Big John and Little Joe

Last year we set a preliminary goal of 10,000 attendees and 100 bands, and we made big strides toward both. Mariachi, rockabilly, garage, regional Mexican, and various African, Middle Eastern and South and East Asian music categories could be added for next year, as could awards honoring the city's best radio DJ, record producer, recording studio, and also the Scenester of the Year, the musician or fan who has done the most to help Houston's scene thrive. Again, if you have any suggestions that would help us construct the perfect ballot, or if you want to be on the nominating committee, let us know.

One thing that we will definitely do next year is eliminate from contention all musicians who are not listed in the Texas Music Office's annual Texas Talent Register as living in the greater Houston area -- or those who cannot be reached routinely at a phone number with a 713, 281, 832 or 409 area code. The upshot of this edict is that musicians who once lived here but have moved to Austin or anywhere else will be barred from the ballot, except under special circumstances, such as Rodney Crowell releasing his Bayou City concept album The Houston Kid last year. (Under this decree, winners Shake Russell and Carolyn Wonderland likely would have been eliminated from contention this year. By virtue of his Houston label and management, Jesse Dayton would not.)

It's counterproductive for Houstonians to continue honoring people who have left us behind for what they consider to be the brighter lights and more bustling scene of Austin. Let's give the new crop of local musicians a reason to stick around. -- John Nova Lomax

Bob Ruggiero, Roger Wood and Craig D. Lindsey also contributed to this feature.

---

Songwriter of the Year, Best Male Vocalist, Local Musician of the Year

John Evans
"I don't believe it! I'm just an ol' country singer!" said a visibly shocked John Evans off-mike as he climbed the stairs to claim Local Musician of the Year honors and his third plaque of the night. The next day, he was still, as he put it, flabbergasted.

"This is just nuts," the deep-voiced singer said. "What a great deal. Just getting nominated four times tripped me out, but to win three…It's been nuts."

In a previous life, Evans was the greatest quarterback in Lamar University history and later a pro for the now-defunct New York/New Jersey Knights. If there's one thing quarterbacks learn, it's modesty -- otherwise the offensive linemen would allow that swell-headed punk who gets all the girls to be killed once in a while.

Evans has clearly carried that life lesson from the gridiron to the honky-tonk. "The main thing is I want to say thanks to my band," he says. "They turned everything around for me."

He's just getting started lauding his backers when there's a commotion in the background. "Hold on a second, someone's knockin' on my door," Evans tells the interviewer. "Oh, there you are," he says to whoever has arrived. "It's my band," he says, turning back to his acceptance speech. "They heard me talking about 'em and came on in."

Drummer Sean Raiford, lead guitarist Billy Beason and upright bassist Brad Jones are the grunts that Evans credits with leading him on his three touchdown drives this year. "They were young and inexperienced, but I could tell they were all real talented, and they've really done a great job of getting the stuff I was doing rockin'," Evans says of his band's evolution, noting that his previous band with "good buddy" Jack Saunders had sounded "too perfect and too clean."

"The band needed a nasty element to it, and that's what these guys brought to the table," Evans says, sounding very much like John Madden talking about the Washington Redskins' famed Hawgs of the late 1980s.

On the eve of the release of his long-awaited sophomore disc, Out of Control, the John Evans juggernaut will be exporting its Texas heat to cooler climes. The band has gigs set up in Nashville, Chicago, Milwaukee and New York. "But we didn't get to go to Virginia this time," Evans notes sadly. Virginia? Why sweat not going there? "A DJ up there flipped for us, and his station was playing our old record 90 times a week. We're huge in Farmville," Evans laughs. -- J.N.L.

Critic's picks:
Songwriter of the Year - Arthur Yoria
Best Male Vocalist - Greg Wood
Local Musician of the Year - John Evans