country music award ceremony comes to Rochester

Like other genres, country music cannot be pigeonholed into one particular sound. A variety of styles overlap beneath the country umbrella, including folk, rock, bluegrass, gospel and Americana. Emerging trends have broadened the field even further, attracting new and younger audiences to the music, even if they don’t identify it as country. Still, Paul Malone had no trouble offering a concise definition of the genre.

“Country music is poetry for the poor people,” he said.

Malone is vice president of the New Hampshire Country Music Association, which will hold its 21st annual award show at the Rochester American Legion Post on Sunday, Oct. 19. Judges will dole out awards in a slew of categories in the association’s Talent Search and Competition, while WOKQ-FM’s J.C. Coffey and Nichole Davis MC the ceremony. NHCMA board president and CEO Jimmy Woods will provide entertainment with his band, Jimmy Woods and the Woodsmen.

The award show brings to light a country music scene in New Hampshire that remains largely hidden from Seacoast audiences. The country brand holds a stigma for many listeners, who tend to think of it solely in the context of twangy cowboy ballads about pickup trucks or teary love songs about your woman running off.

Jonathan Scott, front man of Jaffrey-based band the Blazing Hearts, said he’s grown accustomed to getting a certain dodgy look from people when they hear he’s in a country band. But he’s proud to have converted several reluctant listeners.

“A lot of people come to our shows and say, ‘I hate country music, but you guys are awesome!’” he said.
Scott, who recently became an NHCMS board member, is a student of the “new country” school, which is more influenced by rock ’n’ roll than traditional country. He grew up in the 1980s, listening to acts like Willie Nelson, Alabama and Exile. To old-schoolers, even those decades-old bands qualify as new country artists, with legends like Hank Williams Sr. defining the traditional sound. Nowadays, Scott said, more and more rockers are turning to country.

“I’ve noticed that there’s a lot of rock people who are switching and doing the new country thing,” he said.
Asked to distinguish between new country and traditional, Malone said the songs on the radio today are much more drum heavy. “If you listen to country music, traditional music has very light drums. The original traditional music had no drums,” he said.

Superstar singers like Garth Brooks rejuvenated the country music industry in the 1990s, but since then the scene has waned a bit, Malone said. “Right now is kind of a down time. Three or four years ago it was booming,” he said.  

While the NHCMA’s past contests typically drew between 135 and 150 competitors, only 42 came out this year. Malone blamed the foundering economy for the low turnout and said many country acts have left New Hampshire in recent years. Still, Malone said he could easily name 10 or 15 active country bands in the area. And while some of them have trouble finding embracive venues, there are always receptive audiences at VFWs and American Legion posts around the state.

Jonathan Scott and the Blazing Hearts have a fairly full slate of shows booked over the next few months, including gigs at Gino’s Bar and Grill in Keene, Pelto’s Barn in Troy, Linda’s Sports Bar in Hudson and the Raymond VFW. Scott also has a solo show at the Best Western Hotel in Keene on Oct. 26, and he sang the national anthem at a Keene Knights high school football game on Oct. 5.

“We play everywhere. Even with the gas prices and the economy and everything, people are still going out,” Scott said. “I haven’t really noticed a reduction in the number of people that are going out.”

Scott’s band did not participate in the Talent Search and Competition this year, but he has had considerable success in past contests. Last year, Scott won best male entertainer and best male vocalist for new country, as well as best male vocalist for traditional. And, the BlazingHearts won best new country band of the year. Scott went on to compete in the North American Country Music Association International’s annual contest in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., and was awarded most promising male entertainer for new country.

The state contest offers awards in numerous categories based on age and gender within the fields of new country, traditional, bluegrass and gospel. Contestants pay a $30 fee and perform for eight minutes in front of a panel of three judges. Performers usually play two songs each, and they get penalized for going over the eight-minute mark.

The judges rate each performance with a score of up to 36 points, for a possible maximum of 108. Winners who achieve a total score of at least 81 points—75 percent of the maximum—are eligible to participate in the national contest in Tennessee. Malone said the judges in Tennessee evaluate competitors not only on their musical talent, but on their physical appearance and entertainment value.

“To be talented is great, but if you don’t meet the rest of the package, it’s very difficult to do anything with your career,” he said.

That considered, New Hampshire has produced an impressive number of national winners, Malone said. And although the turnout was a bit low this year, he expects to see a truckload of talent in Rochester.
“They come out of the woodwork every year. It’s just unbelievable,” he said.

Rochester’s American Legion Post is located at 94 Eastern Ave. The ceremony begins at 2 p.m. on Oct. 19. Tickets are $12 and will be sold at the door. For more information, call 603-734-2900.