Asher Roth said what everyone was thinking best when he said it simply in his breakout single: “Man, I love college.” This intersection of care-free sentiment and popular music is the notion on which the mtvU Woodie Awards are based.
First airing in 2004, the Woodie Awards are a celebration of music that is popular on college campuses. Part awards show, part concert and all party, the Woodies will take place in New York’s Roseland Ballroom and will air on Friday, Dec. 10.
“A lot of award shows focus on giving out accolades to artists that may have gone gold or platinum,” said executive producer Eric Conte in an interview with The Eagle, regarding mtvU’s decision to focus on less mainstream artists. “But the Woodie Awards celebrate artists who have gone wood — meaning you don’t just have to sell a ton of records to make good music.”
With categories like “Breaking Woodie” (best new artist), “Good Woodie” (artist whose music promotes social change) and “College Radio Woodie,” the annual awards ceremony not only commemorates, but also reflects, culture on a college campus.
“We’ve always looked at the college audience as a crystal ball as far as music prediction,” Conte said. “Artists tend to break in college campuses first and pull up bigger and bigger from there.”
Placing their faith in the audience itself, the Woodies are voted on by college students online at mtv.com.
As in the past five years, the Woodies promise to be a non-stop music-fest from beginning to end. This year’s ceremony will feature several live performances from bands including the Dead Weather, Death Cab for Cutie, Matt and Kim and a few additional surprise acts.
Despite not being slated to play the event, Colorado-based pop/electronica group 3OH!3 were nominated in the best performance category, “Performing Woodie.”
In an interview with The Eagle, band member Nathaniel Motte explained what he felt was the appeal of the band’s live shows.
“A lot of our music is kind of party-oriented and pretty overtly fun and crazy, and that atmosphere for some reason seems to be pretty pervasive in a lot of colleges,” he said.
Unsurprisingly, Asher Roth, who is nominated for “Woodie of the Year,” agreed.
“I think we kind of just, you know, love college,” Roth told The Eagle. “It’s really the most innocent [time. You’re] finding yourself; you’re really clueless ... that kind of irresponsibility and innocence in life is really something to enjoy.”
More than just an event for pop music, the Woodies have been turning more and more of their attention to indie bands this year, nominating performers Death Cab for Cutie and Matt and Kim for “Best Video Woodie.” These nominations are a celebration of the unconventional, as Death Cab’s clip for “Grapevine Fires” is a fully-animated clip featuring a brief cameo of the band members, and Matt and Kim’s “Lessons Learned” features the duo running naked through New York’s Times Square.
You can reach this staff writer at kcasino@theeagleonline.com.
