KMRY radio morning host to receive award for his music

KMRY radio host Ricky Bartlett of Iowa City and the band Vibe will be honored with a Danny Award at the fourth annual Danny Awards held Nov. 18 in New York. The awards sponsored by Daniel’s Music Foundation recognizes musicians with disabilities with the purpose of challenging society to think differently about disability.

Recipients represent rock, jazz, opera and more. Other recipients of the award include Josh Armstrong (Minnesota), Mina Cuesta (New York), George Dennehy (Virginia), Sarah Hardwig (Tennessee), Eliza Hull (Australia), Jude Kofie (Colorado), Jesse Magee & Leftstronger (Maryland), Rick Renstrom (Florida), Yoo Jin Noh (Massachusetts), and Santon (Massachusetts).

The Danny Awards is considered an artist pipeline for Just Call Me By My Name, a record label for musicians with disabilities (distributed by The Orchard) that releases compilation EPs timed to key Disability Awareness dates. The label also seeks performance opportunities at festivals, award shows, DEI conferences and corporate events, and promotes artists’ music through listening stations at key venues.

Danny Award recipients will learn more about the music industry through panels and workshops hosted by label partner and global music distribution and artist-services company, The Orchard and the NY Chapter of The Recording Academy.

Bartlett is a double amputee who lost his legs to a flesh-eating disease. After he nearly lost his life in addition to his legs, he decided to pursue his dream of acting and has been doing voice-over work for a Marvel project in the United Kingdom. He also saw a lot of work pour in from international projects during the SAG-AFTRA strikes (the union doesn’t have much of an international presence.) He’s also working on a Korean film, called “Target,” where he is playing a mob boss.

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But it was singing that garnered the award.

Bartlett had grew up singing in his Southern Baptist church, but never sang professionally. He had been solicited to audition for the Danny Awards through a networking site for actors.

“I’ve only sung in church. That’s when everyone is singing together for one purpose, so you kind of get drowned out,” Bartlett said. “Being the focus of this is intimidating, but it also kind of goes with their mission statement (the awards).”

Bartlett meet the band Vibe before filming an audition tape. He happened to be humming the song in their audition called “There’s a Leak in This Old Building,” which is something he had stuck in his head as he arrived to the Brucemore mansion to record. They hadn’t planned to perform that song, but the band picked up the tune and ran with it and they completed it in one take.

“It was difficult trying to learn the words of the song I was supposed to be singing, but that one’s just always been in my spirit,” Bartlett said of the song. “There was some magic that happened that night that we can’t explain.”

So Bartlett sent in the tape “thinking it wouldn’t do anything, because the Danny Awards is global,” he said. “They only choose 10 acts.”

You can watch his audition tape here or below.

Bartlett will be performing at the ceremony that will be livestreamed from 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday. Register to watch the event at www.danielsmusic.org/thedannys.

“Everyone is so focused on ‘that’s the guy with two prosthetic legs,’ or ‘that’s the guy with the brain hemorrhage in the corner.’ I like that this is focusing on the talent, not focusing on the disability itself. It gets the name out there, not the disability.”

Daniel’s Music Foundation was formed in 2006 by Ken Trush after his 13-year-old son Daniel had multiple brain aneurysms, which left him in a monthlong coma. Music was crucial to Daniel’s ongoing rehabilitation and the foundation was formed to offer music therapy in an inclusive setting to foster a sense of community and belonging.