By Larry Nager
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Three top area rock acts making noise on the national scene - July For Kings, Pay the Girl and Oval Opus - head the list of performers for the 2003 Cammy Awards.

Tickets for the event, 4 p.m. March 9 at Jillian's in Covington, will go on sale at 10 a.m. Monday.

The awards program honoring local musicians, an all-ages event produced by The Cincinnati Enquirer since 1997, combines live music with more than 30 awards.

Also performing will be the Northern Kentucky Brotherhood Singers, the Kim Taylor Band and an all-star jam by local female blues artists, anchored by last year's blues band winner, the Kelly Richey Band.

More acts, including this year's winners of the Michael W. Bany Lifetime Achievement Award, will be added in coming weeks. Hosts will be comedian Blair Shannon and Channel 12 news anchor Cammy Dierking

Tickets are $12.50 in advance, $15 on the day of show. They will be sold at Ticketmaster: phone 562-4949; online at www.ticketmaster.com. Tickets also will be sold at Jillian's, the Aronoff Center and Music Hall ticket offices with no service charges.

Two of the headliners are past favorite band Cammy winners, an award determined by Enquirer readers. MCA Records artists July For Kings won in 2001; Oval Opus in 2000. TVT Records artists Pay the Girl is an up-and-coming act featuring Cammy nominee Jason Allen Phelps.

Everyone is welcome to attend the showcases, where nominees will perform for Cammy judges. They will be Feb. 2 at the BarrelHouse Brewing Co. and Feb. 9 at Jillian's. Tickets are $3 at the door.

Cammy Awards ticket sales benefit the Michael W. Bany Memorial Scholarship Fund. The fund, named for the beloved local musician slain in a 1995 robbery, provides financial assistance to Greater Cincinnati music students.

Since 1997, the Cammys have presented more than 180 awards to members of the local music industry, ranging from 1997 best new artist, the Greenhornes, to esteemed Lifetime Achievement Award winners Rosemary Clooney, Cal Collins, the Blue Wisp Big Band, Bootsy Collins, Lonnie Mack, Big Joe Duskin, Pure Prairie League, Adrian Belew, Philip Paul, Syd Nathan and other local greats.

E-mail lnager@enquirer.com