8th
Annual Texas Music Awards, Marshall, TX
In
the early morning hours of May 15 we started our convertible and enjoyed the
five hour drive to Marshall, TX. Despite a rather negative forecast, the weather
was nice and stayed that way all weekend.
The team of Lucky and Jinelle Boyd had again found a very suitable venue for
their 8th Annual Texas Music Awards. The Marshall Convention Center
was a perfect match to a perfect show. The TMA are no award show like others.
Containing considerably more live performances by nominees, it’s sort of a
multi artist concert event mixed with
After
I talked to Lucky Boyd last year, I wanted to hear some background from his
partner and wife, Jinelle, this time. Among other duties, she is the Co-Founder
of My Texas Music (mytexasmusic.com), the Producer of the Texas
Music Awards (texasmusicawards.org) and the Exececutive Director of the
Academy of Texas Music (see academyoftexasmusic.org).
JB: We ask ourselves that question every year,
especially when the bills come rolling in. We do what we do simply because
it must be done. When Lucky was active in his own music career, we ran into
many roadblocks trying to get his music noticed. No one seemed to want to
help without asking what was in it for them. That lack of support for independent
musicians lead us to create MyTexasMusic.com. Many people think we’re foolish
as we really do fund the majority out of our own pocket (from Lucky’s day
job). It would be nice if one day this work would create an income. But we’re
blessed to have a roof over our heads, food in our bellies, and great passion
for the music of Texas. Lucky is not only my husband, but my partner and best
friend, and someone I genuinely love to spend time with. Every day we know
that we’ve done everything in our power to help making the Texas music world
a better place.
BM:
How and where did the idea to start the Texas Music Awards develop?
JB: In 2003 we had around 150 members on the
retail site, MyTexasMusic.com. We would sit in our little office
and talk about the incredible music out there. It was such a shame that the
whole world couldn’t hear what we heard. So we wanted to publicly recognize
some of these talented musicians. Having listened to every song on every CD
that we carried on the website, we created award categories, selected nominees
for each one, and then put them in our newsletter. We chose the recipients,
and (laughing) mailed them a paper 
certificate.
But it was way too much pressure for just the two of us to make those decisions
alone. So we created a Voting Board, which would consist of anyone who had
previously received one of our awards. It made the vote one of peers, which
is important. The next year we gathered up a handful of fellow members, met
them in a bar, and pitched the idea of putting on a physical showcase. We
had zero budget and they laughed at us. But we were pulling off the first
show that next year in a Houston bar, and it was fantastic. We knew we now
had to keep going, so we decided it had to keep getting bigger and better
every year.
BM:
What’s the strangest / weirdest thing that happened to you during any of the
award shows?
JB:
Our vision was of the “big” award shows. We didn’t just want musicians coming
up to an open spot on the carpet in the back of the bar. We wanted to 
be
able to set up the bands behind a curtain while awards were presented in between
the acts. The bar only had a small lifted platform being “the stage”! So we
lended a long pipe that we constructed as a curtain rod. Another bar actually
lent us a curtain and we bought cheap curtain rings to make it fit onto the
pipe. The morning of the awards show, we discovered that the curtain wouldn’t
slide across the bar. In an act of desperation, we sent someone back to the
bar’s kitchen to find a stick of butter. We greased the bar, and the curtain
was sliding effortlessly. After the show, which was a huge success, we decided
that from then on, every year, someone would need to bring a stick of butter
as our good luck charm. The general public never knows that underneath the
stairs to any stage we’re on, lies a stick of butter on a plate!!
BM:
If Texas Music would continue to integrate with the Nashville sound (there
are some examples), what do you think would happen?
JB: A gigantic rip in the time/space continuum
that would send us all hurling back to the future.
BM:
If you could change the music industry what would your priorities be?
JB: To get radio stations back to the way they
were fifty years ago. No big corporate pencil-pushers determining what is
played on the air. You hear the same handful of songs played over and over
on these major radio stations. Money controls the airwaves. Knowing Texas
Music, this is very discouraging because this music is equivalent or superior
to most of what’s being played today. That’s one of the reasons we created
the Broadcast Radio Station and Internet Radio Station of the
Year awards - to encourage 
stations
to show willingness listening to and playing local and new artists The Disc
Jockey award is similar. The Performance Rights Act, which would
hit radio stations with performance royalty fees, 50% of which would go to
record labels rather than performers is a new situation with very heated arguments
for and against. I just long for the “good old days” when a motivated artist
worked hard to get airplay and got it because he or she was good – not just
connected.
BM:
If an alien would land in Texas, what advice would you give him?
JB: Keep your nose clean, plant a garden, eat
some killer brisket, explore the vast awesomeness (is that a word?) of this
great state, and have an open mind when it comes to music. I would remind
him that he is in TEXAS – and that as such, he is part of a large, fantastic
new family.
BM:
What is your favorite song and why?
JB: That’s kind of like asking which of your
children is your favorite! I don’t have one. I like everything from bluegrass
to psychedelic sixties rock. But any song where the vocalist’s passion is
evident and where the song touches me in a personal way – that’s what I tend
to gravitate toward.
BM:
Which three things would you take with you if you strand upon a lonely island?
JB: My Zune full of great music and batteries,
a loaded Swiss army knife with all the options, and a pen and paper. That
way I can be comforted by great music and sing to my hearts content (since
no one could hear me!), be able to build a hut, cut down some coconuts for
dinner, remove a splinter, and start a fire, and be able to write songs, as
I’m sure I would be inspired to do. Let’s see, how about “I’m aloooone
on an island, no one else in sight…I’m sunburned and I’m lonely – wonder what’s
for dinner tonight?” (laughs).
BM:
If you were to interview Jinelle Boyd, which question would you ask her that
I did not ask?
JB: I would ask her how she thought she could
do better in her quest to realize the mission of the non-profit Academy of
Texas Music. And I’m pretty sure she would answer that it takes a village.
There are so many people out there who say they are big supporters of Texas
music and the musicians who create it, which is wonderful. But if they could
show their support in other ways, such as finding out how they can help make
a difference through the Academy – then I’m sure her job would be much easier
Now to the winners of this year's awards. These are:
•
Male Vocalist of the Year: David Fenley (of Poor
J. Brown)
• Female Vocalist: Christen Sawyer
• Vocal Duo or Group: Shake Russell Trio
• Rising Star: Mark Allan Atwood
• Musician: Big John Mills (guitar)
• Producer: Ryan Murphey (for Buckaroo Bluegrass
with Michael Martin Murphey)
• Live Band: The Captain Legendary Band
• Song: Find Your Shine (Kevin Higgins)
• Singer / Songwriter: Robert Frith
• Record: Utopia (by John Arthur Martinez)
• Album: Tommy (by Thomas Michael Riley)
• Entertainer: Pauline Reese
• Disc Jockey: J.B. Cloud (KBCY 99.7 FM, Abilene)
• Broadcast Radio Station: KPFT 90.1 FM, Houston
• Internet Radio Station: Radio Free Texas
• Artist Excellence: David Lutes
• Palmwood Award: Grady Lee
Go and google these artist's pages on myspace or their websites and listen to some great music. You will understand why Texas Music is considered different.
Shortly
after 6pm, the legendary B.J. Thomas opened his one hour concert with many
medleys from his heyday and some of the top hits in full length. The
68-year old had enough energy to run this one hour show after presenting on
and off during the entire afternoon. Respect.
Some remarks for the Taylor-Swift and Lady-Antebellum-generation of country fans. B.J. Thomas started his career in 1962 with a cover of Hank Williams’ classic I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry. Since Thomas mostly was into rock music back then, his father playfully noticed ahead of a concert: “If You ain’t playing a country song out there, you don’t even think of coming back home.” Well, the audience loved it and Thomas got in contact with New York’s Scepter Records, where Dionne Warwick was under contract at that time. She introduced Thomas to producer Burt Bacharach and the Hit Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head was the result. After some ups and downs, Thomas landed his number 1 hit (Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song. Like many of these days, the song was successful in both, country and pop charts. Several Gospel Grammy awards followed over the coming years until in the early 80ies, Thomas landed several more top hits in the country charts. Two of them were Whatever Happened To Old Fashioned Love and New Loooks From An Old Lover.
Another successful Texas Music Award show with a legendary host. We are curious who’ll present the TMA in 2011. Lucky and Jinelle Boyd will most probably excel themselves again and come up with some great name. Thank you for again having us. See y'all next year.