The year in local music

By Jeff Maisey

Correspondent

From such quality albums as 1888's "Honey, I'd Kill" and Skip Friel's "Twilight Red Sky" to The Fuzz Band heading oversees to entertain the troops, the Hampton Roads music scene hit some high notes in 2007.

Here's a look back at the year in local music.

Mae as well

Mae's major-label debut, "Singularity," entered the Billboard 200 album chart at No. 40 in August. The Norfolk alterna-rockers had two previous albums released on indie label Tooth & Nail Records. "The Everglow" (2005) peaked at No. 51.

Mae's first single, "Sometimes I Can't Make It Alone," received some commercial spins, and got some airtime on college stations, according to Brett Bracy, a publicist at Capitol Records.

Locally, Mae was heard on WROX 96X and on WHRV-FM's "Out of the Box" program.

The quintet also made Plan 9 Music's top 100 best-sellers list its first week of release, coming in at No. 10. Plan 9 is a Richmond-based retailer with seven stores in Virginia, including one in Williamsburg.

Second shot

"Make Sure They See My Face," Kenna's long-awaited follow-up to his 2003 debut, "New Sacred Cow," dropped in October. While it didn't crack the top 100 on the album charts during its first week of release, the CD debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 20 Heatseekers chart.

The 12-song disc again paired the Virginia Beach recording artist with pal Chad Hugo of The Neptunes production team. Pharrell Williams jumped behind the soundboard on two tracks.

Spin gave "Make Sure They See My Face" a 31/2-star rating, writing that Kenna is "looking for the pop validation that eluded him last time."

From Rolling Stone: "On Kenna's second album, as on his first, Hugo's production and his buddy's New Wave croon add up to a sound that's almost unique - twenty-first-century romance that touches on hip-hop, synth-pop and neosoul."

Music awards

In March, Revery took home top honors in the album of the year category as well as for best hard rock/metal and best live performance when Port Folio Weekly presented its Music Awards to local bands at the Granby Theater in Norfolk. The live-performance highlight of the awards ceremony came when B.J. Leiderman of NPR theme-song fame, clad in Sgt. Pepper's costume, was joined by other musicians for the extended ending chorus of The Beatles' "Hey Jude."

Presidential pop

Following his keynote speech at the Jamestown 400 commemoration in May, President George W. Bush motioned for the baton from Virginia Symphony Orchestra conductor JoAnn Falletta to lead the orchestra in "Stars and Stripes Forever." The audience went crazy.

Young gun recognition

Preteen guitar prodigy Grant Austin Taylor of Norfolk received the Outstanding Young Original Blues-Rock Artist award March 10 when the 28th annual Young Artist Awards were presented in Studio City, Calif.

Taylor performed his "Make This Love Last" at the show.

He also opened for the Steve Miller Band at the Verizon Wireless American Music Festival at the Oceanfront in September.

International relations?

Norfolk-based garage rock band The Mockers appeared in Mojo, a British music magazine. The band seems to be gaining a following in the U.K. Its song "Sheepwalking," from the "Living in the Holland Tunnel" CD, was picked in MOJO's Readers Playlist at No. 6 in February.

Stargazing

The 2007 Legends of Music Walk of Fame inductees turned out on Granby Street in Norfolk for an unveiling of their star-shaped medallions in front of TCC's Jeanne and George Roper Performing Arts Center. Clarence Clemons, General Norman Johnson, Pat Curtis, JoAnn Falletta and family members of The Phelps Brothers were on hand to view their sidewalk marker.

"To be honored in my hometown, the town I grew up in, the town that made me who I am, is just the greatest," said Clemons, who is a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. "This is bigger than the (Rock and Roll) Hall of Fame or anywhere else because it my hometown. It's very special."

Jeff Maisey, (757) 222-3934, jmaisey@pilotonline.com