Friday After 5 Executive Director Fran Marseille turned Owensboro into “Hollywood on the River” this week as they waited to see if Tommy Marsh of Crooked Eye Tommy would win in the screening of the Blues category of the Hollywood Music and Media Awards.
Marseille said that she had been a part of the HMMAs for the past 12 years, and due to COVID-19 they had to move the award show to a virtual event with the recipients watching from afar.
With the move to virtual, she was eager to get Owensboro a spot as a satellite host, and when Marsh was announced as a nominee Marseille was even more determined to accomplish that mission.
Crooked Eye Tommy was nominated for a duet with Grammy-nominated singer Teresa James named Baby, Where you Been. Marsh said James is an amazing vocalist and together the song documents the story of a man and woman having a particularly rough night.
Marsh said upon finding out he won that the support from the people in the community is important to him. While he didn’t know many people, he said everyone congratulated him as though they had known him a long time.
During the announcement, Marseille had worked it out to have Marsh displayed with a room of about 50 people — and a promotional graphic for the city of Owensboro was also shown nationally.
Mayor Tom Watson said the ideas and events that Marseille brings are things Owensboro hasn’t seen yet in the community, and he hopes to utilize her in the future.
“This is a big deal tonight,” Watson said. “It’s hard to say no to [Fran] … she’s been a tremendous asset to our community and just a breath of fresh air.”
