Grammys: Studio Pros Gets a Win!

I watch the Grammys every year. I almost feel obligated to, like I would be missing out if I didn’t check out the biggest award ceremony of my industry. Sometimes there are a lot of artists nominated that I love, and other times my tastes differ from what the general public has been listening to for the last year.

When I was a kid, I would root for my favorite artists to clean up at the Grammys and yell at the screen in disgust when someone won who I thought was undeserving. I suppose that’s about the same for everyone who watches, even people in the theater at the ceremony itself. But as the years went on, my admiration grew for anyone who was winning a Grammy. Even if I wasn’t personally a fan of their music, I respected the artist’s musical accomplishments. Maybe I started thinking that I couldn’t really criticize the winners until I won a Grammy myself!

Another thing happened as I got older, something really fun: I started to personally know people who were nominated for the awards. After years in the business and a degree from Berklee College of Music, suddenly my peers and friends were winning the most prestigious award in music. Best new artist Esperanza Spaulding went to Berklee while I was there, and a friend of mine won a Grammy for his involvement on Eminem’s album.

But the big news for me to report is that one of Studio Pros’ very own keyboardists was among the Grammy winners! He played on The Stanley Clarke Band’s self-titled album, which won best contemporary jazz album. We’re always touting our Grammy-nominated engineer, but let’s not forget that our session musicians are of Grammy-caliber performers as well, and this win proves it!

I always love watching the musical performances at the Grammys, and this year there were a ton of them.  I’m a fan of Janelle Monae, so one of my favorite parts of this year’s ceremony was watching her perform “Cold War.”  It was the third part of a medley with B.o.B. and Bruno Mars.  Here’s a video of them rehearsing for the big show.

Just like any other awards show, there’s been a long history of great triumphs, blatant snubs and shocking upsets over the years at the Grammys. And while it is always a great honor to win an award, one can’t help but remember that many an amazing artist gets passed by for major awards for one reason or another. It reminds me of when Three 6 Mafia won an Academy Award for their musical contribution to the film Hustle and Flow, and host Jon Stewart said, “To recap, that’s Three 6 Mafia: 1, Martin Scorsese: 0.” Classic.

Here’s to many more Studio Pros musicians—and maybe even some of our customers—winning Grammys in the years to come. Get started on having our session players record tracks for your demo today.

Posted on: February 22nd, 2011