The "Best of Hudson Valley" Party

In late August, my cover band In The Pocket found out that we won "Best Local Musician" in Hudson Valley Magazine's annual "Best of Hudson Valley" contest. We had asked our fans and followers to vote for us online, but to be quite honest we didn't think we had a chance of winning when you consider the amount of talent in the area. As a result we were surprised, excited, and somewhat amused at the implication that apparently our 6 abilities have to be combined in order to win an award meant for just one person. Oh well.

Last Thursday was the party at the Poughkeepsie Grand. We were offered the option to play and were happy to be asked, but after a few considerations decided it wasn't going to work out for us on that date. Instead, 3 of us - along with friends and family - went to enjoy ourselves. None of us had ever been to the event before, so we were all looking forward to a good time. And a good time was had.

I can sum up the party in two words: free stuff. If you've never been, it's worth experiencing. You walk in the door and people start putting free stuff in your hands - including free tote bags to carry all the free stuff. Stickers, pens, raffles, pamphlets. Drinks! I mean just the fact that less than 30 minutes into the event we had had beer, wine, bourbon, and rye (all of which was top notch) should be enough to get anyone in the door. But maybe drinks aren't your thing? The food was intense. We had Indian, Mexican, Italian, American. Bar food, gourmet food, light food, heavy food. Cheesecake, cannolis, cookies, chocolate mousse. There was more food in more styles from more places than we could possibly eat, but we sure tried.

And they did have a band playing. Not one that got an award, but a band. How were they? A pretty standard wedding band, really. A few of the members looked fairly unenthusiastic, and some of them looked like subs. We don't do that.

A big thanks to everyone who voted for us, and I guess we'll see if next year we can win again! Maybe in 2014 we can win "Best Local Band," though? Somehow that seems more appropriate.