Grammys, shmammys. If any of us were still looking to hold the much-maligned Grammys in high esteem, the case got considerably weakened earlier this year when Macklemore no fewer than four awards, including beating out Kendrick Lamar's excellent good kid, M.a.a.d city for three of those. The whole thing is pretty well a sham. Right?
Well, to hell with that. Getting a Grammy nod is still pretty damn big deal, and as the academy rolled out their nominees for the 57th annual awards there were some notable Dallas-bred musicians included in the mix (not to mention a host of other Texans).
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Most prominent among the artists with Dallas ties was St. Vincent, whose self-titled record was nominated for Best Alternative Music Album. After the news broke, St. Vincent -- aka Annie Clark, who was born in Oklahoma and spent many years living in Dallas, including spending a stint with the Polyphonic Spree -- tweeted about the nomination:
I just found out I was nominated for a Grammy for Best Alternative Album! Wish I could deliver this news to my 10 year-old self. Amazing!
— St. Vincent (@st_vincent) December 5, 2014
The honors for St. Vincent extended beyond Clark, too: Noted local producer John Congleton, who also produced the new Swans album in 2014 and has worked with artists like Sarah Jaffe in the past, outside of his own noted work as a member of the Paper Chase Band, produced the new album. Congleton was a little more sanguine about things, if still gracious:
thanks 2 everyone w/ the kind words for @st_vincent @TheGRAMMYs nomination. annie & i worked hard to make something we thought was special.
— john congleton (@congletonjohn) December 6, 2014
Outside of St. Vincent, there was a further nomination for Edie Brickell, who of course was born right here in Oak Cliff and first made a new for herself in the '80s as the singer of the New Bohemians. Her nomination came for her collaboration with Steve Martin on his song "Pretty Little One" (from his album Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers featuring Edie Brickell Live), which was nominated in the Best American Roots Song category.
Slightly more tangentially related to Dallas was Eminem's nomination in the Best Rap Album category for his The Marshall Mathers LP 2. The lead track on that album, of course, was "Bad Guy," which was produced by North Texas producer S1 and featured a hook by none other than Jaffe.
Outside of Dallas, several other Texas artists were included in yesterday's Grammy announcements as well: Houston rapper Lecrae joins the Best Rap Performance crowd for his song "All I Need is You;" fellow Houstonian Beyoncé is up for no fewer than five awards, including Artist of the Year; Lee Ann Womack was nominated for Best Country Album, as was Miranda Lambert in addition to three other song-based categories; and Ruthie Foster, Eliza Giklyson, Kirk Franklin and Pentatonix are also up for nominations as well.
Of course, as for the likes of Jaffe and Congleton, they have some much more prestigious accolades to consider: the Dallas Observer Music Awards. (Whomp, whomp.) Jaffe is nominated in four categories, while Congleton is up for Best Producer. The Grammys probably make for nice a feather in the cap, though.
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