WERNER SOMMER

NY-born and raised singer/songwriter Werner Sommer has spent most of his musical career as lead vocalist and lead guitarist for NY-based hard Rock band Dusty Rose. After releasing an EP, and a full-length cd, Werner decided to strike out on his own as a solo acoustic performer, incorporating various instruments into his “One-Man-Band” act.

Werner has been getting international airplay in the States, Canada and Austria with his 2015 released a full-length cd titled "Gottscheer Volkslieder", a collection of Austrian folk songs in the native tongue of his mother's birthplace Gottschee, Austria, now a part of Slovenia.

Currently, Werner has released a song called “At All Times”, with his daughter Julia; which is posted on You Tube. Julia and Werner are recording songs and playing shows in the Pennsylvania area.
Werner is recording songs for his next cd while playing solo shows and working with his new band Smashed in the NY/NJ and PA areas.
https://youtu.be/KTT_d3htsHw -

A copy of the write-up in the Gottscheer Zeitung! (The Gottscheer newspaper in Austria!) (June 2015) - Gottscheer Zeitung

No way around it: The Lehigh Valley Music Awards is a numbers game.
When the Greater Lehigh Valley Music Awards holds its 19th ceremony at 4 p.m. March 4, awards recipients will be getting those honors because of people who cast votes for them — 50 categories in which people in the music industry voted for their peers, and 27 in which fans chose the outcome.
That’s by design. Awards organizers say the whole idea is to get as many people as possible involved in the Valley music scene.
There’s a lot that can be told about the awards ceremony through numbers. Here’s a quick countdown:

20/19. This is the 20th year since the Lehigh Valley Music Awards started in 1999, but it is only the 19th awards ceremony. That’s because none was held in 2013 as the awards entered into a partnership with ArtsQuest and switched from a winter to a spring event.
18. That’s how many years straight James Supra has won Best Harmonicist, giving him the only unbroken win streak in the history of the awards. He’s nominated again this year.
14/13/12. Fourteen nominations is the most any single act has gotten in one year, by Scott Marshall and his band in 2017.


James Supra (SHARON K. MERKEL / SPECIAL TO THE MORNING CALL)
Thirteen is the most any single music artist got this year, and again it was Marshall, including nods for Outstanding All-Around Performer on both the industry and fan ballots, the Fans Choice Award, Outstanding Singer/Songwriter on both ballots, Male Vocalist on both ballots and Outstanding Acoustic Guitarist.

Marshall could break his own record for wins — he he had 12 last year — but will have to run his nominations list to do it.
11. That’s how many nominations the artists with the second-most nominations have this year: Mike Roi and his band Roi and the Secret People, and Carter Lansing and his band Acoustic Kitty Project.


Scott Marshall (MORNING CALL FILE PHOTO)
10. Slingshot Dakota, a Bethlehem-based drum-and-keyboard indie-rock duo that has gotten wide attention from its showcase performances at the massive South by Southwest music festival, will headline 10 performances at this year’s ceremony.
Other performers are Supra with youthful Valley singer-songwriter Kayla Avitabile; 2016 awards Lifetime Achievement winner Dave Fry and friends; Todd Wolfe Band; and The Bel Canto Children's Chorus of the Bach Choir of Bethlehem.
Also, Crazy Hearts, SwingTime Dolls, Allentown Slim/Atown Slim, and Two Girls and A Sax.
10. In addition to the competitive awards, the awards ceremony will hand out 10 awards for outstanding contributions to the region’s music scene.
Lehigh Valley Music Awards board of directors citations will go to John Millington , hip-hop artist Adlib (real name Adam Viola) and blues-rock guitarist Todd Wolfe, who played with Sheryl Crow 1993-98. Jamie Balliet, State Theatre senior vice president of marketing, will get a Special Recognition Award.
And 20 Year Veteran Awards will go to Bill Lance, Liz Younger, Greg Geist, Keith “Moon” Reichard, Monty Leach and Robin and Jim Duo.
9. Fusion Jazz Trio has won nine straight Best Jazz Band/Soloist awards, the Lehigh Valley Music Awards’ second-longest streak. It’s nominated again this year.
7. Indicating the broad representation of the Valley’s music scene, seven artists besides Marshall tallied seven or more nominations this year: Roi and Lansing; younger performers Leah Marie Fuls, Julia Somer and Jordyn Kenzie; and veterans Chelsea Lyn Meyer and Tommy Zito.
5. This will be the fifth year the ceremony is at Musikfest Cafe in the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks, which gave the awards a permanent home after six host sites during its first 14 years.
4. Four local students will receive Youth Education Scholarships from the awards. That’s one more than in previous years.
2. Two artists will get Lifetime Achievement Awards. They are classically trained jazz musician Frank DiBussolo, who has played with greats such as Buddy Rich, Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey and Bucky Pizzarelli, and the late Sal Ritz, who for more than 50 years played throughout the Lehigh Valley and beyond.
1. The annual Community Youth Recipient will be Jonah Lawrence, in support of Autism Speaks Lehigh Valley.

DETAILS
19th Lehigh Valley Music Awards
When: 4 p.m. March 4 (Doors and pre-show featuring Cubbage in lobby at 3 p.m.)
Where: Musikfest Cafe, ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks, 101 Founders Way, Bethlehem
How much: $20 general admission
Info: www.lehighvalleymusicawards.org, www.steelstacks.org, 610-332-3378 - Mcall.com