We’re getting ready to announce the nominees for the 2015 Houston Press Music Awards (soon), but first we’ve got some exciting information about the ceremony on Thursday, August 20 at War ehouse Live. After the awards are handed out — in close to 40 categories this year — it gives us great pleasure to announce that Hayes Carll will play a concert after the ceremony is over, absolutely free of charge.

Once upon a time, the Woodlands-raised Carll took home Best New Act at the 2002 HPMAs on the way to composing some of the best Texan-written songs of the 21st century: “Little Rock,” “She Left Me For Jesus,” “Bad Liver and a Broken Heart,” “Beaumont,” “Drunken Poet’s Dream” and lots more. Lately he’s been road-dogging it since releasing KMAG YOYO (and Other American Stories) in early 2011, which was named the Americana Music Association’s top album of the year among a number of other accolades, like American Songwriter’s Song of the Year (“Another Like You”) and Spin’s No 3 country/Americana album of the year (and No. 32 overall.) He also got divorced and parted ways with his label, Lost Highway, but told the Cincinnati Inquirer last week that he is preparing to record and release a followup by the end of the year.

“The material is probably going to be more personal,” he said. “Recording-wise it’s going to be much more of a singer-songwriter record, but I’m hoping to have a sonic theme throughout where it will truly be a record.”

Free tickets will be available at 10 a.m. Thursday, July 16 via Ticketfly, unless you belong to our HP Music newsletter community, in which case a special access code will be emailed to you in time for the one-week presale period lasting between 10 a.m. July 7 and 10 a.m. July 15. (Sign up right at the bottom of this article; you must register by July 5.)

Space will be limited at the ceremony, which starts at 6:30 p.m. Entry will be on a first-come/first-serve basis, and ticket does not guarantee entry. See HPMusicAwards.com for more information. Hope to see you there!