Photo by Adam Brimer // Buy this photo
Tennessee head coach Bruce Pearl calls a play during the game against Kentucky.
BEST COACH: BRUCE PEARL
UT men's basketball
There was a time in the not-too-distant past when the Tennessee men's basketball team was not faring so well on the court. Following a string of seasons in which the Volunteers didn't make it to postseason play, coach Bruce Pearl took over as head coach for the team.
Photo by Adam Brimer
Tennessee head coach Bruce Pearl calls a play during the game against Kentucky.
During Pearl's first full season, the Vols led the Southeastern Conference East for almost the entire season, defeated Kentucky at Rupp Arena and made it to the second round of the NCAA tournament. That was the warm-up.
After five full seasons with the Vols, Pearl has led Tennessee to the Sweet Sixteen three times, to the Elite Eight for the first time in the program's history and holds a not-too-shabby record of 126-46.
We can't wait to see what November will bring.
Runners-up: Pat Summitt, UT women's basketball; Derek Dooley, UT football
BEST LOCAL BLOGGER: KATIE ALLISON GRANJU
There is perhaps no greater tragedy than that of a parent losing a child. Words can't begin to describe the emotions or the anguish left after such a catastrophe. But words are all we have and so we have to try.
Katie Allison Granju has done so with courage and grace. Her 18-year old son, Henry Louis Granju, died on May 31 after spending weeks in intensive care at University of Tennessee Medical Center following an assault and subsequent drug overdose. Katie Granju has written about the entire experience on her blog -- the drug use, her son's courageous battle in intensive care, the grief, the hopelessness, the hope and what it means to be the parent of a child with a serious illness.
Runners-up: Cynthia Moxley; Frank Murphy.
BEST LOCAL TWEETER: WES RUCKER
Wes Rucker is everywhere.
He's the University of Tennessee sports beat reporter for The Chattanooga Times Free Press. There he writes about Vols football coach Derek Dooley, tailback Tauren Poole, wide receiver Denarius Moore and the rest of the your favorite players.
When he's not doing that, he's hosting "The Wes Rucker Show" five days a week on ESPN Radio Knoxville.
When he's not doing that, he's on Facebook covering the Vols there.
When he's not on Facebook, he's on Twitter, giving play-by-play commentary, speculating about the Vols, and reminding us why we love to eat, breathe, drink and sleep college football.
Runners-up: Cynthia Moxley; Tearsa Smith
BEST FREE WI-FI SPOT: PANERA BREAD
Various locations
Photo by J. Miles Cary
Best Free Wi-Fi – Panera
Known for many tasty treats, Panera Bread is also our readers' choice for Best Free WI-FI Spot.
Some things in life were meant to be free: water, baggage on flights, kittens and, especially, Wi-Fi. Some places still charge for it. Others have realized the error of their ways (you know who you are).
Panera Bread remains the standard, and the best. Order yourself a Cinnamon Crunch Bagel and a Cafe Mocha, then plop on a comfortable chair, crank up the Pandora and post on Facebook until the whites of your eyes go bloodshot. How else would you spend a Saturday in grad school?
Runners-up: Starbucks Coffee, Market Square
BEST LOCAL SINGER: BRAD BLACKWELL
Photo by J. Miles Cary
Best of East Tennessee - Brad Blackwell
Singer-songwriter Brad Blackwell was named as East Tennessee's Best Singer for 2010.
Brad Blackwell is not the sort of songwriter who has been making music since the day he was born. He did not write his first song by the time he was 2 and his first symphony by age 4. He's actually something of a newcomer to being a singer-songwriter.
Blackwell received his first guitar as a Christmas present four years ago. He was hoping for an Xbox 360. It turns out the joke was on him.
Soon Blackwell was teaching himself to play the instrument and writing his own songs. He's since recorded a debut album called "Blue Sky," with a little co-production and writing help from songwriter Jim Denton. (Denton is a songwriter in his own right; you may know him from John Michael Montgomery's "Rope the Moon.")
Catch Blackwell's song "She's My Rainbow" in rotation on radio station 106.1 FM The River. Or visit his website at to find out where you can hear his smooth, soulful voice, which has been compared to that of Jason Mraz and Jack Johnson.
Runners-up: Erick Baker, Stephen Hunley
BEST LOCAL BAND: THE HOTSHOT FREIGHT TRAIN
The Hotshot Freight Train makes Americana-cum-alt country music rooted firmly in the hills of East Tennessee. Part Appalachian The Clash, part pop-tinged Southern Gothic Superdrag, this sextet tells tales of alcoholism, broken marriages, murder and spiritual conviction. The group's influences range from Johnny Cash and Neil Young to Cormac McCarthy and Flannery O'Conner.
The band consists of Greg Barker (guitar, banjo, vocals), Jason Chambers (guitar, vocals), Josh Hutson (guitar, vocals), Caleb Tipton (drums, vocals), Josh Tipton (bass guitar, lead vocals) and Zach Whitaker (mandolin). Thus far, The Hotshot Freight Train has released two full-length records, 2007's "The Devil Pays in Counterfeit" and 2009's "Poetic Devices and Personal Vices," as well as its debut EP "We Are The Hotshot Freight Train EP." Catch the band live in December at Preservation Pub and in January in The Square Room's Sound Off semi-finals.
Runners-up: The Dirty Guv'nahs, Homemade Wine
BEST LOCAL ARTIST (NONMUSICAL): HOLLY BRIGGS
Holly Briggs is an artist who constantly engages with the beauty of the world around her. She draws in pens and inks, paints, plays guitar and teaches children as the art teacher at Mooreland Heights Elementary School. A native of Memphis and a graduate of the University of Tennessee, Briggs is always exploring and pushing the boundaries of her work.
"My inspiration comes from the world around me," she says. "I find beauty in the everyday, the mundane, and all things lost and forgotten. I carry a sketchbook with me at all times, in the chance that divine inspiration should strike me."
A recent series of fauna ink drawings, for example, is an immensely detailed exploration of local wildlife inspired by Briggs' move to South Knoxville.
"I started to see more and more animals that I had almost grown to forget -- like raccoons, rabbits, frogs and turtles. I am swept away in the beauty of nature, and try to use that as inspiration in all of my work, not just the fauna series."
She is currently building a body of work, including small paintings, and pen and ink drawings, to show in the near future.
Runners-up: David Keith, Robert A. Tino
BEST LIVE MUSIC VENUE: TENNESSEE THEATRE
604 S. Gay St.
Where's the best place to see a concert? Standing up, smooshed against people you don't know who didn't shower this week, vision blocked by the tall guy on stilts wearing the top hat?
That's certainly one option.
Another would be seated in a Taj Mahal of a former movie palace. Refurbished and expanded in the mid-2000s to the tune of $25.5 million, the Tennessee Theatre on Gay Street in downtown Knoxville offers an intimate, seated concert experience. You won't spend your entire evening muscling for rank against other music fans. Instead it's just you, Clay Aiken, 1,630 other fans and the most beautiful ceiling in East Tennessee.
Runners-up: Bijou Theatre, The Square Room
BEST GAY CLUB: CAROUSEL II
1501 White Ave.
Carousel II isn't entirely different from a lot of other dance clubs. The biggest distinction is that some of the folks there are female impersonators. But if you're going to have fun, you might as well go all out, right? And Madonna did tell us that girls just wanna have fun.
The Carousel is one of the oldest gay bars in the southeastern United States. Each night the DJs spin your favorite tracks so you can get your groove on out on the dance floor. There's also a stage for special performances, which are a regular occurrence. Guests include the likes of Champale Denise, the King of Queens Mitchell, the Ebony Princess Anastasia Alexander, Lillith Cantrell, Samantha Hunter and others. Also make sure you check out the annual Gay Prom held each spring.
Runners-up: Club XYZ, Kurt's Bar
BEST DOWNTOWN HANGOUT: DOWNTOWN GRILL & BREWERY
424 S. Gay St.
Photo by J. Miles Cary
Best Downtown Hangout – Downtown Grill
The patio draws a crowd at Downtown Grill and Brewery, voted Best Downtown Hangout in this year's poll.
Downtown Grill & Brewery once wrote us this love letter on Facebook: "Drinking IPA on a rainy Friday in March will actually allow you to see through walls. OK, the wall has to be made of sand. OK, maybe it's not a full wall. OK, maybe the sand has to be refined a bit. OK, maybe it's actually a wall roughly the size of a pint glass and made of the same material. But if you drink a full pint you'll be able to see right through it."
Frankly that's a rather complicated excuse to hang out at Downtown Grill & Brewery. Truth be told, they had us at "drinking IPA."
After all, on some evenings the best thing you can do is collect a few friends, huddle together around a table on Gay Street, drink a few beers and talk the night away. Brewing beneath the floorboards of Downtown Grill & Brewery are several specialty beers. Cooking in the kitchen are burgers and pizzas. Playing just inside is the band. Upstairs, the game is on the big screen. All that's missing is you.
Runners-up: Market Square, Barley's Taproom & Pizzeria
BEST DANCE CLUB: COTTON EYED JOE
11220 Outlet Drive
You know the lyrics, at least the ones from the techno folk Rednex version of the song that drops the "d." We still don't know where Cotton Eyed Joe came from though. But we do know where he is. And while he may keep us from getting married on a regular basis, he also keeps us dancing the night away.
Don't believe it? You've never been to Cotton Eyed Joe, have you? If you had, you'd know that Friday night was made for throwing on some boots and a cowboy hat, grabbing some friends, drinking a few $1.75 long necks and line dancing until the blisters come at this country-themed club. The party never stops. Will you?
Runners-up: The Valarium, Sassy Ann's
BEST MOVIE THEATER: REGAL PINNACLE STADIUM 18 & IMAX
11240 Parkside Drive
Calling Regal's Pinnacle theater "stadium" is fairly accurate. Yes, that refers to the style of seating. But if you've been to the Turkey Creek movie theater, you know it is practically a stadium. In fact, it's bigger than plenty of the actual sporting stadiums and arenas in the area. Better, too.
Pinnacle has cutting-edge technology like IMAX 3-D presentations. IMAX films combine powerful surround sound and a unique screen that permeates your entire field of vision. The result is that you feel like you're a part of the movie, which is something even a baseball game can't offer (unless you get hit by a fly ball).
Runners-up: Regal Riviera Stadium 8, Tennessee Theatre
© 2010, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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Comments » 1
wonderosa writes:
Homemade Wine got runner up last year, plays 200 dates all over the country this year, and doesn't make the ballot?
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