The 2023 DED Records Showcase Presented By Banana Bomb Productions Recap and Community Awards Results
By Ian Hayes
What Is The DED Records Showcase?
On December 9, 2023, the first ever DED Records Showcase was held at Mesa Theater in Grand Junction, Colorado. Our goal with the showcase was to create an event that celebrates local talent in the Colorado rock and metal scene. Growing the scene on the western slope of CO is a top priority for us and putting Colorado's best bands on the stage at the beautiful Mesa Theater is a win for everyone. Early on, we recruited Ashley Tejada of Banana Bomb Productions to help develop a social media marketing campaign, including some content creation for promotional assets. Immediately, local artists, content creators, etc. expressed support for the idea. Thanks so much to Rick Christensen and his staff at Mesa Theater for supporting our idea and local music! We hope to continue the event in 2024 and keep the scene growing! Thanks so much to It's Always Sunny In Tijuana, HATED, and Triune for putting on a spectacular show for the city of Grand Junction. Thanks to Thrash Hard City and LEVELER for their work promoting the show. Those guys were super bummed to miss the event, but we'll get them out here soon. Everyone who showed up, thank you so much. I hope we get to do it again!
Community Support and Involvement
We would like to thank several members of the Colorado Rock/Metal community for their support and guidance. First, we got to learn so much from Zack Beecroft and his awesome team at Swinging Noose Productions during Denver Deathfest 2023. Their support means the world to us. Trent Jacobs aka Sinister Star has allowed us to use his photos in our marketing for the showcase and we couldn't be more thankful. Sinister Star is among the most supportive
HATED live at Mesa Theater
Photo Courtesy of Trent Jacobs (Sinister Star)
people in our scene, known for taking excellent live photos for bands, whether they can afford them or not. The Metal Maidens, as well as RRS Magazine are also some of the most generous promotors in the scene and have supported DED Records from day 1. Please, check out their Calendar Release Show that is coming up soon. Cyprus Lending sponsored the live recording of the showcase. Thanks to them, we were able to have Van VerHoeven of B-Normous Productions come out to film full sets of all the bands that performed. Check them out below! Austin Day Videography has also been supportive of the event and was there to film a music video for the band, HATED. A HUGE shoutout goes to Benjamin Gleason of Source, for partnering with us to bring even more local talent to the stage at Mesa by booking all local Grand Junction bands to open for their first headline show at the theater. Thanks to Ben, we were able to have 2 weekends in a row showcasing Colorado musicians.
B-Normous Productions, Cyprus Lending, and Banana Bomb Productions presents2023 DED Records Showcse Live Sets | ||
Community Awards
To go along with the live performances, we also launched the first year of the DED Records Community Awards. Participation was key and our community proved to be outstanding! All nominees were selected by open submission from our community members. After nominations were closed, votes were cast. We had close to 500 voter submissions which was too awesome! Thank you so much to everyone who participated and CONGRATS to all our winners!
LEVELER - Best Artist, Best Album
It's Always Sunny In Tijuana - Best EP, Best Album/Single Artwork, Best Music Video, Best Fans
LUNGBURN ft. Null - Best Single
HATED - Best Live Performance
Taylor Hahn - Best Producer
Abel Alvarado (LEVELER) - Best Vocal Performance
Onyx Morales (The Human Complex) - Best Guitar Performance
Troy Everett (It's Always Sunny In Tijuana) - Best Bass Performance
Rudy Garcia (Poolside At The Flamingo) - Best Drum Performance