listed immediately after Pearl Jam at ARGO Arena and then Sarah McLachlan at the Sacramento Civic Auditorium for the best live shows within the Sacramento Area in 1998.

"Critics Choice: One of the Ten Best Albums of 1998... OK, if Big Star hangs out with Wilco and Son Volt and it doesn't sound too much like Golden Smog. It would probably sound like this, but probably not this good."- Barry M. Prickeft, SacramentoNews and Review

Year End Issue, December 31, 1998

"Grub Dog and the amazing Sweethearts: One of the Best Live bands in Northern California." 
Alive and Kicking

Year in Re-chew Issue, January 1999
1998 SAMMIE (Sacramento Area Music Association) Award Winner - Best New Band

1999 SAMMIE Nominee for Best Rock Band (along with Major Label Bands Far and Oleander)

1999 SAMMIE Award Winner - Best Song Writer

Grub Dog & The Amazing Sweethearts

Rarely does a band live up to its own name so perfectly and without contrivance. Grub Dog & the Amazing Sweethearts are exactly that: a little rough around the edges, but still wonderfully and amazingly (bitter)sweet. With their first tape, State Fair Talent Show, slnger-songwriter Grub Dog, bassist Evan Drath and drummrer Mark Harrod (along with a few area notables, including Cake's Gabe Nelson and Jackpot's Rusty Miller) have crafted a literate and catchy collection of No Depression-styled songs. 'She likes my band, she's a Replacements fan, she says I sound like Paul." sings Grub Dog on what just may be the best local pop song of the year, "Sounds like Paul": "I took it as a compliment if that's what she meant, though l don't sound like him at all. While there are musical references to the likes of the Replacements, Bob Dylan and Uncle Tupelo, the band's sound remains fresh.

-RACHEL LEIBROCK
 
 

Grub Dog & the Amazing Sweethearts finally commit their powerful roots rock sound to disc. As the Crown Prince of Paul Westerburg Rock, Grub Dog writes scattingly bitter songs laced with razor-sharp melodies and forceful rock'n'roll riffs. Grub Dog & the Amazing Sweethearts fuse the drunken, angry calamity of a Replacements-esque stage show with the mornnful, literate musings of Tom Petty or the Flying Burrito Brothers. It's the best of both worlds: bar band music you can listen to in the morning.

PopRockIt