2023 is the second year that GMP has sponsored the Linda Rodney Award for Musical Excellence, which honors music artists who have created a legacy of influence in the Upstate of South Carolina. This year’s recipient was Steve Watson, who is retiring as Director of Jazz Studies at the Greenville Fine Arts Center. Steve has played all over the world, been heard on countless television shows, and is responsible for an abundance of proficient guitarists who have come from Greenville over the last 30 + years, most recently Marcus King.

 

This year we decided to create a new award for music advocacy. The most fitting recipient for the new award is a new organization, SC Venue Crisis, a political action organization formed in opposition of new liquor liability laws in SC that have caused many venues to close in 2022. The folks at SC Venue Crisis were unable to attend the ceremony, so we stopped by Tribble’s Bar & Grill to hand it over in person. Check out the video below!