Music Awards Festival 2015

AMERICANA/ROOTS ROCK

Armadillo Creek uses banjo, upright bass, guitar, drum, and a raucous sensibility to attain its “Texas trashgrass” sound, combining bluegrass and Texas twang. The good ol’ boys in Holy Moly have been melding rock, honkytonk, and general goofiness into their brand of cowpunk for the past decade, making them one of the best shows in town (and a perennial Music Awards favorite). Lots of local love has gone Igneous Grimm’s psychedelic-folk-rock way as well. Sweet vocals, tight musicianship, and a strong sense of melody prove that Kevin Aldridge & The Appraisers need to be on your drive-time playlist. Strong vocals and folk simplicity are the calling card of Mills & Co., led by longtime troubadour Taylor Craig Mills. Jake Paleschic hearkens to the best of Lyle Lovett and Jackson Browne, combining sumptuous guitarwork, spiritual lyrics, and high, lonesome vocals into a haunted sound that conjures up dark highways through wide open spaces. A ghostly sense of dread often creeps its way into the Southern gothic creations of The Phantom Sensation. The North Texas band that seemed destined for national success several years ago, Telegraph Canyon lost its momentum while spending years working on a sophomore album that still isn’t finished. But Chris Johnson and company sound as good as ever and might get the attention they deserve yet. One of the most in-demand guitarists in town is Ryan Tharp, who sits in with other bands frequently but also fronts his own blues-rock ensemble. The Whiskey Folk fellas still know how to rip through roots music and create something unique, slightly ominous, and wholly wonderful. — J.P.

HIP-HOP/R&B

This category is wide open this year. Past winners Dru B Shinin’ and the resurgent Smooth Vega both put out A-plus albums. Big Cliff Watkins and Kyeyote are constantly performing, recording, and writing. The lyrically dizzying and witty Doug Funnie represents the best of North Texas nerdcore, while scene veterans Fort Nox are old-school throwbacks, mature but not whiny, sophisticated but not highfalutin. — E.G.

HARD ROCK

From high-octane rock ’n’ roll to hypnotic psych, Panther City is revving its engines louder than ever. Last year, members of House Harkonnen and The Phuss joined together to form Duell, whose supercharged desert rock is as relentless as it is loud. FOGG’s massive riffage barrels from their amps like a tornado through the ancient pyramids. There’s a good reason The Me-Thinks have been around forever. It’s because their songs are hooky odes to low-rent L-I-V-I-N, pulled from the smoke of a zillion bong rips and years and years of bowing before the gods of huge amps. Tolar welds metal, punk, and interpersonal politics into furious, iron-fisted sonic assaults. Now signed to Relapse Records, Pinkish Black are masters of pushing the boundaries of heavy music. But even at their heaviest, they still manage to lace melody through their waves of electronic doom. Spacebeach rides waves of sludgy doom into weird runs of tripped-out surf rock, while Year of the Bear’s take on reverb-soaked psych-rock hits your brain like a beer brewed with LSD — S.S.

POP

The dark horse may be Andy Pickett, the lovable scenester who, seemingly out of the blue, put out what may be the most popular pick for album of the year, It Happens Every Night. We’re still waiting for neo-disco machine Ronnie Heart’s new album and, now that we mention it, something new in recorded form from one-man Pointer Sister Nathan Brown. One artist who’s always got time to lay down some hot lixxx is Jordan Richardson, a.k.a. Son of Stan, whose latest, Georgia, is up for EP of the year. Richardson is almost as prolific as Taylor Tatsch’s vehicle, Shadows of Jets, whose new EP is on the way. Also look for new material from The Hendersons, Lindby, and Maurice Davis Band. The groovy and rocking Day Waster have been the opposite of Luke Wade & No Civilians, whose titular frontman went really far on The Voice, and The Unlikely Candidates, who have just returned from a major market tour. — A.M.

LIVE BAND

Electro-funkster Ronnie Heart is equal parts Solid Gold dancer and guitar impresario when he hits the stage. Rasta men Pablo & The Hemphill 7’s vibe may be mellow, but they still get their audiences’ hips and dreads swaying to the beat. Animal Spirit and Jack Thunder & The Road Soda deal in dynamic, intense rock with just the right amount of bombast to wow their crowds. And stalwarts Holy Moly and The Quaker City Night Hawks consistently deliver tight, rowdy performances to raucous crowds.

HEAVY METAL

Perhaps per Don Felder’s suggestion, Fort Worth has been taking a ride on heavy metal since the ’70s, and the evolution of the scene gets more interesting every year. Start pedaling with Huffer, which could be the soundtrack for a post-apocalyptic biker movie, if the bikers tossed Molotov cocktails—and the Molotovs exploded into shards of heavy shoegaze. Fueled by proggy arrangements and high-gain amplification, Cosmic Trigger is what the Silver Surfer would listen to in his headphones on his way to tell a civilization it’s doomed. Southern Train Gypsy takes southern metal and adds a heavy dose of overdriven blues, blasting the faces off audiences with an intense live show. Stone Machine Electric’s ominously deliberate tempos and walls of distortion and fuzz creep over you like stormclouds full of blotter acid rain. Reigning from high atop Fort Worth’s Heavy Metal Mountain, late-’70s scene founders Warlock are back with a vengeance. Panic Volcanic’s fuzzed out, groove-heavy stoner rock proves you can do a helluva lot with only bass and drums — especially when you have a hard-rockin’ banshee like Ansley Dougherty to sing for it. Among the heaviest bands in town, Interment summons the souls of classic death metal and grindcore to create a punishing sound built on speed, technical prowess, and unholy fury.