Youngstown Music Awards were a hit with fans, bands

For a first-year event, the Youngstown Music Awards show exceeded expectations.

It had a rapid pace, smooth staging, and some of the biggest names in the city’s music scene, both past and present.

More importantly, it had an electric air of anticipation, and an aura of hipness and glitz. Those are the intangible elements that make an awards show special.

For the most part, the acts that should have won did win — or at least were top vote-getters — and that gave it instant credibility. The winners were determined by a public vote, so it could have gone either way. Fortunately, the results were about the same as what a panel of experts might have chosen.

Rodeo Music Hall, the spacious room with a large elevated stage, was packed for the Sunday night ceremony. The crowd included rockers, fans and music insiders and attire ranged from jeans and T-shirts to evening wear.

The VIP tables, the bars and the standing-room areas were at capacity, as attendees laughed, drank, networked and shared stories from the music scene. It was professional and fun.

Giant signs with band logos festooned one wall. A giant screen on the stage that rolled up for the performances showed photos of the nominees as they were announced.

The YMAs — as they’ve come to be called — are the brainchild of Michael Kermec. He surrounded himself with folks who were fully on board and helped him pull it off.

Kermec couldn’t have been more pleased about the whole process. “There was some resistance about the show when word first got out [earlier this year], but as more and more veteran musicians and sponsors got behind the idea, the more it was accepted, and it grew,” he said.

Kermec issued thank-yous to the bands and artists who performed at the awards show: Left End (with singers Daniel Butch, Jimmi Migliozzi, John Yuhas, Leanne Binder and Ashley Miller), Lazarus, Paul Skowron, Deep Cuts, JD Eicher and the Goodnights, the YMA All Star Band, and Phil Keaggy (who made a video message that was shown on the screen).

Gratitude also went to Chris McFall and his Rodeo staff, WNCD-FM radio, Creative Bridge Coalition and webmaster Rick Eardhart.

she’s in switzerland, and ‘lonely for ohio’

Heather Hoy-Altermatt called me the other day, out of the blue.

A Warren native, she has been living in Switzerland since 2002, where she is a singer and songwriter with Unifour, a country music band that she formed a few years ago.

The Warren Harding High and Bowling Green State University graduate was back in Warren for a few days to visit family. She wanted to talk about her band’s new song, “Lonely In Ohio,” which she wrote as a tribute to Warren.

After getting the obvious question out of the way (“You mean they listen to country music in Switzerland?”), Hoy explained that Unifour released the Christmas song last month as a gift to fans. It can be downloaded for free at unifour.ch/en.

There is also a video of the song on YouTube, in which Hoy is wearing an “Ohio girl” T-shirt.

Hoy said the Swiss love American country music and take the whole scene very seriously.

“Some even show up for concerts wearing chaps, a sheriff’s badge and a pistol,” she said, adding, “No, I am not kidding.”