Hayes Carll to headline March 27 festivities at state-of-the-art Texas Music Theater in San Marcos

By Richard Skanse

(LSM March/April 2011/vol. 4 – Issue 2)

The ballots have all been cast, the venue’s set, the talent’s booked and the ceremonial red carpet is, at this very moment, being Hoovered and steam-cleaned. All that’s left now is the party itself, at which the winners of the 2011 Lone Star Music Awards will be crowned and allowed to drink from the sweet cup of victory, filled to the brim with the bitter tears of their conquered peers …

OK, we all know that’s not going to happen. But here’s something you can count on: This year’s Lone Star Music Awards are going to be the best ever. Scheduled for 7-10 p.m. on March 27 at the brand new Texas Music Theater in San Marcos (located right on the downtown square across from the court house), the show will feature performances by four of the evening’s nominees (The Trishas, Max Stalling (with Heather Stalling), Javi Garcia, and Lincoln Durham) and a headlining performance by LoneStarMusic Magazine cover artist Hayes Carll.

Oh, and the winning nominees won’t be the only ones going home with trophies, because we will also be giving away at least one guitar signed by all of the scheduled performers — plus as many other artists in the house that we can discreetly ambush with a Sharpie. And here’s the best part of the whole deal: Admission to the 2011 LoneStarMusic Awards is only … (drumroll) … $5! A limited number of VIP tickets will also be up for grabs. To find out how and where to get them, please visit LoneStarMusic.com and our Facebook page, Facebook.com/LoneStarMusic.

So who’s up for LSM Awards this year? Here’s a full list of our nominees:

Best Album
Austin Collins, Wrong Control
Javi Garcia & the Cold Cold Ground, A Southern Horror
Max Stalling, Home to You
Sean McConnell, Saints, Thieves, Liars
Turnpike Troubadours, Diamonds and Gasoline

Best Song
Randy Rogers Band, “Interstate”
Rodney Parker & the 50 Peso Reward, “Guitars”
Ryan Bingham, “Depression”
Sean McConnell, “Saint’s Heart in a Sinner’s Skin”
Turnpike Troubadours, “Every Girl”

Best Live Act
Kevin Fowler
Randy Rogers Band
Reckless Kelly
Tejas Brothers
Turnpike Troubadours

Best Male Vocal
Cory Morrow
Kevin Welch
Max Stalling
Randy Rogers Band
Sean McConnell

Best Female Vocal
Elizabeth Cook
Kristen Kelly
Patty Griffin
Terri Hendrix
The Trishas

Emerging Act
Javi Garcia & the Cold Cold Ground
Lincoln Durham
Rob Baird
The Trishas
Turnpike Troubadours

Musician
Brady Black (Randy Rogers Band)
Cody Braun (Reckless Kelly)
Corby Schaub (Ryan Bingham)
Lloyd Maines (Terri Hendrix, Max Stalling, Cory Morrow, others)
Roger Ray (Jason Boland and the Stragglers)

Songwriter
Alejandro Escovedo
Drew Kennedy
Ray Wylie Hubbard
Sean McConnell
Walt Wilkins

Album Artwork
Javi Garcia & the Cold Cold Ground, A Southern Horror (Artwork by Javi Garcia)
Mike McClure Band, Halfway Out of the Woods (Artwork by Javi Garcia)
Paul Thorn, Pimps and Preachers (Artwork by Paul Thorn)
Ray Wylie Hubbard, A. Enlightenment, B. Endarkenment (Hint: There Is No C.) (Artwork by Jason Wilbur)
Ryan Bingham, Junky Star (Artwork by Colin Gill)

Best Live Music Venue
Antone’s (Austin, TX)
Billy Bob’s Texas (Fort Worth, TX)
Cheatham Street Warehouse (San Marcos, TX)
Firehouse Saloon (Houston, TX)
Granada Theatre (Dallas, TX)
Gruene Hall (New Braunfels, TX)

The voting process begins with a poll of industry professionals (writers, DJs, producers, etc.), who are asked to nominate candidates for each of our 10 categories. Their votes were then tallied to determine the top nominees in each field. This year, a total of 79 different releases received at least one vote for “Best Album.” After we had our final nominees set, voting was opened to the public via our website, www.lonestarmusic.com. As of press time (a week before voting closed), we had received more than 4,200 ballots — a LSM Awards record. To prevent ballot stuffing, voters were allowed only one ballot per email.