Ok people-- I'm sure you've all been fantasizing about this for months now, so I'll just tell you-- we're doing awards again.  The first year we tried them (2006), we had about 80 people cast their votes by replying in a comments section.  Last year, we got fucking fancy and decided to craft our own online ballot form, allowing for more than a 1000% increase in votes, thus annoying everyone more than ever before.  This year, we're doing something similar, but since we now dominate the music scene to a degree that no one ever anticipated, we're expecting this to be a real pain in the ass to count.

Just kidding. Kind of. We actually enjoy doing these things, and the only rational reason we have for doing them is that we are interested in what the more educated local music consumers think about our scene, and we think a lot of those people read and participate in this website, love it or hate it. We think this is a good opportunity for people to speak up about the music they like around here without dude bro Myspace bulletins and 1100 Springs getting in the way, and we hope that all of you take advantage of it.

But before you run off to vote, let me tell you a couple things first:

1.  Like last year, we will not permit anyone to vote more than twice within 15 minutes, nor more than 3 times in one day.  And how would we enforce such a rule, you ask?  Just trust me, we have a sure fire way of weeding out excess votes in a matter of seconds.  Just ask Matthew and the Arrogant Sea!

2. Other than that, you can vote however you'd like-- one category, all categories, whatever.  And you won't have to go through any bullshit registration to vote.  Just click on the link and get to it.

3.  And before you say it, the answer is YES, we do realize that some of the categories are problematic.  Coming up with a set of categories that are appropriately inclusive and as mutually exclusive as possible is a real pain, and we did what we could to make these categories as clear and as fair as we possibly could.  Of course, we're open to criticism and suggestions, but just know that we're aware of the imperfections of awards like this.  

4.  This year, we will NOT being having an Awards Party like we did last year, however, we do have some exciting things planned in connection with these awards, and we'll tell you all about our them after the awards are given out.  Which leads me to my final point:

5.  You have TWO WEEKS from this very moment, Thursday September 11th at 1249 AM, to vote.  At that point, voting will be shut down and we'll start counting them up. Here are the categories and the link to the ballot:

1. Best Band Overall
2. Best New Band (must have emerged in roughly the past twelve months)
3. Best DJ
4. Best New DJ
5. Best MC/Hip Hop Artist
6. Best Noise/Avant Garde
7. Best Metal (all sub genres)
8. Best Punk/Hardcore/Grindcore/Garage
9. Best Folk/Experimental Folk
10. Best Indie Pop
11. Best Solo Artist
12. Best Local Album or EP from the past 12 Months
13. Best Local Single from the past 12 Months (does not have to literally be a single)
14. Best Vocalist
15. Best Guitarist
16. Best Bassist
17. Best Drummer
18. Best Instrumentalist who doesn’t play guitar, bass or drums
19. Most Underrated Band
20. Best Live Show (Band, Solo Artist or DJ)
21. Best Use of Artwork (Either live or coinciding with record releases)
22. Best Sound Guy (or girl)
23. Best Promoter or Booking Agency
24. Best Local Spot to Record Music
25. Best Dressed Band
26. Worst Dressed Band
27. Worst Band Name
28. Best Local Music Journalist (OMG guys, thanks for thinking of us but we don’t count in this category)
29. Best We Shot JR Commenter
30. Best Local Music Blog Not Owned by A Major Media Corporation and Fine Line and that Phoreladelio or Whatever Don’t Count
31. Slimiest Scenester
32. How Old Were You When You Realized that D Magazine Actually Covers Local Music Better than the Dallas Observer?
33. Best Good Ol’ Fashioned Songwriter

Ballot

* Don't worry... we won't call anyone out in relation to item #31.