The 1997 Dallas Observer Music Awards

In the meantime, though, Boyd continues to refine his talents, collaborating with Austin's Monte Warden, and has had one of his own tunes covered by a major-label artist. Jack Ingram selected "Flutter" for inclusion on his debut Livin' or Dyin' CD, produced by Steve Earle. Obviously, Boyd's days as chauffeur to the schoolkids are numbered.

--Rick Koster

Brutal Juice
Nominated for: Metal
Brutal Juice died on February 22, 1997, after struggling with creative fatigue. "We suddenly came to this realization that there wasn't any point in going on," says bassist Sam McCall, recalling the day when he, lead singer Craig Welch, and lead guitarist Ted Wood accepted the passing.

Brutal Juice was born five years ago in Denton, signed with Interscope, and toured the United States and Europe, opening for acts like GWAR and the Toadies.

The label, McCall says, didn't know what to do with the band, but the cause of death was not Interscope. "We'd been [playing] for so long, and not a whole lot was coming from it," McCall explains. "We were becoming bored with the limited scope of Brutal Juice; it just got old."

Brutal Juice is survived by Ted Wood, who plays trumpet for Dooms U.K. and teaches guitar; drummer Ben Burt and guitarist Mike Gibson, now donning jumpsuits for the Tomorrowpeople; and McCall, who contributes to the band 357 Lover and the "white-trash parody" group Cornhole.

--Howard Wen

Buck Jones
Nominated for: Most Improved Act; Female Vocalist (Gabrielle Douglas)
Buck Jones combines seemingly incompatible influences--emotive noise like that of Swervedriver and Medicine, Pixies-ish power pop, Wilco-like currents of alterna-country, and the dual vocals of Burette and Gabrielle Douglas that sometimes recall X. Each of the 11 cuts on the band's 1995 debut independent CD, Shoegazer, is a disparate entity, as if created through different processes. But during four years, the myriad directions of Buck Jones have fallen into place like planets finding their proper orbits.

Gabrielle's sweet voice is the most accessible of those spheres. That she also is adorable--bobbing back and forth on stage while fingering simple bass lines--is no small part of the band's overall appeal. But the contributions of each member are essential to the group's shifting balance.

Last year Buck Jones distributed a three-song demo of new material; it got some local radio play, and Shoegazer was reviewed in Billboard. The band was courted by several major labels before signing to Dallas indie steve records.

--Alex Magocsi

Cafe Noir
Nominated for: Avant-Garde/Experimental
Cafe Noir is probably destined always to wear the Avant Garde/Experimental label. That's the lot of an ensemble that defies convenient categorization--no one ever knows quite what to make of them. The band is forever reinventing itself, not from some manic drive to find a popular niche, but the wish to make good and different music.

The music of Cafe Noir has a gestalt that comes from immersion in their whole artistic conception. Their music might be occasionally unfathomable, but it's always interesting and unique.

--Arnold Wayne Jones

Shelley Carrol
Nominated for: Jazz
Tenor saxophone player Shelley Carrol--along with Earl Harvin--has been anointed by local media as the living representation of the next generation of Dallas jazz. Oh, sure, there are others of perhaps even more skill, or more gigs, or more of any other yardstick, but Harvin and Carrol are the deserving poster children.

A UNT jazz student from Houston, Carrol stood out early among a talented bunch; his senior year (1989), he was playing with the Duke Ellington Orchestra, skipping Friday classes to make the Orchestra's weekend gigs. The DEO--a mixing bowl of generations and styles, old- and new-school jazz--was perfect for Carrol, who has a similar remarkable ability to assimilate styles. With a tone that is every inch "Texas tenor" (he hung around with Illinois Jacquet as a lad in Houston) yet still completely up to date, Carrol is obviously one of the messengers who will carry jazz into the next millennium.

--Matt Weitz

Centro-matic
Nominated for: Single Release (Forget the Sixth Step); Songwriter (Will Johnson)

Even before Funland broke up, Will Johnson was working on Centro-matic, his one-man lo-fi concept. The first official releases, The Transistor EP and Forget the Sixth Step, both seven-inches, feature cuts he'd recorded alone in his kitchen on a four-track, and show Johnson to be a songwriter with a talent so pure it shines even brighter in its rough setting. His songs mix short, addictive hooks with an absurdist sensibility, throwing everything--rough guitars, hyper-kinetic drums, his distinctive harmonies, even an accordion--at the wall. It sticks. Now that Johnson's had a chance to put some of these tunes on his new full-length album, Redo the Stacks, he's confirmed that even solo, he's still worthy of our attention.

--Scott Kelton Jones

Comet
Nominated for: Most Improved Act
Lately the word "post-rock" has been getting around a lot, usually as a compliment. It is applied to bands that use traditional rock instruments without typical song structure and presentation. In that sense, Comet is a splendid post-rock band: They use guitar, bass, and drums, but the noise they make is much more.

"Rocket Flare," the opening track of their major-label release Chandelier Musings, owes a lot to the Flaming Lips. In different times, it could have been a fine pop song; now it lurks beneath a cloak of droning noises and weird effects not conducive to pop, an MO that continues through the album. Chandelier Musings should make every North Texas music fan proud--this is not your typical pop-rock album, and Comet is not your typical pop-rock band.