Home Cover The 2023 Panthies

The 2023 Panthies

You shoulda been there Sunday night. Our Music Awards were a big … hit.

December 20, 2023

More than 200 rowdy souls piled into the Ridglea Theater Sunday night for our 22nd (or 23rd) Annual Fort Worth Weekly Music Awards, and in addition to the performances and partying, we, as always, handed out some Panthies — lots of them.

Royal Sons won for best rock band while our readers also chose 88 Killa for best hip-hop and Squeezebox Bandits for both Country and Tejano. Matt Tedder’s I Can Dream was voted album of the year, and Denver Williams & The Gas Money’s “Key Lime Pie” took home top song. Check out all the winners below.

Also receiving tiny panther heads were our Hall of Famers. For his decades opening and operating venues and managing artists (and making a lot of music in different bands on his own), Ryan Higgs was inducted, and Andre “Dre” Edmondson joined him as part of the 2023 class for his decades running sound all over town, including at Friday on the Green and Lola’s. We also presented Amplify 817 with an honorary award for the work they do promoting Fort Worth artists every day

The performances kept the party going all night. Denver Williams & The Gas Money, The Grae, and Averi Burke melted faces along with house band the Cowtown Dugouts (James Hinkle, Matt Tedder, Andrew Skates, Sean Russell, Nick Tittle, J/O/E, Abel Castillo, Jeremy Hull, Steve Hammond, Max Kusin, and Jason Davis).

And our MCs Greg Spicoli (KNON’s Reckless Rock Radio) and Ian Mac (The Great Unwashed podcast) did a stellar job moving things along with a smile. Thanks to Juan R. Govea for these photos and additional reporting. Until next year …