Noise's Handy Holiday Local-Music Gift Guide

Katie Armiger, Believe: Winner of 93Q's "Best Country Singer in Houston" a couple years back, Sugar Land native Armiger, 17, immediately stands out from Nashville's current ingenue crop of Carrie, Taylor, Kellie, etc.: She's brunette. Believe doesn't quite do the same, particularly on its Martina McBride-like ballads, but Armiger shows real sass on "Jealousy" and "Break Yours First."

Mitch Jacobs, Jukebox Music: Mitch Jacobs's hard-bitten Americana contains none of the British trappings of his producer and label boss Freddy "Steady" Krc (see above). However, Dwight Yoakam, Joe Ely (the Spanish-tinged "Pretty Is") and Roy Orbison (a cover of "Sweet Dream Baby") are all present as Jacobs sometimes struggles to transcend his pedestrian beer-joint surroundings. However, he does strike country-jukebox gold with "For a While" and "Lady on the ­Barstool."

Runaway Sun, Runaway Sun EP: Fronted by singer-songwriter Andrew Carnavas, Runaway Sun answers the question "What if Pearl Jam unplugged and doubled the amount of blues in its music?" True, the world may not have been waiting with bated breath for that answer, but Carnavas's knack for female characterization ("Lily") makes this four-song EP a promising, if workmanlike, debut.

Web Slinging

Sharks and Sailors: www.sharksandsailors.com

Freddy Steady's Wild Country:www.steadyboyrecords.com

Moodafaruka: www.moodafaruka.com

Small Sounds:

www.thesmallsounds.com

Big Moe: www.myspace.com/wreckshoprecords

Hank Woji: www.hankwoji.com

Vicarious Me: www.vicariousme.com

Gnarls Nelson Reilly: www.myspace.com/gnarlsnelsonreilly

Katie Armiger: www.katiearmiger.com

Mitch Jacobs:

www.mitchjacobsband.com

Runaway Sun: www.myspace.com/runawaysunmusic

chris.gray@houstonpress.com