TACHEVAH

Shawn Don crowned winner at Tachevah finals at Date Shed in Indio

Palm Springs Desert Sun

Shawn Don, of Rancho Mirage performs during the Tachevah finals at The Date Shed in Indio on May 18, 2017. Shawn Don won the Pappy + Harriet’s semi-final showcase.

The Tachevah Music Showcase reached a crescendo on Thursday when it crowned Shawn Don the winner. The rapper from Rancho Mirage, whose real name is Shawn Isaac, walked away with bragging rights and the grand prize of $3,000.

Isaac said he planned to donate his winnings to charity through his church for youth.

"The reason I would give that money (to charity) is there are kids out here in the desert with dreams who don't have the opportunity. I have the opportunity. So I want to give them the opportunity," said Isaac.

The other three bands - Kayves, Bridger and Elektric Lucie - didn't leave empty handed though.

Elizabeth Vargas, one of the judges and creator of an app and the website Edgemusic.com, featuring licensed music videos, loved the diversity of the performers and agreed to give $500 each to the other bands.

"Everybody was amazing," she said.

The competition kicked off four months ago with an online showcase of band videos with eight bands selected by desertsun.com viewers and two other bands chosen by Desert Sun curators.

Those eight advanced to two semi-finals heats where two winners from each showcase was chosen to advance to the Thursday finals.

Kayves and Shawn Don advanced from the March 23 semi-finals showcase at Pappy and Harriet’s in Pioneertown while Bridger and Elektric Lucie advanced from the March 30 semi-finals at Palm Canyon Roadhouse in Palm Springs.

Kayves, of Cathedral City performs during the Tachevah finals at The Date Shed in Indio on May 18, 2017. Kayves won the Pappy + Harriet’s semi-final showcase.

Kayves, an electro-rock band from Cathedral City and Indio kicked off the finals. After their semi-final show they were also selected to perform at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival extending a five-year streak of at least one Tachevah band being invited to play Coachella.

The band is made up of Nick Hernandez on vocals, Edgar Limon on bass, Adrian Romero on drums, and Oscar Rico and Danny Gonzalez on guitar. They left the crowd wanting more and chanting "one more song" but did not oblige to keep the program on schedule.

Had they won the grand prize, Hernandez said it would have gone to further their musical footprint.

"We want to record with it get some really quality recording and send it to labels and stuff like that and have some for merchandise," he said.

Hip-hop artist and entrepreneur Isaac, was second on stage. He grew up in the desert where he attended Palm Desert High School and has also appeared on a couple reality shows including MTVs “True Life” when he was 18 and ABC Family’s “Startup U” series in 2015.

During his high energy set he performed his anthemic song "Coachella" with a three person back-up choir and "Leave Your Mind," the song he recorded with Snoop Dog. He also delivered on his showmanship by bringing back the dancing cow (a person in a cow costume) and threw money out into the crowd - as he did during his semi-finals show.

Isaac ended his set with a fun Will Smith cover of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air."

What he wanted out of Tachevah was the exposure and camaraderie.

"For me its the ability to be part of the heartbeat of the community. I want to be a man of the people. Even if i become like Drake-level status I will keep participating in things like this," he said.

Bridger, of Bermuda Dunes performs during the Tachevah finals at The Date Shed in Indio on May 18, 2017. Bridger won the Roadhouse semi-final showcase.

Bridger, a rock/punk band made up of singer-guitarist Cathcart, his sister, drummer KT Zapcart, bassist Dan Dillinger and guitarist Jacob Miller, performed next. And in true punk fashion there were balls flying through the air and crowd surfing.

And last on stage was Elektric Lucie, electro rockers from Indio. This was the second trip to the finals for the band. Viktor Estrada sings and plays guitar for the mostly Spanish-language band. They advanced from the semi-finals after performing an all Spanish set, but for the finals they did throw in an English ditty.

Elektric Lucie performs during the Tachevah finals at The Date Shed in Indio on May 18, 2017. Elektric Lucie won the Roadhouse semi-final showcase.

The event was emcee’d by Lisa Lynn Morgan, a singer/songwriter and performer who books talent and markets the Big Rock Pub in Indio.

In addition to Vargas the panel of judges included up and coming electronic artist Lincoln Jesser, who performed with the popular indie band, Technicolor Wolves, grew up in La Quinta and now records electronic music for Spinnin’ Records and Desert Sun reporter Bruce Fessier.

Desert Sun Reporter Bruce Fessier contributed to this report.