2008 Woodie Awards
Mahoney rocks Rolling Stone
Misty Lester
Issue date: 10/11/07 Section: Intermission
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Mahoney was one of five finalists in the Ray-Ban contest, which teamed up with Rolling Stone Magazine and Myspace.com. Winning the contest earned him a trip to Las Vegas for the Rolling Stone 40th Anniversary party Sept. 7 at the Hard Rock Hotel.
The opportunity to be featured in Rolling Stone Magazine sparked interest for bands across the nation, as it was an opportunity to get exposure to record labels and potential fans. Mahoney will grace the pages of Rolling Stone Magazine in the November issue.
"At minimum, it might help sell some records," Mahoney said. "It was such a random, lucky thing, and when I open up the magazine, I think I'm going to want to throw up because of the expectations of the photo shoot."
Many musicians wait an entire lifetime to make it in Rolling Stone Magazine. The contest was set up as though the winner would be rocking Vegas, but Mahoney said it was mellow and felt more like an elaborate photo shoot.
"I just think it's cool that I'm going to be in Rolling Stone," Mahoney said. "People spend their whole life trying to get something like that."
With Minneapolis roots, Mahoney has been releasing his homegrown talent for more than a decade, being sure to frequent St. Cloud to please his dedicated fan base. Mahoney proved he's not tainted by his recent success, as he returned to the Red Carpet Nightclub Sept. 14 and performed at the Minnesota Music Festival Sept. 22.
"People are saying everything is going to be different," Mahoney said. "I just don't look at it like that. Maybe if I was a little younger I might be more conceited about it, but I'm just excited about it."
Mahoney said Myspace is everything now for musicians. It gives people the chance to get exposure and be heard. Mahoney got people to vote for him by sending messages to fans on Myspace. The end result was a bit overwhelming for Mahoney.
"I'm so small time to what they're dealing with, so I was trying to act like I wasn't shocked during the whole thing," Mahoney said.
Mahoney described fame as something that's relative. He said getting famous all starts the same way. All that happens is someone has a record that breaks, and they get bigger, he said. Mahoney said it's that simple; they're just like me, they are the same people.
Throughout the contest, photo shoot and celebration, Mahoney got a taste of the celebrity lifestyle with free swag.
"We got to go through these gift suites that had a bunch of free stuff, and I felt guilty taking it," Mahoney said. "At one point, Ryan Cabrera was next to me in a photo booth, and, although I'm not known throughout the country, I was still in the same place doing the same thing. It's all relative though."
Mahoney said his favorite venue is wherever people like him. Saturday night, that venue will be the Red Carpet Nightclub to celebrate SCSU Homecoming weekend.
Because Mahoney has been a performer for so long, he said the transition from the beginning up until now makes him feel more grateful than excited when successes come along.
Mahoney admitted he did not expect to win the Ray-Ban contest. With a range of mellow, acoustic shows to loud and wild shows, Mahoney walked away with reassurance in his talent and capabilities.
Mahoney does not belong to a label, so when he began selling his music in the "Emerging Artists" section at Target, it was a pretty big deal.
Nearly 63,000 people have visited Mahoney's site at www.myspace.com/timmahoneymusic, and his 4,679 friends on the site do not even come close to representing his fan base.
Mahoney's talent has kept him going for 11 years, and it doesn't look like he plans on stopping anytime soon.