Today we learned the nominees for the 60th annual Grammy Awards, airing Jan. 28 on CBS, and far from representing a change in this pattern, the list of nominees seems to bear even more local artists than usual.
For one, Kelly Clarkson and Morris are back. Clarkson is up for an award for best pop solo performance, and Morris is a contender for best country solo performance."
Rap and R&B artists Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar, Bruno Mars and SZA will likely be the most decorated this year, but amid their wealth of nominations, there are some other local names whom you may not immediately recognize, such as producer J. White Did It (responsible for Cardi B's breakout single, "Bodak Yellow") and Jazzmeia Horn, a Booker T. Washington High School grad who's up for best jazz vocal album.
The North Texas musicians who made the cut:
Kelly Clarkson
From Fort Worth
Best Pop Solo Performance — "Love So Soft"
Cardi B, J. White Did It
Dallas native J. White Did It produced Cardi B's "Bodak Yellow"
Best Rap Performance — "Bodak Yellow"
Best Rap Song — "Bodak Yellow"
Miranda Lambert, Jon Randall
Lambert is from Lindale, 90 miles outside Dallas; "Tin Man" songwriter Randall is a Dallas native
Best Country Solo Performance — "Tin Man"
Best Country Song — "Tin Man"
Maren Morris
From Arlington
Best Country Solo Performance — "I Could Use a Love Song"
Jazzmeia Horn
A Dallas native and graduate of Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts
Best Jazz Vocal Album — A Social Call
John Beasley
Got his break writing for UNT's jazz band
Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album — MONK'estra Vol. 2
Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella — "Ugly Beauty/Pannonica"
MercyMe
From Greenville, 45 miles outside Dallas
Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song — "Even If"
Best Contemporary Christian Music Album — Lifer
Lisa Loeb
Dallas native
Best Children's Album — Feel What U Feel
Blanton Alspaugh
Produced Becoming Santa Claus for the Dallas Opera
Producer of the Year, Classical