Washington, DC Area Based - 76 Degrees West Band - Celebrates South Bay Music Award Nomination

Feb. 5, 2009 - PRLog -- If the snow and ice storm in Washington, DC, on January 27, 2009 didn't stop their  countless number of local fans from selling out their performance at Blues Alley, then one may safely conclude that there's absolutely nothing at all that will stop this band from securing a legion of  fans worldwide.

76 Degrees West Band has independently released their remake of the Average White Band’s “School Boy Crush” through Perfect Image Entertainment. "It's like they are a cross between Frankie Beverly & Maze and Earth, Wind & Fire", says producer/manager Mike Rawlings.

Highlighted on the debut full length album with the extraordinary instrumentation of the 8 piece band are background singers Kenny Wesley and Meritxell Negree.  The featured singers are songwriting talents from some of the top names in the independent music industry including Grammy-Winner Gordon Chambers, Angela Johnson, Jimmy Sommers and Allyn Johnson.

76 Degree West Band members include: Leon Rawlings-Band Director, Bassist/Trombonist; Eddie Baccus, Jr. (Pieces of a Dream)-Saxophonist; Theljon Allen-Trumpet; Vince Evans-Keyboards; Sean Chase-Drums; Alfredo Mojica-Percussions; Stanley Cooper-Guitarist;  De'Andre Schaiffer-flugel/trumpet.

76 Degrees West Band recently received a nomination for Hip Hop Group or Artist of The Year in the 5th Annual South Bay Music Awards. Voting began Monday, February 2, 2009 and will continue through Monday February 16, 2009. You can vote for the nominees here
http://www.southbaymusicawards.com/Nominees.php.  The 5th Annual SBMA's precede the Hip Hop 101 Music & Arts Festival featuring Ludacris and Common, also at the Sports Arena that evening. For more info log onto http://www.southbaymusicawards.com (and) http://www.hh101.com. The awards will take place February 21, 2009.

The band has performed at various festivals and clubs around the country with other artists including: 2 Time Grammy Nominee Ledisi, Maysa, Grammy Nominee Victor Duplaix, Lynne Fiddmont, Marcus Johnson, Rahsaan Patterson, Ollie Woodson (of The Temptations), Rick Braun, Michael Langton, and many others.

Currently, their single "School Boy Crush" is available on CD Baby, ilike, emusic, Amazon, Rhapsody, Itunes, and Face Book. The national release date for this project is set for May 26th, 2009.

**76 Degrees West-That’s the longitude for the East Coast in the Western Hemisphere-precisely, Washington, D.C.**

For further information on 76 Degrees West Band, please visit
http://www.76degreeswestband.com.

Booking inquiries contact:

Therman Hawkins
(202)437.6509

Michael Rawlings
rawlingsm1@aol.com
(202) 437-7641

Press inquiries contact:
Sherri
shetom24@hotmail.com

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Viola's Babygirl's Ventures, LLC is a company that promotes independent artists. For more information, visit me at www.myspace.com/srockel, or email shetom24@hotmail.com.