Multiple nominees top Premier Player list

If you have any doubts about the viability of a music industry in Memphis, just check out the list of names that follows this story. It's impressive. Very impressive.

Few cities can boast as strong a lineup as the nominees for this year's Premier Player Awards. And no other city can boast of such an award, presented by the local chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Winners will be announced April 9 at a banquet and show at The Peabody.

"What we're trying to do is reflect the diversity of the community," says Jon Hornyak, executive director of the local chapter. "By adding new categories for Rap/Club DJ, Choir and Teacher, we're showing everything the community has to offer."

Several bands and individuals received multiple nominations for the Premier Player Awards, including Ross Rice, Jim Dickinson, Three-6 Mafia, Jim Gaines, Garrison Starr, Nancy Apple, Preston Shannon and Todd Snider. The Memphis chapter of NARAS, one of eight in the world, is the only chapter that presents the Premier Player Awards. Several of the honorees will perform, with the Staple Singers serving as the headliner. Hornyak says the finale will be the Staple Singers with the O'Landa Draper choir.

Additional new awards added this year include the Award for Outstanding Achievement and Community Service. Hornyak says the first award is aimed at those local people who have had a national impact.

"The Community Service award reflects the fact that for the first time ever, probably, music is getting respect in the community," Hornyak says. "We want to acknowledge the people who helped move music forward."

The nominees, by category, are:

Rapper/Club DJ
AK 47 from CYC; Al Kapone; Archie Mitchell; Three-6 Mafia; Darryl Stanley.

Guitar
Tommy Burroughs; Luther Dickinson; Jack Holder; Little Jimmy King; Calvin Newborn; Preston Shannon.

Drums/Percussion
Lloyd Anderson; Cody Dickinson; Robert Hall; Harry Peel; James Robertson.

Strings
Roy Brewer; Richard Ford; Peter Hyrka; Eric Lewis; Peter Spurbeck; Kevin Tallant.

Songwriter
Nancy Apple; Sandy Carroll; Jimmy Davis; Ross Rice; Todd Snider; Garrison Starr; Keith Sykes.

Keyboards
Al Gamble; Ross Rice; Rick Steff; Tony Thomas; Charlie Wood; Ernest Williamson.

Brass
Ben Cauley; Tom Clary; Wayne Jackson; Reid McCoy; Scott Thompson.

Woodwinds
Art Edmanston; Fred Ford; Herman Green; Lannie McMillan; Jim Spake; Carl Wolfe.

Bass
Richard Cushing; Tim Goodwin; Sam Shoup; Dave Smith; John Williams.

Male Vocalist
Parker Card; Jimmy Davis; Gary Johns; John Kilzer; Kevin Page; Preston Shannon; Todd Snider.

Female Vocalist
Joyce Cobb; Kelley Hurt; Jackie Johnson; Susan Marshall-Powell; Reba Russell.

Producer
Jim Dickinson; Jim Gaines; John Hampton; Willie Mitchell; Ross Rice.

Audio Engineer
William Brown; John Hampton; Dawn Hopkins; Skidd Mills; Jeff Powell; Mark Yoshida.

Newcomer
Cheeky Monkey; Jackie Johnson; Jones; Keith Brown; The Mudflaps; Neilson Hubbard; Patrick Dodd Band; Ross Rice.

Music Teacher
Lily Afshar; Jeff Brewer; Tim Goodwin; Lulah Hedgemann; Jeff Huddleston; Kerry Movassagl; Eugene Rush; Jeanne Sheffield.

Choir
Angelic Voices of Faith, directed by Mike Dodson; Pam Armour and the Memphis Area Workshop; The Associates Choir, directed by O'Landa Draper; Tim Bailey and the Orange Mound Community Choir; Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church Choir, directed by Leo Davis.

Award for Outstanding Achievement
Jim Gaines; Robert Gordon; Herman Green; Willie Mitchell; Ann Peebles; Garrison Starr; Rufus Thomas; Three-6 Mafia.

Community Service
Center for Southern Folklore; Blues Ball; WEVL FM-90; Pat Mitchell of the Blues Foundation; Bill Ellis of The Commercial Appeal.