Hey, Modesto, there’s still time to vote for your favorite MAMA

Modesto celebrates its entertainment bounty for the 18th year as the MAMA Awards take the stage at the State Theatre next week.

And while the 2017 Modesto Area Music Association Awards is an invitation-only event, everyone still can take part in the voting. The show also will be streamed live on Tuesday, Oct. 10, beginning at 6:30 p.m. at modestoview.com.

Presented annually, the awards celebrate talent and entertainment options in the Modesto region. There are more than 250 nominees in 20 categories this year – from favorite blue collar band to reggae and comedy, from best entertainment events to best venues. Voting at www.modestoareamusic.com/vote closes at 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 8.

This year’s show will include a lifetime award presented to Modesto’s Michael Allsup, guitarist with the classic rock band Three Dog Night. Allsup, a graduate of Davis High School, got his first guitar in grade school and put together bands while attending Roosevelt Junior High. His first real gig was in 1962, when he was 15 and a member of The Chancellors, who played the Fable Room (the basement of the now long gone Hotel Covell in downtown Modesto).

From 1969-75, Three Dog Night notched 21 singles in Billboard’s Top 40, eventually producing 13 albums that sold more than 40 million copies. Songs include the band’s first No. 1 hit “One (Is the Loneliest Number),” followed by “Easy to Be Hard,” “Joy to the World,” and “Black and White.”

Allsup has been with the band throughout those years with the exception of a band hiatus (1976-81) and his own temporary departure (1984-91). He and his family have called Modesto home over the course of his career and remain here today.

There will be a tribute to Allsup and his music during the MAMA event Tuesday and the rocker is expected to be there to accept his award.

The MAMAs ceremony is traditionally a music-filled event, with several local bands performing. This year it also will feature a tribute to musicians who died in 2017: Kevin Garcia, bassist of Modesto-spawned rock band Grandaddy and Penny White, singer in doo-wop group The Sensations; as well as Evin Yadegar co-owner of the Barking Dog Grill, a regular venue for local performers.

The Modesto Area Music Association is now a nonprofit, according to Chris Murphy, who co-founded MAMA with fellow Modestan Chris Ricci. “We will be better equipped to help promote, develop and present our local talent and make sure that our local industry is professional and ready for the world of music,” Murphy said in an email.

“Chris Ricci and I had a vision in 2000, to celebrate the local music with all of the style and the ceremony of the Grammy awards and show that our local music talent is special and that they are appreciated,” Murphy said. “This is truly an evening where the entire music industry comes together, all genres, all radio stations and all of the promoters.”

Nominees are selected by local promoters, DJs, producers, media members and venue operators, according to the release. For the full list of nominees, see www.modestoareamusic.com.

This story was originally published October 4, 2017 at 8:25 PM with the headline "Hey, Modesto, there’s still time to vote for your favorite MAMA."