The 2014 Dallas Observer Music Awards Winners

There you have it, folks. Yet another Dallas Observer Music Awards has come and gone, and hopefully it was a memorable one. We laughed, we cried, we even had a prom. Between the crowning of our prom king and queen and the ambush performance of the End of the World Parade marching band, Tuesday night’s DOMA ceremony was as over-the-top as we could manage.

See also: The Best Dallas Concerts of 2014 The 20 Best Songs Ever Written About Dallas

But let’s not lose sight of all the wonderful musical happenings that have taken place over the past several days. On Saturday, we were treated to the DOMA showcase in Deep Ellum, which was the biggest one we’ve ever hosted: More than 60 bands showed up to play over seven hours of music at nine different venues. (We still have the bruises to show for it.) At the ceremony we got to enjoy a few encore performances from Sudie, Blue, the Misfit, Sealion, Goodnight Ned and Party Static.

Then there were the awards, the reason we do this whole crazy thing in the first place. This year we polled 150 local music experts to build the ballot, and more than 45,000 votes were received. As always, the DOMAs only tell part of the story; there will always be deserving bands whom we’d love to give awards to, but only a few of them — this year there were 43 categories — can be recognized. But the DOMAs aren’t so much the be-all, end-all of North Texas music as they are an excuse to celebrate and reflect on some of the things we love most.

As a reflection of the local scene and the tastes of local fans, this year’s winners are more than fitting. It was no surprise to see Sarah Jaffe come away with three awards this year, including “Best Song,” as she’s been a perennial winner in Dallas circles. Likewise with the Old 97’s, who edged out Jaffe for “Best Album” honors and nabbed “Best Alt-Country Act” as well as “Best Male Vocalist” for frontman Rhett Miller. A.Dd+ also continued to reign supreme as both an essential hip-hop act and a must-see live show with approval from the voting public.

Even the most cynical of observers would have to agree that the voters got things right. Take the González family, who have only continued to build their stellar reputation in 2014, and who picked up three awards. Or DJ Sober, the DJ who’s every other DJ’s favorite DJ, who won two awards. And of course there’s Party Static, who on Tuesday proved once again why their wild, calamitous music is so refreshing: it’s just plain fun.

Which is the point of it all. We can only live (and relive) prom so often. But DOMA rolls around every year, and the best part is its ability to surprise us — and our ability to surprise ourselves.

Best Album

Winner: Old 97’s Most Messed Up Blue, the Misfit Child in the Wild Buffalo Black REDPILLwondrland Goodnight Ned Goodnight Ned Sarah Jaffe Don’t Disconnect

Best Alt-Country Act

Winner: Old 97’s Madison King Quaker City Night Hawks Somebody’s Darling The O’s

Best Bassist

Winner: Aaron González Danny Balis Emsy Robinson Nigel Rivers Zack Busby

Best Blues Act

Winner: Jonathan Tyler Jason Elmore Lance Lopez Miss Marcy Steve James Trio

Best Country Act

Winner: Somebody’s Darling Eleven Hundred Springs J. Charles & the Trainrobbers King Bucks Madison King

Best Cover Band

Winner: The Rich Girls Dallas Uber Alles Panic Raised Right Men The Gorehounds

Best DJ

Winner: Sober Blake Ward Inzo TX Connect/Gavin Guthrie Wanz Dover

Best Drummer

Winner: Stefan González Grady Sandlin John Teague Jordan Richardson Matt Mabe

Best Electronic Act

Winner: Ishi Blackstone Rangers Cutter Datahowler Zhora

Best EP

Winner: A.Dd+ NAWF Bad Mountain Bad Mountain Bootyfade Bootyfade Buffalo Black REDPILLwondrland Moonbather Out of the Start

Best Experimental/Noise Act

Winner: Unconscious Collective Bludded Head Cutter Def Rain Orgullo Primitivo

Best Female Vocalist

Winner: Sarah Jaffe Amber Farris Lily Taylor Madison King Sam Lao

Best Festival

Winner: Homegrown Music & Art Festival Elm Street Music & Tattoo Festival Index Festival JMBLYA Spillover

Best Folk Act

Winner: Whiskey Folk Ramblers Bad Mountain Fox & the Bird Hares on the Mountain Jacob Furr

Best Funk/R&B Act

Winner: Larry g(EE) Bobby Patterson C2 (C Squared) Dezi 5 Sam Lao

Best Group Act

Winner: Goodnight Ned A.Dd+ Dark Rooms Grey Matter Sealion

Best Guitarist

Winner: Ryan Thomas Becker Chase Jowell Lance Lopez Nick Earl Stephen Ketner

Best Hardcore Act

Winner: Power Trip Drug Mountain In Memory of Man Modern Pain Wiccans

Best Jazz Act

Winner: Snarky Puppy One O’Clock Lab Band Shelley Carrol Unconscious Collective Yells at Eels

Best Latin/Tejano Band

Winner: Dustin Cavazos Mariachi Quetzal Mayta Revolucion Oi Supersonic Lips

Best Live Act

Winner: A.Dd+ Black Dotz George Quartz Party Static Sealion

Best Live Music Venue

Winner: Granada Theater Club Dada The Kessler Theater Three Links Trees

Best Local Music Compilation

Winner: I Love Ft. Worth Dreamy Soundz Group Therapy Vol. 2 Dreamy Soundz Jazz Confusion Hand Drawn Records Comp. Vol. 3 Pour Le Corps Compilations

Best Male Vocalist

Winner: Rhett Miller Brent Best Daniel Hart Larry g(EE) Sam Anderson

Best Metal Act

Winner: Mothership Baring Teeth Pinkish Black Power Trip Terminator 2

Best Mixtape

Winner: DJ Sober “Fly High” Grey Matter “Grey Matter Project” Snow Tha Product “Good Nights and Bad Mornings” Track Meet “Ynfynty Scoll Summer ’14” Tunk “No Meal No Deal”

Best Music Blog

Winner: Central Track Chan-Lo Gorilla Vs. Bear THRWD TooFresh Productions

Best Music Video

Winner: Blue, the Misfit “Trillionaire” Buffalo Black “War Paint” Home By Hovercraft “Lie in Your Bed” Son of Stan “Noxeema” War Party “Every Day I Bit the Hook”

Best New Act

Winner: Party Static CashMir C2 (C Squared) Moonbather Sudie

Best New Music Venue

Winner: Gas Monkey Bar & Grill RBC Two Bronze Doors Vagabond Vice Palace

Best Pianist/Keyboardist

Winner: Paul Slavens Chad Stockslager Daniel Creamer Scott Danborn Sean Kirkpatrick

Best Pop Act

Winner: Ishi Charlie B Larry g(EE) Son of Stan The Orbans

Best Producer

Winner: Blue, the Misfit Beau Bedford John Congleton Picnictyme Salim Nourallah

Best Punk Act

Winner: The Phuss Bad Sports Hex Cult Sealion Street Arabs

Best Radio Show/Podcast

Winner: “The Paul Slavens Show” on KKXT 91.7 “Cindy Scull Mornings” on KEGL 97.1 “Live from the Underground” on DeepEllumOnAir.com “Local Edge” on KDGE 102.1 “The Hardline” on KTCK 96.7

Best Rap/Hip-Hop Act

Winner: A.Dd+ Blue, the Misfit Buffalo Black Sam Lao The Outfit, TX

Best Record Label

Winner: Dallas Distortion Music CMG Gutterth Kirtland Pour Le Cours

Best Record Store

Winner: Good Records Bill’s Records Dead Wax Mad World Records Off the Record

Best Rock Act

Winner: Quaker City Night Hawks Goodnight Ned The Phuss The Roomsounds True Widow

Best Song

Winner: Sarah Jaffe “Lover Girl” Blue, the Misfit “Alive” Buffalo Black “War Paint” Old 97’s “Longer Than You’ve Been Alive” Somebody’s Darling “Bad Bad”

Best Songwriter

Winner: Sarah Jaffe C2 (C Squared) Daniel Hart Jordan Richardson Rhett Miller

Best Talent Buyer

Winner: Spune Intelligent Grind Moody Fuqua Parade of Flesh Tactics Productions

Best DJ Night

Winner: “Fresh 45’s” at Crown & Harp “Big Bang” at The Basement “Cool Out” at Crown & Harp “Glamorama” at Beauty Bar “Trillwave” at Beauty Bar

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