Poets, Artists & Madmen
Best Local Rockabilly/Surf Band/Artist BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
Best Local Folk Act BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
DANIEL CLAY doesn’t travel the same dusty roads as folk shouters Woody Guthrie or Bob Dylan. His stark and stylish strumming and ominous songwriting offer a welcome sense of malevolence to the craft. Whether singing from the rooftop of the Mattress Factory Lofts or mesmerizing audiences at gallery shows with religious melancholy, Clay is a man in black, pursued by a cloud of the same color. He’s a sinner in the hands of an angry God. Only his voice will set him free.
www.purevolume.com/danielclay.
Best Local Vocalist BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
Lately, HEATHER LUTTRELL, the lovely, heavily inked rock and blues performer, has been collecting quite a bit of printer’s ink for her appearance on CBS’ “Rock Star: INXS.” So she didn’t win the contest; she’s a rock star already and one of the best Atlanta performers around. And besides, why should she be stuck singing Michael Hutchence songs at some crappy dive when her own new Grits N’ Pulp album is so much better. The single may be “Anything But Me,” but when this fiery redhead launches into tunes with titles like “Wild Women Don’t Get the Blues (They Just Get Drunk),” she channels Janis, bests Bonnie Raitt and roars like the hyperactive lovechild of Ani Difranco and Social Distortion.
www.heathergrrrl.com.
Best Drag Queen BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Female Actor BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Film Event BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Gallery BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Gallery BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Improv Group BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Literary Event BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Local Author BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Local Blues Act BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Local Country Music Act BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Local Electronic Act BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Local Electronic Act BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Local Experimental Music Act BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Local Folk Act BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Local Hip-Hop Act BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Local Instrumentalist BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Local Jazz Act BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Local New Music Act BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Local Overall Music Act BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Local Playwright BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Local Promoter BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Local R&B/Soul Act BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Local Rock Act BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Local Singer/Songwriter BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Local Traditional/World Band/Artist BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Local Traditional/World Band/Artist BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Local Vocalist BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Male Actor BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Museum BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Place to See a Movie BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Play BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Public Art/Artwork BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Spoken Word BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Street Art/Graffiti BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Stripper Other Than Blondie BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Theater Company BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Touring Play BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best TV Series Made in Atlanta BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Visual Artist BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Visual Artist BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Local Traditional/World Band/Artist BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Crumbling Arches www.crumblingarches.tk
Miguel Romero www.miguelromero.com
Best Local Jazz Act BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best TV Series Made in Atlanta BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Local New Music Act BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Local Overall Music Act BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Local Playwright BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
Best Local R&B/Soul Act BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Local Rock Act BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Local Singer/Songwriter BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
Best Local Singer/Songwriter BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Local Folk Act BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Local Vocalist BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Male Actor BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Museum BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Museum BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
Best New Album BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
Singer/songwriter Amy Ray began exploring self-image and social injustice with her bittersweet folk duo Indigo Girls. She continued with her first rebellious rock solo album, Stag, which featured a wealth of guest backup artists as she searched for stylistic footing along a gnarled backbone of rootsy bristle. But with her sophomore full-length, PROM, Ray’s grown past her own awkward phase and sounds utterly confident in her songwriting and identity, delivering vignettes of surging struggle both melodic and crunchy, wrenching yet assuring.
www.daemonrecords.com/amy/.
Best Neighborhood for the Arts BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
Best Gallery BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
Best Gallery BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Local New Music Act BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
The Rock*A*Teens had a ragged, reverberating wail that was easy to imagine cascading down the time-tattered streets of Cabbagetown. That sound had much to do with the vocals of singer/songwriter/guitarist Chris Lopez, who continues the world-weary tradition in his new band, TENEMENT HALLS. Lopez’s gently frayed voice quavers just barely above the spooks that taunt him, and his sly, spry melodies recall facets of the Kinks and Elvis Costello. While scratchy and mesmeric organs and jangly guitars warble moodily, Lopez paints scenarios of desperate, tired narrators.
www.mergerecords.com.
Best Theater Company BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
You usually see hot new plays emerge from little black box theaters, not a city’s biggest playhouse. But this year, the ALLIANCE THEATRE served as a launching pad for two big, Broadway-bound, Southern-themed world premieres: The Color Purple musical and The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter. Plus, thanks to a $1.5 million gift from the Kendeda Fund, the Alliance permanently established its Graduate Playwriting Competition to develop bold new works like the Cuban melodrama Day of the Kings. The Alliance did more than pay lip service to the idea that new plays deserve resources.
1280 Peachtree St. 404-733-5000. www.alliancetheatre.org.
Best Museum BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
Best Touring Play BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
Best Local Overall Music Act BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
Any given performance from BLAME GAME offers a glimpse of a group driving toward complex, tonal perfection. Along with bassist Chris Ware, guitarists/vocalists George Asimakos and Andrew Wiggins construct a grid of gigantic arches that are pounded into place by drummer Alex Lambert’s swagger from rapid-fire precision to loose improvisation. On stage, Lambert and Ware are stationed front and center while the rest of the group follows their extravagant hybrid of jazz and hardcore. Stage presence, wardrobe and personality are secondary to the shimmering and ever-thickening sounds of a group that relies on the chemistry of intellect.
www.sunrevolver.org/blamegame/.
Best Spoken Word BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
Best Spoken Word BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Place to See a Movie BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Theater Company BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
The Atlanta theater scene’s most impressive newcomer of the past year wasn’t a person but a place. Theatrical Outfit’s new permanent home, the 200-seat BALZER THEATRE, boasts a slick art deco design, a huge stage, a great sound system and not a bad seat in the house. The Balzer Theatre gives skittish audiences more than enough reason to venture downtown so long as Theatrical Outfit stages shows such as Hank Williams: Lost Highway that live up to it.
84 Luckie St. 404-651-4727. www.theatricaloutfit.org.
Best Play BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Spoken Word BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
For several years now, one of the greatest cities for spoken word poetry failed to field a team for the National Slam Competition, but Atlanta is once again sending its finest slammers to the big game thanks to a series of lively local slam competitions at Java Monkey, organized by big-haired beatnik Kodac Harrison of POETRY ATLANTA, the community development extension of the Atlanta Review.
205 Ponce de Leon Ave. 404-378-5002. www.poetryatlanta.com.
Best Visual Artist (Emerging) BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
Best Local Promoter BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Local Promoter BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
The concert business has gone from bad to worse in terms of customer exploitation through ticket brokers and price gouging, and the industry has suffered as a consequence. Fortunately for Atlanta, we have guys like ALEX WEISS who are willing to do whatever it takes to bring in decent acts for the right reason: the love of music. After booking the Echo Lounge for several years, Weiss now mans his own company, OK Productions. His recent ventures include annual events like the Elvis Death Day show at Variety Playhouse, Drive Invasion at Starlight Six Drive-In, as well as booking Brian Jonestown Massacre and Japanese acts like Guitar Wolf and the 5,6,7,8’s at the Earl.
www.okproductions.net.
Best Public Art/Artwork BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Public Art/Artwork BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
Though the range of work in the summer-long ART IN FREEDOM PARK exhibition ran the gamut from so-so to sublime, it was nice to see this grassroots effort (and a laudable involvement by the Freedom Park Conservancy) in trying to bring art out of the galleries and to the folk who bike, jog and saunter through the 210-acre greenspace. Notable pieces include Meshakai Wolf’s faux animal-crossing road signs warning of citified critters like squirrel and opossum on the roadways; Linda Stern‘s politically charged and user-friendly “Hammocks for the Homeless” made of construction site material; and Phil Proctor’s bright yellow metal sculpture that looks like metal origami plunked into the middle of the park. The Conservancy’s dedication to public art continued last month with the installation of folk artist Thornton Dial’s sculpture “The Bridge,” the largest piece of public art ever created by the artist. The work, at the corner of Ponce de Leon Avenue and Freedom Parkway, sits on the John Lewis Plaza dedicated to the civil rights legacy of that beloved U.S. Representative.
The cross-shaped park runs from DeKalb Avenue to Ponce de Leon Avenue, from Boulevard to Oakdale Road. www.artinfreedompark.org. www.freedompark.org.
Best Local R&B/Soul Act BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
Best Dance Performance BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
We’re pretty sure we would have enjoyed the dancing even without the woman who walked the aisles serving us from a tray laden with jars of frosting and plastic spoons, not to mention the little pastry cooked up live on stage in an EZ-Bake Oven in the time it took one dancer to perform a short transition work. The Zoetic Dance Ensemble never fails to throw a good party ... er, performance, and this year’s CAKE, held at the hip Nickel and Dime Studios in Avondale Estates, was no exception. The snacks were just the frosting on the ... (oh, come on, you knew we had to go there).
678-966-0253. www.zoeticdance.org.
Best Stripper Other Than Blondie BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
Stripper-turned-actress White Chocolate may get the lion’s share of attention in the media, but Strokers’ other superstar dancer, SUGAR, is truly the best at what she does. Visit the Clarkston club and chances are you’ll be sold on her around-the-way-girl personality on the floor and her bombastic pole skills on stage. Oh, and she looks good nekkid, too.
Strokers Club, 1353 Brockett Road, Clarkston. 770-270-0350. www.strokersclub.com.
Best Stripper Other Than Blondie BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Local Rockabilly/Surf Band/Artist BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
Best Theater Company BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Touring Play BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Local Folk Act BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
DANIEL CLAY doesn’t travel the same dusty roads as folk shouters Woody Guthrie or Bob Dylan. His stark and stylish strumming and ominous songwriting offer a welcome sense of malevolence to the craft. Whether singing from the rooftop of the Mattress Factory Lofts or mesmerizing audiences at gallery shows with religious melancholy, Clay is a man in black, pursued by a cloud of the same color. He’s a sinner in the hands of an angry God. Only his voice will set him free.
www.purevolume.com/danielclay.
Best Visual Artist BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Visual Artist BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Local Vocalist BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
Lately, HEATHER LUTTRELL, the lovely, heavily inked rock and blues performer, has been collecting quite a bit of printer’s ink for her appearance on CBS’ “Rock Star: INXS.” So she didn’t win the contest; she’s a rock star already and one of the best Atlanta performers around. And besides, why should she be stuck singing Michael Hutchence songs at some crappy dive when her own new Grits N’ Pulp album is so much better. The single may be “Anything But Me,” but when this fiery redhead launches into tunes with titles like “Wild Women Don’t Get the Blues (They Just Get Drunk),” she channels Janis, bests Bonnie Raitt and roars like the hyperactive lovechild of Ani Difranco and Social Distortion.
www.heathergrrrl.com.
Best Alternative Art Space BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Art Event BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Art Exhibit in a Museum BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Best Bands in ATL BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Readers Pick
Browse by Category