral, Ambassador, 4.5 Emeralds
• A Thousand Tongues, Jeff Anderson, 4.25 Emeralds
• American Dreams, Dominic Balli, 4 Emeralds
• Burlap to Cashmere, Burlap to Cashmere, 4.75 Emeralds
• Validation, Call to Preserve, 4.5 Emeralds
• The Best of, Ricky Dillard and New G, 4.25 Emeralds
• Heavy Worship, The Great Commission, 4.5 Emeralds
• Give Me Rest, Hands, 4.25 Emeralds
• God Is Able (Live), Hillsong Live, 4.25 Emeralds
• You Got My Attention, Dara Maclean, 4.5 Emeralds
• Time And Space, Miss Angie, 4.5 Emeralds
• Broken Voice, My Epic, 4.5 Emeralds
• Come Down O Love Divine, Fernando Ortega, 4.5 Emeralds
• To Those Perishing, A Past Unknown, 4.25 Emeralds
• The God Machine, Phinehas, 4.5 Emeralds
• I'm All In, Robert Pierre, 4.25 Emeralds
• Let it Rain: The Best of Pocket Full of Rocks, Pocket Full of Rocks, 4.25 Emeralds
• 10,000 Reasons, Matt Redman, 4.25 Emeralds
• These Simple Truths (Deluxe Edition), Sidewalk Prophets, 4.25 Emeralds
• Promises, Richard Smallwood, 4.25 Emeralds
• Beautiful Monster, This'l, 4 Emeralds
• Holy Hip Hop, Volume 11, Various Artists, 4.5 Emeralds

That's it for July. It's kind of hard to believe, but in just a few short months I will be beginning the process to pick the seven final nominees in each category for the 2nd Platinum Vinyl Awards. Wow. I hope you stay with me through it all, tell your friends, and as always, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Reunion Summer

This year is turning out to be quite interesting if, like me, you kind of miss some of the "old" bands or artists. I'm speaking figuratively guys, you're only as old as you think.

First Came The Legends. This Year the Cornerstone Festival had a Jesus Rally. Present were the Legends of Rock. I have usually never wished that I was in Illinois in the Summer. This year was different

Jesus Music Rally

Thursday June 30, 2011

3:00 PM - Servant

3:50 PM - Barry McGuire

4:55 PM - Daniel Amos

5:50 PM - Randy Stonehill

6:50 PM - E Band

8:00 PM - Resurrection Band (REZ)

9:15 PM - Phil Keaggy

10:15 PM - Classic Petra

To a lot of Christian Music enthusiasts, this was a dream matchup. I mean what was there to complain about. O.K. "Hey, How come REZ got the most time of all of them (technically it's their festival), but apart from that. Of course shortly before news of this rally we heard that Petra was reorganizing under it's classic lineup, and things have gotten better since then. Sweet Comfort Band is getting reconstituted and recording again. Grammatrain, a band which announced they were breaking up the first (and Only) time I saw them in concert, recorded a new album, which you can hear on their site. According to Jesusfreakhideout.com Time and Space the first release from Miss Angie in a dozen years. (Triumphantine dropped back in 1999) will release next Tuesday. I am psyched.

The track listing:

1. Time and Space (feat. The Identity Crisis)
2. Letting Go (to your love)
3. Great is Your Salvation
4. I Dare Myself
5. Intermission (make the connect)
6. Lovestealer
7. Oh Daddy
8. Wanting My Heart
9. Hear My Prayer
10. Not Enough
11. Not Enough (Remix by Paradoxx)

You can listen to Time and Space, as well as Great is Your Salvation, I Dare Myself, Lovestealer, and Wanting My Heart, in their entirety on her official site. That's half the album folks. I would love to be able to get my hands on a full copy so I can make a review, but based on the five songs available, Fans of the first two albums will not be disappointed. There is just enough "space-pop" to satisfy, and it is combined with a now much matured voice. This is her best work yet, and I will give it a preliminary 4.5 Emeralds. Welcome back Miss Angie.

Finally, we have Burlap to Cashmere, which released their last Album Anybody Out There? back in 1998. Their self-titled release which came out this past Tuesday, is available to listen to in its entirety though hearitfirst.com. After listening, I would hope you would return to the site and support the night beat by buying through this site. I hope to have a full review up on the site soon.

That will do it for now. As Always, I am Awaiting Your Reply.