Awards season is on the horizon

The inaugural Youngstown Music Awards is starting to come into focus.

Voting has ended, and tickets are now on sale for the show and ceremony, which will be Nov. 30 at Rodeo Music Hall in Austintown. The winners in each category will be announced at the event, which will include performances by some of Youngstown’s greatest bands of all time.

Tickets are $20 and are available at Hubbard Music, Cricket’s Bar on the South Side, Shotz Bar and Nader’s Vapors in Austintown, and Leon’s Bar in Howland.

Left End will reunite to play at the YMAs, as will the Human Beinz and White Noise. Also on the bill are Lazarus and JD Eicher and the Goodnights. The night will end with an all-star jam with the aforementioned.

A group of local celebrities will be on hand to present the awards, which are in 23 categories (see them at ytownmusicawards.com). The winners were determined by the public in online voting, which ended Sept. 1.

YOUNGSTOWNERS GARNER HIP-HOP AWARD NOMINATIONS

Rafael Morales, aka King Ralph, chief of Gotta Husle Entertainment, has been nominated for two Ohio Hip-Hop Awards (Most Improved Artist and Best Collaboration, for his work with Ray Jr. and Dre Bonez).

The winners will be revealed Sept. 26-28.

Other Youngstowners nominated for the Ohio Hip-Hop Awards include Rufus Blaq, Notice, JTrip, DJ Bandcamp, Sean Lott, DeMayne Earvin and Joshua Fisher. Voting is still under way at ohiohiphopawards.com. Deadline is Saturday.

GALLAGHER BUILDING UPDATE: RENOVATIONS WILL RESUME

Renovation work on the Gallagher Building, downtown, likely will resume shortly after the new year.

The building, which once housed Cedar’s rock ’n’ roll club, is owned by Dominic Gatta III, who began renovations last year but halted the work to pursue a state historical tax credit for the project.

The state designation should be received in late November or early December, said Gatta, allowing work to resume.

Plans call for creating two eateries on the ground floor, one a wine bar and the other a burger bar, plus offices and apartments on the upper floors.

EDM ARTIST DR. GOO TO RELEASE HIS THIRD ALBUM, ‘UNCOOL’

Youngstown-based electronic dance music artist Dr. Goo (aka Brandon Martin) will release “Uncool,” his third album, on Sept. 29. An all-ages pre-release listening party will be Sunday at 6:30 p.m. at Calvin Center, 755 Mahoning Ave.

There also will be a release party Oct. 3 at Suzie’s Dogs and Drafts on North Phelps Street, downtown.

Dr. Goo, who performed at the Life In Color EDM show at Covelli Centre last month, said the new album was inspired by his experiences in the Youngstown art scene. It will be available from online retailers, including Beatport, iTunes and Google Music.

“Uncool” is on the Grimey Grooves label, of Youngstown.

PLAYHOUSE HAS A HIT WITH ‘A CHORUS LINE’

The Youngstown Playhouse has a hit on its hands with “A Chorus Line” and has added a performance to meet ticket demand.

The extra show will be at 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Call 330-788-8739 for tickets, or go to the-youngstownplayhouse.com. Performances also are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. tonight, Friday and Saturday.

“A Chorus Line” is directed and choreographed by David Jendre.

The musical employs an ensemble cast, although each member gets solo time in the spotlight, and the Playhouse production is absolutely brimming with great individual performances.