HowWasTheShow Blog

MMA Annual Meeting and Show at the Turf Club

Though the 2004 Minnesota Music Academy meeting in the Clown Lounge, downstairs at the Turf Club last night was a real snoozer, it was probably at least as exciting as President Bush's State of the Union Address which was going on concurrently, and I do think it gave the 25-30 people in attendance (just under a third of which were current board members) a better idea of the inner workings of this organization. Those who attended should applaud themselves for taking the initiative and showing their commitment to this well-intentioned organization.

Co-presidents Dave Russ and Mick Spence and other board members shared accomplishments for the past year including the new website, new office facilities, and a well-received 23rd annual awards show. The reduced cost of having the 2003 awards show at O'Gara's helped the organization to find itself in the black as January ends, something that they could not claim in recent years. One goal this year is to triple funds to allow for broader venue options again in years to come.

After somewhat exhausting debate about whether to expand the board to accommodate all new nominees for 2004 (board members serve a two year term) the board was left at its current size and just 3 new board members were voted in to replace outgoing members.

Upstairs after the meeting, the Mammy Nun's, featuring the Turf Club's own Rob Rule kicked off an evening of music that would also include acoustic sets from members of Big Ditch Road and a headlining solo show by Faux Jean himself, Matty Schindler.


Big Ditch Road's Brian O'Neil helps Darin Wald model my "I Lost to Kurt..." t-shirt


The Mammy Nuns, featuring Rob Rule on bass kick off the evening's music with a fun and rocking set.