2006 Dallas Observer Music Awards

Then there are the little things. Looking out from the stage and seeing Papa Erv in the audience more often than not. Knowing that he sends out mail orders twice a day even if only one order came in, because it bugs him that some kid in Oklahoma City is waiting to rock out to [DARYL]'s Ohio. Hearing your song on Degrassi: The Next Generation, Entourage or Room Raiders, or between bands on that little thing last year called Live 8. All of those things take time, effort and care. "There's a lot of people that come and go in the record business," Karvelis says. "You have to have a passion first and foremost. And you have to love music." It helps, then, that people love Idol right back. --M.M.

Gypsy Tea Room
Best Live Music Venue

Despite recent hand-wringing over the health of Deep Ellum, it's no surprise the Gypsy Tea Room won its category yet again by a comfortable margin. The club continues to draw crowds with its admirably eclectic booking, spacious ballroom and cozier-but-still-roomy tea room. A high stage, solid acoustics, competent sound engineers and bathrooms that are palatial compared to those in other Dallas clubs (and have you met those bathroom guys who sell mouthwash and gum? Nice touch!) help the Gypsy avoid the fate of its sister club, Trees, because it still books artists with fans willing to drive into Ellum and pay cover and parking any night of the week. Non-Ellum venues like the Granada and the Cavern are thriving in the decentralization of Dallas music culture and will likely make it a tighter race next year, but the Gypsy's booking clout (courtesy of Charles Attal Presents, the company behind Lollapalooza and the Austin City Limits Music Festival) should keep it in the competition for years to come.

Hip-hop, jam bands, scenester indie rock, folk, whatever--it's all here, and the club doesn't cater to any one genre at the local level, either. A wide array of name-brand local talent can frequently be seen onstage in both rooms (often opening for big-name headliners, as April Gypsy guests Salim Nourallah and the Drams can attest to), and the club has been the host of the best monthly DFW hip-hop showcase in town, Final Friday, for a long damn time as well. Dallas' music scene may not need Deep Ellum at its heart the way it once did, but it still needs the Gypsy Tea Room. --J.H.

Lizard Lounge
Best Dance Club

The black box on Swiss Avenue, standing tall since the days when people actually called dance music "techno," still pounds with electro-beats, halter tops and the occasional glow-in-the-dark accessory Thursday through Saturday. DJs of local and national notoriety (DJ Icey, Kelly Reverb, Paul Oakenfold, Mix Master Mike, DJ Merritt and others) still grace its darkly painted and intermittently lit interior. And the goths still come out on Sunday nights when the lounge becomes the Church (and 10 bucks says Shriekback's "Nemesis" is still the big crowd pleaser). Every now and then Ché Liz mixes it up with a Dita Von Teese cabaret show, a Fetish Ball or a Girls Gone Wild appearance, but basically, nothing really changes at the Lizard Lounge--which has to be the appeal. It's a multi-level dance club. It's consistently booked with popular DJs. It has under-21 admission and after-hours options. Oh, and the bathrooms, though we need an adventure guide and a machete to find them, are still quite tidy. --M.M.