Best Album
Best Solo Act
Best Female Vocalist
The Body Wins, Sarah Jaffe
Sarah Jaffe continues to be on the lips of North Texas music lovers in 2012, with her second LP, The Body Wins, revealing a tougher, darker side to longtime fans, and certainly gaining some new ones in the process. This new evolution is exactly why she remains relevant in our cultural landscape and important artistically, as Jaffe seeks new collaborators to dig into the nooks and crannies of her creative mind. Fingers crossed she puts down the bass to pick up yet another new instrument to compose with, as many eagerly await the next chapter in this hometown favorite's evolution. Deb Doing Dallas
Best Song
Best Punk Act
"Wait for Us," Mind Spiders
Meltdown, the second full-length from Mark Ryan's Mind Spiders, is fortified with pop-punk-new-wave ballast, but single "Wait for Us" is its finest moment, three minutes of strong-arm robbery that ends in a sci-fi spin of guitar, chant and synth. Audra Schroeder
Best Blues Act
Jason Elmore
Elmore's 2010 debut, Upside Your Head, was produced by the legendary Jim Suhler and featured a wide array of blues styles all held together by sheer tough-guy bravado. Echoing moments from Stevie Ray Vaughan, Freddie King and even ZZ Top, Elmore's best songs aim for the gut and are rarely off target. Darryl Smyers
Best Roots/Americana Act
The O's
Given that Taylor Young and John Pedigo have managed to make the basic instrumental arsenal of banjo, pedal steel, kick drum and harmonica sound rich and rootsy is a testament to their talent, and the fact that they might be the most popular act in town. Kelly Dearmore
Best Electronic Act
Cutter
Duo Cutter are tentatively releasing an album on Dallas Distortion Music in the near future, but in the meantime, they've been slowly but surely gathering fans of their synth and drum war cry. Audra Schroeder
Best Experimental Act
New Fumes
Daniel Huffman's solo project New Fumes shows us he's just as at ease with the performance art components of his presentation as the aural ones. Projections, animal masks and his colorful pop-electronic compositions all work together to create an experience that is experimental, but never without context.
Deb Doing Dallas
Best Hardcore Act
Power Trip
Just the fact this category could've hosted a larger pool of worthy nominees says quite a bit about area bands that understand the nuance of a well-placed scream. Power Trip aren't a collection of angst-ridden youth spouting off about injustices, but if Riley Gale and crew had been active in the '80s, it's not hard to picture them in the middle of the action, if only because they would've been the ones causing the action.
Kelly Dearmore
Best Rock Act
The Breakfast Machine
After seeing this group at our Rock the Park event earlier this year, we knew they had the stage presence to rock beyond the park. March's A Pitch to the Wind finds them mixing pop, rock and a bit of funk, all propelled by singer Meghann Moore's golden pipes.
Audra Schroeder
Best Male Vocalist
Daniel Hart
Daniel Hart has a long history as one of North Texas' most unfailing supporting players for artists like St. Vincent and The Polyphonic Spree. His solo album, The Orientalist, is a lush piece of romance worth diving into. Hart's vocal deliveries are as nuanced as the compositions. Deb Doing Dallas
Best Pop Act
Burning Hotels
Burning Hotels took a minor gamble with their second record, last year's self-titled. Fusing some '80s pop elements to their post-punk style, masterminds Chance Morgan and Matt Mooty found themselves playing to even bigger crowds across the DFW area. Whether it was Trees, the Granada, Lola's or even the Winspear Opera House, the band has definitely made a positive impact and hopefully will deliver some great new music in 2013. Eric Grubbs
Best Folk Act
Hares on the Mountain
One of the best things about Hares on the Mountain is their ability to take you on a journey. Together, the six-piece group and its variety of instruments tackle subjects like death, drinking and camaraderie, and even when portrayed humorously, they still capture the essence of mid-century folk, updated for this modern life. Rachel Watts
Best Jazz Act
Yells At Eels
Trumpeter Dennis Gonzalez and his sons Stefan (drums) and Aaron (stand-up bass) recently played Trees as part of Index Fest, and picked up a handful of fans who'd likely never seen them. This is the power of a Yells At Eels performance. The trio's free-jazz excursions start at the base of the mountain and slowly wind their way up, until the altitude changes and you're out of breath. Audra Schroeder
Best Latin/Tejano Act
Mariachi Los Unicos de Greiner
"Los Unicos" means unique, and that certainly applies to this middle school mariachi band from Oak Cliff's W.E. Greiner Middle School Exploratory Arts Academy, led by founder Lupe Vargas-Garcia. Audra Schroeder