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The time has arrived, The 2012 "Shammy Award" Nominations Are In! |
VOTE NOW! Here's a look at our 2011 Shammy Award Winners... 2012 nominees to be added SOON!
Last year, 593 participants from across the State of Michigan cast votes for their favorite "All Things Irish in Michigan” during the first ever “Shammy Awards.” We were happy to find out that the votes reflected a great geographic diversity, having three winners from the west side of the state and three from the east. Our winner for "Favorite Irish Dance School/Troupe," the Ardan Academy of Irish Dance spans the state with classes offered from Detroit to Lansing and Grand Rapids!
Quinn and Tuite's Irish Pub in Grand Rapids won "Favorite Irish Pub/ Restaurant in Michigan" with just under 200 of the 593 votes! For those who haven't been there, the pub features Irish Music at least a dozen times a year, with some of the biggest names in the business. (Derek Warfield, The Elders, Gaelic Storm...) It’s also the home of great local and regional acts, like the winning "Favorite Irish Rock Act in Michigan," The Waxies, (a powerhouse in the Celtic Rock scene,) and great traditional acts like "The Conklin Ceili Band." www.miIrish.com features listings of virtually all the Irish Music shows at Quinn and Tuite's, which occur monthly from September through May.
Our winner for "Favorite Solo Irish Music Act" was new to us at miIrish.com, coming to us via the nomination process. Apparently our Detroit followers knew him though, and voted for him in great numbers! Brian Bonner has been entertaining the Detroit Irish community since 1973. Now the rest of the state knows about him thanks to being discovered through the Shammy Awards!
The winner of "Favorite Traditional Irish Music Act in Michigan" was pretty much a given! Anyone who has followed Irish Music in Michigan has surely seen, or at least heard of the Detroit/Ann Arbor based group "Blackthorn." After 25 years in the business, playing thousands of venues across the state and region, this group's perfect harmonies, musician-ship and humor, these guys were hard to beat! If you've never been to one of their shows, shame on you! Make plans now to check them out! Sign up on their website to get appearance notifications.
The Michigan Irish Music Festival is the largest event of its type in the state, and won the first Shammy Award for "Favorite Irish Music/Cultural Event in Michigan." This event in Muskegon is a "world class" production. Mark your calendar now for September 14-16, 2012 and don't miss this great event!
Congratulations also went out to The Twisted Shamrock in Ferndale for being chosen as the "Favorite Irish Gift Shop in Michigan.” www.miIrish.com didn’t even know about this great shop until it was nominated last year! Who will we discover this year?
