Home Cover And the Winners Are …

And the Winners Are …

That’s a wrap on our 2024-25 Fort Worth Weekly Music Awards.

January 29, 2025

Tulips FTW was packed to capacity Sunday night for our 2024-25 Fort Worth Weekly Music Awards because, yes, local music is still a thing and, yes, people still read newspapers. We handed out Panthys while also showcasing performances by several nominees. Our awards these days, due to the pandemic, are a condensed version of what we used to do. In years past, we would book 50-ish local bands (all nominees), and they would play in select venues across the Near Southside (previously in West 7th, previously downtown). All for free. Then, a few weeks after this festival, we would hold a ceremony to hand out the Panthys, induct our Hall of Famers, and remember those we’d lost that year. Now, it’s all just one event, and thanks to Regional Director Michael Newquist and Marketing Director Jennifer Bovee, this year’s went off splendidly.

Firstly, I had forgotten how cool and transportive Tulips FTW is. It’s like a slice of late-’90s Brooklyn in our Little Brooklyn, the Near Southside. Please support this South Main-adjacent spot as much as possible. It’s warm and welcoming and buzzy regardless of who’s playing. The sound and lights are killer, a fact I really felt during the first two sets of the night.

After J/O/E’s didn’t-know-you-needed-it celebratory rap, LABELS blasted out loud but melodic hardcore punk with metal elements. That first song with the bouncy “Rusty Cage”-esque riff was some of the best hard rock I’d experienced in this city since dearly departed Sonic Buffalo circa 2013. Or maybe I need to get out more.

I’ve been out of the scene for 10-plus years. Once I became editor in 2015, I had to stop writing about music and the arts every day/week — which I had been doing every day/week for the previous decade — and focus on news, investigative work, and op-eds. It’s been great (I got my start in news), but I still love local music, and this ceremony not only turned me onto LABELS but also an outfit whose tunes were spinning through the house speakers while Newquist was setting up before the doors opened. Two Guys Walk Into a Bar do that kind of sunset-hued, ’70s-SoCal “country” that should make you want to slap Jason Aldean. I’m not a huge fan of this subgenre or the genre in general. Some of it is OK. But when you can channel Jackson Browne and The Eagles as wonderfully as Two Guys can, you’ll have my ears perked. I was pleasantly surprised when these guys won best country act. I was also unwittingly delighted by Cory Cross. This former rocker does dancehall country that essentially forces your body to move, and his set had boots scootin’.

As part of our awards every year, we induct certain musos into our Hall of Fame, and this year, we celebrated Tone Sommer, a fantastic lifelong bluesman who died too young (see: pg. 17). We also gave Sally Herring Birthisel a lifetime achievement award for her devotion to local music as a booking agent, promoter, and all-around fan. Congrats, Sally. Well-deserved.

Our In Memoriam section featured an instrumental ballad by Tiny Giants guitarist Max Kusin, who joined his bandmates at the end of the ceremony for a blistering set of … can I call it “emocore”? Or is it more “metalcore”? I dunno. As I said, I’ve been out of the scene for a while now, apparently too long. Thank you, Tiny Giants, and thanks to all the performers, the nominees, MC Ian Mac (great job!), our sponsors, Tulips, and — most importantly — you, our readers.

And the winners are …

2024 Fort Worth Weekly Music Awards

(winners in bold)

Album

Better Than a Dream (Theo Carracino)

The Edge of April (Rachel Gollay)

Face to Face (Toxic Madness)

Moral Law (LABELS)

Unraveled (Cut Throat Finches)

Song

“Calling Me Out” (Cut Throat Finches)

“Chubby Thighs” (Darstar)

“Kites” (Hannah Owens)

“Trainwreck” (Broke String Burnett)

“Wrong Direction” (Vintage Yell)

Open-Mic Night

Gustos Burger Bar + More (Denver Williams)

Kung Fu Saloon (Honkey Tonk Traditions)

Magnolia Motor Lounge (Songwriter Nights)

McFly’s Pub (Tommy Luke)

Pouring Glory (Fort Worth Roots)

Place to Hear Live Music

Billy Bob’s Texas

The Cicada

Haltom Theater

Ridglea Theater

Tulips FTW

Americana Band

Broke String Burnett

Cut Throat Finches

Denver Williams & The Gas Money

Marfa Lights

Vintage Yell

Avant-Garde/Experimental Band

The Go-Go Rillas

The Liquid Sound Company

The Rage Out Arkestra

T.E.F. (Texas Expeditionary Force)

Total Sweetheart

Bassist

Marcus Gonzales (Royal Sons)

Cyrus Haskell (Stem Afternoon)

Kris Luther (Arenda Light)

Maxwell Smith (Quaker City Night Hawks)

Joe Tacke (Mean Motor Scooter)

Blues Band

Arlington Jones

Blind Dog Cooley

Dirty Pool

The Fender Benders

Playtown

Country Artist

Cory Cross & The Burden

Ginny Mac

Squeezebox Bandits

Matt Tedder

Two Guys Walk Into a Bar

Drummer

Matt Mabe (Arenda Light)

Josh Pitts (Darstar)

Jordan Richardson (Quaker City Night Hawks)

Draya Ruse (Cut Throat Finches)

Andy Weaver (Chasing Rent)

Folk Artist

Jaybirds

Jacob Furr

Darrin Kobetich

Summer Lane

Late to the Station

Guitarist

Sam Anderson (Quaker City Night Hawks)

Chad Beck (Royal Sons)

Rowdy Carter (Arenda Light)

Braedon Ward (Jaybirds)

Cory Watson (Black Tie Dynasty)

Hip-Hop/R&B Artist

4 Ya Soul

DJ TeK

J/O/E

Legacy 4

Retrophonics

Keyboardist

John Davis (Poo Live Crew)

Steve Hammond (Matt Tedder Band)

Brian McCorquodale (Black Tie Dynasty)

Justin Pate (Pablo & The Hemphill 7, Battle of Evermore, Brad Thompson Band, Dirty Pool)

Katie Robertson

Latin Music Artist

Latin Express

Mariachi Espuelas de Plata (North Side High School)

QUIMIKOZ

Tejano Outlaw Band

Tejas Brothers

Metal Band

Iron Jaw

One-Eyed Monsters

OZONE

Prophecy TX

Rotting Corpse

Pop Artist

Big Heaven

Darstar

Hayden Miller

Simone Nicole

Phantomelo

Producer

Clint Niosi (Orange Audio)

Rodney Parker

Mark Randall & Nick Tittle (Blackstone FW)

Jordan Richardson

Taylor Tatsch

Punk Band

A Dangerous Affair

Itchy Richie & The Burnin’ Sensations

LABELS

Mean Motor Scooter

Toxic Madness

Regional Act

Flickerstick

Grant Morrison

Carlos Ramos

Sunny Disposition

The Wee-Beasties

Rock Band

Black Tie Dynasty

The Me-Thinks

Quaker City Night Hawks

Royal Sons

Trauma Ray

Singer-Songwriter

Rachel Gollay

Keegan McInroe

Gabby Minton

Garrett Owen

Hannah Owens

Sound Engineer

Clay Anderson

Blake Barker

Brian Garcia

Mark Randall

Peter Weirenga

Tribute Band

Bikini Whales

Chasing Rent

The Dick Beldings

Guttersluts

Poo Live Crew

Video

“Let It Ride” (Denver Williams & The Gas Money)

“People Make a Place” (Henry the Archer)

“The Stupid Way You Breathe” (The Flying Beets)

“Trainwreck” (Broke String Burnett)

“Wrong Direction” (Vintage Yell)

Female Vocalist

Lisa Hardaway (Darstar)

Claire Hinkle (Tiny Giants)

Ginny Mac