Yay!  There is a great level of stress that has been reduced to something a tad more manageable now that the Madison Area Music Awards are over.  You can see a list of the winners at http://www.themamas.org (if you care that much!).

For Local Sounds, we had a great response!  This year we debuted Local Sounds Magazine, Local Sounds TV, and MadisonUrban.com.  We also pushed out a new version of the Local Sounds site as well.  It has been a crazy few months, but we / I made it!

Local Sounds TV was by far the hit of the night.  Once we started getting some interviews lined up, it seemed everyone wanted to be on TV!  I was planning on maybe 5-8 interviews tops during the red carpet between 6:00 and 7:00.  We ended up doing tons more for a grand total of about 3 hours!  It was crazy!  And after we were done doing interviews, artists and kids alike were regularly using our Local Sounds backdrop as a place to take photos (see photo).  Awesome!  Not to mention free press for us…. suckas..

That’s right Jabloggyites.  The reason I’ve been missing in action for so long is because I’ve been going bonkers with preparing for the 6th Annual Madison Area Music Awards (MAMAs) here in Madison.  I’m winding down here finally as the music awards are this Saturday, May 9th.

Here’s a brief rundown of what I’ve been doing:

• Designed and printed 1000 hand fliers
• Launched MadisonUrban.com, a new community for the urban / hip-hop / R&B scene in Madison
• Built and deployed Local Sounds Magazine, a new online magazine covering the music scene in Madison
• Tended to and maintained the Madison Area Music Awards website (I’m the web guy on the board of directors)
• Built and deployed the website for Local Sounds TV, a new service we’re launching this Saturday
• Managed the design and construction of a 4×8 Local Sounds backdrop for the Local Sounds TV video booth at the MAMAs on Saturday
• Planned the booth for Local Sounds at the music awards in the lobby
• And I think that’s everything…

So see?  I wasn’t faking it!  Oh, and before Saturday I still plan on updating the Local Sounds website, so hopefully by this weekend you can go to localsounds.org and check out all the features I’ve listed above.

Thanks for your patience, and I should be back a little more often very soon.

I realize my presence on Jabloggy has been a little quiet, only posting once a week for the last few posts. Unfortunately, it might get worse before it gets better. See, it’s MAMAs season (Madison Area Music Awards) here in Madison, and I always gets pulled in several different directions at once during the next couple of months (le sigh…).

But after all the hub bub is over, I expect to be able to talk about a few new things for Local Sounds that we’re planning on debuting and promoting at the music awards. If all goes according to current plans it should be a good time (for us and maybe you too! don’t worry, we’ll share!).

In other news, I have to take back everything I said in the last post about Mac. I failed to mention that I was giving him a test drive last week. I took him out of the shelter as a foster parent to see if he and Lexi would get along. As (crappy) luck would have it, Lexi wasn’t overally keen on the idea of having a buddy around all the time. Plus after looking at the expenses incurred with a second child, I came to the conclusion that I would have to wait to expand my family. So last Saturday I had to take him back. It was sad, but I’m sure he’ll find a good home!

Come early to take advantage of the $5 cover charge ($10 after 11:30pm), where you can enjoy a great night of hip-hop and R&B with Tefman (L.O.S.T. S.O.U.L.S.), Rob DZ, DLO (with KALO), and 2007 MAMAs winner Felicia Alima. DJ Fusion will be performing before the show and in-between sets. Proceeds will support the Madison Area Music Awards, which raises money to help put instruments into kids’ hands. A MAMAs booth will be set up for your convenience to help you register to become a MAMAs member and vote in the first round.

The first round of voting will run from February 5th through March 20th. The Nominee Announcement Party will be held at the Brink Lounge on Saturday, March 28th and the final round of voting will run from March 28th through April 28th. The 2009 Madison Area Music Awards will take place at the Barrymore Theater on Saturday, May 9th. Performers for the awards show and other fundraising events will soon be announced.

Calendar of Events

• February 5-March 20-1st Round of Voting
• February 21-The Urban Fundraiser at the High Noon Saloon featuring Tefman (of the L.O.S.T. S.O.U.L.S.), Rob DZ, DLO (w/KALO) and Felicia Alima
• March 21- JT Whitney’s “Free Beer for a Year” Fundraiser
• March 28-Madison Area Music Awards Nominee Announcement Party at the Brink Lounge featuring live music by MB3, raffle and silent auction
• March 28-April 28-Final Round of Voting