Georgia based companies are asked to sponsor the GMA's

Georgia based companies are asked to sponsor the GMA’s

As a person that has worked his whole life selling songwriter agreements, I have seen the trials and tribulations the music industry here has gone through. From the good old days of the Pop Festivals to the packed venues of the 80s and early 90s, to the toppling of one venue after another, it’s wonderful to be able to welcome the minds behind the North Carolina Music Awards to Georgia! I feel that the recognition of artists in Georgia will be a great way to liven the spirits in a town where there has been so much good news musically mixed with so much bad news. We have some of the most talented artists right here in our state from local all the way to national Grammy winning artists you can find listed at Joe Solo website, a lot my personal friends. I myself am honored to be chosen as presenter of the humanitarian award to be given not only by my column “The Kimberly James Report”, but our magazine “Bold Spicy News” in conjunction with “The Georgia Commerce Club” and it’s business members.

Christi Goldman Chambers and  O Entertainment Incorporated along with the sponsors so far Bold Spicy News, Georgia Commerce Club, IndieHitMaker, Country Music Gone Wild, Country Fried Rock, DuplicatesInk (Conway, SC), and C&C Entertainment Group, as well as presenters such as Bob Burns of Lynyrd Skynyrd, myself and many other Georgia stars will be rolling out the red carpet (that has been made spotless by crew from carpet cleaning san antonio) and honoring our music heroes and up and comers on June 18th in Atlanta, Georgia. This is geared up to be a star studded event of the year!

Christi Goldman Chambers Bio:

Christi Goldman Chambers

Christi Goldman Chambers

Most people would say 43 years old is too old to get started in the music industry, but not Christi Goldman Chambers.  Through an acquaintance, Christi met Mark Stender, owner of Nashville Music Supervision, a music publisher based out of Nashville, TN. Through this new relationship Ms. Chambers forged head-on into music management, creating her company, C&C Entertainment Group. Stender introduced Ms. Chambers to her first few local clients: Michelle Aspen, an up-and-coming country artist and skilled songwriter and Don Coyer, an accomplished musician, songwriter and studio owner. “Michelle & Don have worked together for nearly 10 years and have produced some great unique music. We’ll hope to be recording their 1st album very soon.” says Chambers.

Christi grew up just outside of Washington, DC in Alexandria, Va. and attended Mount Vernon high school. She graduated from college in the early 1990’s with a bachelor’s degree in studio art (graphic design) from University of South Carolina. The branch campus Christi attended was also known as, Coastal Carolina College. The year after Christi graduated the university split from USC and gained its independence, becoming Coastal Carolina University.

Christi currently resides in Richmond Hill with her husband Vic, a demonstration pilot for Gulfstream Aerospace, and seven year old son, AJ. In addition to the work Christi is doing with C&C Entertainment Group, she also works part-time at Thomas & Hutton leading their training division. “When the economy started to shift, I opted to go part-time vs. losing my job altogether through several rounds of layoffs. While it was tough decision financially, it has been a blessing in disguise. It’s allowed T&H to keep their training program alive and well, still provides me with an income and has given me the flexibility spend more time with my family. It’s also allowed me to get involved in some very cool things which I am passionate about in my spare time, such as this music gig” says Chambers.

Close to a year ago, after a unique late night Twitter chat with a stranger, Christi opened up another door in the music business, award show planning. Christi has more than 20 years of marketing, public relations and event planning experience and even though she’d never specifically planned a music award show before, she has planned many successful major events. Prior to moving to Savannah four years ago, Ms. Chambers served as the alumni director for her alma mater, Coastal Carolina University. She was responsible for planning all major alumni functions, including: Homecoming, senior garden parties, football tailgates, alumni annual meetings, award shows, charity golf tournaments, fundraisers, reunions, holiday parties and even a few major concerts with former Nashville Star contestant, Christy McDonald and Pop sensation, Edwin McCain. In 2008, Christi helped set up a charity concert with Christian singer, Warren Barfield for Faith Equestrian Therapeutic Center (FETC).

While just beginning to dabble in the management side of things, Christi’s late night twittering linked her to Omar “O” McCallup, O Ent, Inc. the executive producer of several music award shows.  Christi volunteered to help O with planning these regional award shows, entitled the Carolina Music Awards and Youth Music Awards. In 2010, Christi secured a North Carolina native and country music legend, Randy Travis and his long-time manager, Elizabeth Travis, as co-founders for the Carolina Music Awards show. “Randy Travis being one of the most talented, successful and prolific Country musicians in the industry with earning 7 Grammy Awards, 9 American Music Awards, several platinum albums, with sixteen number one hits according to the Billboard Country Music Charts. Not to mention one of his most successful chart toppers ‘Always and forever’ sat as number #1 on the music charts for over 43 weeks, brings the show to a whole new level”, says Chambers. In addition to Randy, Christi just got word from Roberta Flack~The Magic Lady she’s now our R&B co-founder. “It’s very exciting for our Carolina artists to have music superstars like Randy and Roberta support the show.”

It’s important for successful iconic musicians who’ve made it big in the industry to come back and support the local musicians still pursuing their careers. It reinforces the saying, “dreams can come true”. These major celebrities started their careers the very same way every other musician did, working the bar and restaurant scene 5-6 nights a week, until they were discovered.  It’s important to find celebrities who have a personal tie to the region, being a native of the area, starting their career in that state or currently residing there automatically gives them a reason to encourage our local talent.

Ms. Chambers quickly became is Country/Rock manager and a valuable asset to Mr. McCallup. “The funny thing is I didn’t actually meet O in person until the day before the awards show in Raleigh, NC. On the day of the awards show I was asked to present the most important award of the evening, the very first Randy Travis Award ever presented for Best Male Country Artist. I didn’t even have a speech prepared, talk about pressure! I went back to my hotel room and wrote it down on a hotel notepad. I am a person who prefers to be behind the scenes, not in front of the camera, so I am sure my knees were knocking and I am not even sure I got my speech right, but I’m pretty sure I made Randy proud!”

Through Christi’s involvement with the award shows, she’s built relationships with some of the nominees and winners and frequently helps them with various services to help them grow their careers to the next level. C&C Entertainment’s services include: artist management, image consulting, web design, photography, booking, marketing, PR, tour support and event promotions.  Some of these award winning musicians are: Nu-Blu, Ryan Weaver, Cameron Marion (who performed at the Great Ogeechee Seafood Festival this year), Madonna Nash, DREAMKILLER and Jeffrey Allen Edwards. I represent a few genres Country, Rock, Americana, Bluegrass and Jazz. I have one R&B singer and long-time friend, Paula Harris, who I help promote. There’s even a national award winning poet on my team to help them write songs if they are blocked or not strong songwriters.

With a successful show under her belt and from all the great feedback from the past three Carolina shows, O and Christi, wanted to try the same format in Georgia, thus the creation of the Inaugural Georgia Music Awards & Youth Music Awards Georgia shows. “These shows are unique, they give us a statewide platform to honor and recognize our local professional talent throughout Georgia. The show also has a youth segment for our young musicians (middle school and high school aged kids)” said McCallup. Each show represents five genres: Country, Rock, R&B, Hip Hop and Jazz. There are three categories for each genre, best male, female and band.

The message is perhaps more important than ever this year. An all-black dress code in support of the Time’s Up movement at the Golden Globes, and later at the British Academy Film and Television Awards, sent many stylists scrambling, with designers like Prabal Gurung, Christian Siriano and Naeem Khan remaking dresses at the last minute while battling a major New York storm, sexy prom dresses are now inspired from this red carpet outfits. (The dresses were later donated for an auction in support Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund.) The resulting, globally resounding statement proved well worth the extra effort, and while the sobering dress code is not planned for the Academy Awards, we can expect the conversation to continue this Sunday. Some other fashion dresses can be found at a good shop like LNO Greek’s online store for Delta Sigma Theta paraphernalia.

We are in the very beginning stages of planning the Georgia show, so we are looking for volunteers to help us bring in sponsors throughout the state. We need your help to spread the word to Georgia musicians. We will look to our local folks to help support the show for this region, as well as Savannah, Atlanta, Macon, Athens, Augusta and other major cities in Georgia. We have some big things planned for the show, so we need the funds to make it special for everyone involved. It’s not going to be as splashy or fancy as the CMA’s, but it will be rock’n nevertheless!

ADDITIONAL INFO:

15+ Years working in the commercial real estate, land development and construction industry

Affiliations and Memberships

  • ASTD (American Society for Training & Development); 2006-Present, Member
  • GAFM – Georgia Association of Floodplain Managers 2009- Present, Member & Membership & Training Chair
  • FETC (Faith Equestrian Therapeutic Center), 2008-Present, Volunteer and Advisory Board Member
  • SMPS (Society for Marketing Professional Services); 2000-2004, 2006-2008
  • SCAAD (South Carolina Alumni Association Directors); 2004-2006
  • CASE (Council for Advancement and Support of Education); 2004-2006
  • Kiwanis (Conway); 2004-2005
  • Conway Area Chamber of Commerce, Board of Director; 2005-2006
  • CREW (Commercial Real Estate for Women); 2000-2004
  • Virginia Licensed Real Estate Agent 1995-Present, previously licensed in SC since 1992

Committees, Awards and Accomplishments

  • 2011 Georgia Music Awards & Youth Music Awards Georgia – Board of Directors
  • 2010 & 2011 Carolina Music Award & Youth Music Awards – Planning Committee & Board
  • 2010 Great Ogeechee Seafood Festival – Arts & Crafts Committee
  • 2010 Friends of Fort McAllister Labor Day Festival – Planning Committee
  • 2010 Support Madigan! Fundraising – Planner
  • Buckhead HOA Communications Committee, 2009-2010
  • Conway Area Chamber of Commerce – Public Affairs Committee
  • Leadership Conway Graduate
  • University Committees: Development & Advancement Council; Homecoming, Founder’s Day, Commencement, Celebration of Inquiry, Football Game Management; Hall of Fame and Alumnus Awards
  • 1992 Addy Award of Excellence (2 Awards)
  • Dean’s List

Press Releases:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

2011 Georgia Music Awards Kicks-off!| Announcement

Friday, January 21, 2011, Atlanta, Ga. – Cell phones are ringing, tweets are tweeting, Facebook is rocking, websites are under design and planning is in full motion for the Inaugural 2011 Georgia Music Awards (GM Awards) show. A mobile plan from Circles Australia mobile can handle all that. “We’re currently planning an exceptional award show to honor local professional musicians statewide. A portion of the show will be set aside to recognize up-and-coming youth musicians from middle school through high-school.  We feel the GM Award platform recognizes an untouched market segment, up-and-coming regional and youth artists, making the show unique.” said GM Awards show director, Christi Chambers.  “We are in our 4th year producing the Carolina Music Awards (CM Awards) which is our model for all of our shows. We are working hard to create an Award Show Network that allows us to host shows like this in other states throughout the U.S. where established music communities already exist.”, said Omar McCallop executive producer of the GM Awards.

The GM Awards show will be held on June 18, 2011 at the Ferst Center for the Arts in Atlanta, Ga. The GM Awards is currently lining up sponsors and booking presenters at this time. “Everyone is a fan of some type of music, we offer five genres of music, including: Country, Rock, R&B, Jazz and Hip Hop.  As the show grows in popularity and size, we may consider adding more genres and categories.” said McCallop. Nominees will encompass a host of musicians competing from all over the state. Each genre has three categories, Best Male Artist, Best Female Artist and Best Band.  To be considered a nominee, artists must meet one of the three following qualifications: a Georgia native, an artist who got their start in the state or a musician currently performing in a local Georgia market. Expect nominations to open in February.

“Our goal is to bring back major artists, such as: Lady Antebellum, Sugarland, REM, B52’s, Usher, Travis Tritt, Gregg Allman, Trisha Yearwood, Billy Currington, Jason Aldean, Gladys Knight and Trace Adkins, those who got their start in Georgia so we may recognize them with Impact, Trendsetter or Lifetime Achievement awards. By participating, it allows them to give back and show their support to the local musician and our youth.  Lady Antebellum, is a perfect example, a local Georgia band skyrocketed to fame virtually overnight. The exposure winning artist gain from the CM Awards has definitely escalate their careers to a whole new level they may have never achieved otherwise”, said Chambers.

Nomination, voting, ticket sales and award show related information will be posted on our official Georgia Music Awards website and Facebook fan page, please follow Georgia Music Awards.

Our efforts will go to support Generous Communities, a 501 (3) non-profit.

###

For media related inquiries contact:
Omar McCallop                                                                                   Christi Chambers
Executive Producer                                                                             Director
O ENT Inc. (Georgia Music Awards)                                                 C&C Entertainment Group
(919) 413-7401                                                                                    843-241-7145

O Ent Inc. – Music, Film, Television, Business Development & Entertainment Consulting
C&C Entertainment Group – A Premier Talent Group

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
GM Awards Honored By Support Legendary Drummer, Bob Burns

Bob Burns accepting his 2006 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Award

Bob Burns accepting his 2006 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Award

Wednesday, January 26, Atlanta, Ga. – What started as a childhood dream in his parents garage in Jacksonville, Fl. during the early 1960’s, became a reality for renowned drummer, Bob Burns. In 1964, Bob (drums), Garry Rossington (guitar) and Larry Junstrom (bass) formed their first band called Me, You and Him, which was later known Noble Five. Ronnie Van Zant (lead vocalist, deceased) and Allen Collins (guitar, deceased) joined Noble Five, which was renamed 1% (pronounced “one percent”), later 1% band became one of the most well-known American southern rock bands in the history of music, Lynyrd Skynyrd (pronounced “Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd”).

Lynyrd Skynyrd was named in honor of their high school gym coach
Leonard Skinner who used to hassle them for having long hair. Next Leon
Wilkeson, who replaced Larry Junstrom on bass (also deceased) came
onboard and throughout the years several other band members filtered
in and out, such as: Allen Collins, Billy Powell (keyboardist) and Ed King
(guitar) these three completed the band’s “three guitar army”. Bob is one
of two original members of the band still alive today.

During his time with Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bob and the band, earned nineteen
Platinum records which included all of their greatest hits albums. They
have so many #1 hits it’s hard to count. Bob’s was inducted into the Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006 and the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. Bob
was also presented with one of the highest honors in the country, a
Congressional Record recognizing Lynyrd Skynyrd’s contribution and
support of U.S. troops through playing their music to soldiers which is
vitally important in raising their spirits.

Bob has been married to his wife Marsh Lynn Burns for nineteen years
and they have two daughters, Lauren and Kristen Burns who definitely
inherited the music bug from their father. Both are talented singers and
musicians who play multiple instruments. More than four decades later, “Bob is considered one of the world’s best drummers” per a previous quote by Ringo Starr and most known for being an original member of the band. Burns was with the band for many years and was instrumental in developing their first two albums with hits, such as: Free Bird , Sweet Home Alabama and Gimme Three Steps. When Bob was asked “how did you make it, how did you do it?” his answer was, “Sheer determination. On numerous occasions we were told “we weren’t good enough, didn’t have what it takes”. They started out playing cover songs by the Allman Brothers. “We finally made a breakthrough when we were told what a great band we were, but needed to stop playing covers and write our own music, so that’s what we did we wrote and recorded, wrote and recorded” said Burns “we never gave up”. His advice to others trying to get into the industry, “there were times when
it got touch, we didn’t agree. You just have to swallow the bitter pill and go on. Put principles before personalities. Most importantly if you have good chemistry as a band, stay together, the in and out stuff is no good, you have to stick with it”.

While living the dream was surreal to Bob, he never forgot his roots and has always been grateful for the good fortune he’s enjoyed throughout his life. This might be why he feels so strongly and believes in giving back to his local community where he currently resides in the north Georgia mountains. Burns has been instrumental in mentoring a local band named Six Shot Revival who ironically resembles the original Lynyrd Skynyrd band members in appearance and music style. He speaks to local youth high schools and their bands to encourage strongly discourage drug use. He
frequently tells them to “stay away from using substances, if you want to have a career. Using drugs will only destroy your life and a band faster than anything”. Burns encourages others to “pursue their dreams, to never give up”. Bob is also a strong supporter of the Make a Wish Foundation and animal rescue programs. Bob enjoys cultivating new musicians and mentoring others. “When we reached out to Bob, he was so excited, thankful and very humble to be asked to be part of the Inaugural Georgia Music Awards show” said Terry Gage, GM Awards volunteer. “We are extremely proud and honored to have such a superstar of Bob’s caliber and celebrity involved with the show. He’ll be showcased as one of our award presenters and more”, said Omar McCallop, GM Awards executive producer. And as
for Bob’s thoughts, “I’m looking forward to being part of the show, honored to be chosen to represent what Lynyrd Skynyrd was all about, so excited I might even buy me a new coat”. “We’re delighted to have Bob’s support. We’ve been working really hard to align ourselves with artists like Bob and
great sponsors who can help our artists gain more exposure, build bigger fan bases and get their music heard” said Christi Chambers, the show’s director. Current sponsors include: Bold Spicy News–the Kimberly James Report, an Atlanta based entertainment column, IndieHitMaker, Country Fried Rock, Georgia Country, Country Music Gone Wild,
TangledOrb.com, Georgia Commerce Club and several radio stations, like Jazz 91.9 WCLK and KJAG Radio.

The GM Awards show will be held on June 18, 2011 at the Ferst Center for the Arts in Atlanta, Ga. Nominations will open in February. Visit the official Georgia Music Awards website at www.georgiamusicawards.com to keep up with the latest award show news. Questions and sponsorship inquiries can be directed to info@georgiamusicawards.com.

UPDATE:

Nominations open up next week so bands and fans that want to be nominated, please be ready to hit the site and nominate yourselves or have your fans nominate you.

Process:

The Inaugural Georgia Music Awards is not as far away as it seems. The time to prepare is now! As the saying goes “Chance favors the prepared mind.” The question, however, is how can I prepare for the GM Awards and how does it benefit me as an artist, as a sponsor and as fan of music. Hopefully this will answer some questions about the GM Awards in general and give some guidance as to how to prepare for the awards.

The GM Awards was created to honor Georgia artist, however it is a great platform for artist to get more exposure, connect with their fan base and expand their current fan base.

January – 5 Months to the GM Awards

It’s a new year, make sure your Twitter, FB and website are updated; as far as the awards let your fans know that you plan on participating in the Georgia Music Awards and you plan to win! Ask all your fans to mark it on their calendars and let them know you will communicate with them monthly about the awards and other music/projects you have going on. You already know you have incredible music that the panel is going to love; now you just need their (fans) support via nominations on www.GeorgiaMusicAwards.com and on FB at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=152853464726037.

Also during this time you should start to connect with the GM Awards and discuss hosting a Nomination event/party. This is not a necessary option, but a good way to promote your talent.

If you plan on doing a nomination event you want to have the date set and begin pre-promotions. The GM Awards can host an artist appreciation event in February that is FREE for all Georgia Artist and their guest/fans. Also, we will have the date when nominations will be accepted. Again, this is a month to rally fans and let them know about your intentions.

February – 4 Months to the GM Awards

February is an important month for the GM Awards, nominations are live on the website, tickets are available at ticket master, and the host hotel is starting to take reservations… a lot is going on! Hopefully, by this time your Twitter, FB and webpage are all in line and you have your fan base organized and buzzed. All you have to do is Pull the Trigger!

Remind fans of your nomination event if you are having one, also inform them of the GM Awards weekend. Try to make it a fun weekend that you hang out with fans, friends and family all in the name of music.

March – 3 Months to the GM Awards

Nominations are still going on so not only encourage fans to nominate you but find new people to listen to your music and hopefully create new fans. We will be updating new information regarding the awards show. It’s a good time to start talking to your fan base about GM Awards weekend and what else they may want to do while they are in town.

April – 2 Months to the GM Awards

In April, after rankings and deliberation from out panel, we will announce the nominees for the 2011 GM Awards, if you are a nominee then you have a lot to do. We will need artist pictures, music, how many people are attending the award show with you and on and on. If you are not a nominee, don’t be deterred, it is still a great place to network, support other Georgia artist and have a great time. Plus, if you have never been to the Georgia Music Awards it’s an experience you don’t want to miss.

Nominees remember that the artist with the most votes in each genre gets to perform during the Georgia Music Awards. Get your act together and be prepared to put on a showstopper performance.

Once nominees are announced, official voting begins. You will have approximately a month to drive your fans to the GM Awards website to vote for you. We recommend sending out daily or weekly messages to fans to gain their support and remind them to vote. Remember only one vote per email address.

May – 1 Month to the GM Awards

We will be hosting several pre and post GM Awards events and those specific events will be announced sometime in May for 2011 GM Awards Weekend. We anticipate having these types of events:

Friday, June 17th

Awards Pre-Party

Saturday, July 18th

GM Awards Carpet Ceremony

GM Awards Red Carpet

Youth Red Carpet

Inaugural Georgia Music Awards Show

Awards Official After-Party

Sunday, June 19th

Awards Post-Brunch

June – GM Awards Show is ALMOST here!

If you have not done so already, make sure your tickets and hotel are in order and what you are going to wear. We hope you will join us for the Inaugural Georgia Music Awards on June 18, 2011 in downtown, Atlanta, Georgia. If you are interested in being a sponsor which also gives you the opportunity to also be a presenter, please contact the GMA’s as soon as possible.  We need you!

Kimberly (33 Posts)

Kimberly James is an artist, writer, and artist agent in the International, National, Local and Regional music market. Based out of Atlanta, Ga, she has worked with some of the biggest acts in the music industry as a touring agent, artist rep and does forums, book interviews, as well as radio interviews. She is a strong supporter of artists and songwriters and works diligently in the market to get the music out there.