Tickets on sale for the 12th annual Detroit Music Awards

Grammy Award winners Eminem and Madonna, Kid Rock, Uncle Kracker, Marshall Crenshaw, The White Stripes, and D-12 are among the nominees for the 2002 Detroit Music Awards, which will take place at 7 p.m. Friday, April 19th at the State Theatre in downtown Detroit.  The DMAs are an annual presentation of the Motor City Music Foundation (MCMF), a non-profit volunteer organization formed to nurture, promote and expose musicians and their work in the greater metropolitan Detroit area.

Among this year's multiple nominees in 72 categories are The Brothers Groove, Buggs Beddow, Jan Krist, The Wrenfields, The Alligators, Carl Craig, The Dearing Concert Duo and others. Distinguished Achievement Awards will be presented to Detroit Jazz great George ‘Sax’ Benson, Longtime Detroit radio host Ed Love and the annual Cass Corridor event "Dally in the Alley".

Live performances at this year's show include a special Detroit-style Hip-Hop Throwdown featuring Royce da 5-9 along with friends Obie Trice and Paradime. Other artists performing are George‘Sax’Benson, the heavy metal band Riot in Progress, past Reggae award winners Immunity, and Country artists Janis Leigh and Traci Leigh Bouchard. A special tribute to the late Aaliyah by student dancers from the Almdale Conservatory and the Detroit Dance Center will also be featured. Opening the evening will be the Shock Percussion Ensemble a group of 31 outstanding musicians from several local school. Members of Second City will host the event for the second year in a row. Additional performers and presenters will be announced in the near future.

Tickets have gone on sale at Ticketmaster for this year's awards show, priced at $15 for balcony seats, $25 for limited mezzanine seats and $200 and $100 for tables of four. Main floor tables and sponsorship packages are available by calling MCMF Executive Director Nancy Schoenheide at (248) 486-3424.

Nominees for and winners of the Detroit Music Awards are selected by a voting body of more than 3,000 professionals working in the local music industry.  The process involves two ballots; an open nominating ballot to determine a set of finalists and a final ballot. In an effort to open the awards to more candidates, DMA rules specify that any act that has won a DMA in a particular category for three consecutive years is ineligible in that category only for a one-year period, after which the act is again eligible to win.  Recording categories are exempt from this rule.  For more information and press credentials, contact Matt Lee for Drumbeaters, phone: 248-584-3715

E-Mail the Band TheBand@Wrenfields.com

For gig or booking info call (313) 359-1015

The Wrenfields - P.O. Box 2918 - Dearborn, MI 48123-2918 

photo courtesy of Greg Shamus Photography

last update 03/20/2002