Spinderella, Paul Slavens and More to Host Dallas Observer Music Awards

This is it, folks. Tomorrow is the big day for the Dallas Observer Music Awards, our 27th annual celebration of the Dallas music scene. We rolled out the band showcase in Deep Ellum last Saturday, and now we'll be setting up at The Bomb Factory on Wednesday night for the awards ceremony, which will feature nominated bands performing cover songs in tribute to members of the infamous 27 Club — musicians like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Kurt Cobain, all of whom died at the age of 27.

Who will be handing out the awards? Well, funny you should ask. This year we've decided to round up a group of local celebrities, musicians and all-around music geeks to help. Six of them, to be precise:

DJ Spinderella of Salt N' Pepa and Fresh 45's
Paul Slavens, host of The Paul Slavens Show on 97.1 KXT
Ken Bethea of Old 97's
Eric Nadel, voice of the Texas Rangers
Corby Davidson, co-host of The Hardline on 96.7 KCTK
Paul Varghese, comedian and multi-time DOMA host
Joe Pappalardo, editor of the Dallas Observer

Spinderella, Slavens and Bethea need no introduction to local music fans thanks to their decades of performances both locally and nationally. Nadel and Davidson are both familiar radio personalities to sports fans and music fans alike, while Varghese has hosted the DOMAs the past three years. Pappalardo is our brand-new editor here at the Observer, and he's jumping right in with his first public appearance for the paper. Come out and say hello. Between the presentations, we'll have a selection of eight of the nominated artists performing songs:

Ishi (performing the Doors)
Charley Crockett (performing Robert Johnson)
The Outfit, TX (performing Jimi Hendrix)
Mayta (performing the Rolling Stones)
Dezi 5 (performing Amy Winehouse)
Rat Rios (performing Janis Joplin)
Pearl Earl (performing Nirvana)
The Vandoliers (performing Big Star)

The ceremony is a costume party, and we encourage guests to dress up as their favorite musicians — whether they are in the 27 Club or not — and be ready to party. To help that along, we'll have a selection of specialty cocktails, each named after members of the club, plus a mug shot-themed photo booth and other fun attractions.

Best of all, the ceremony is free (that means zero dollars) and open to ages 18 and up. It kicks off at 8 p.m. Wednesday and will last about two hours.