ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR nominees

Okay... so somewhere along the line I missed a day this week. LOL So today I'm shining the spotlight on the last two nominees for Texas Music Awards Entertainer of the Year.

john Arthur martinez- jAm to his friends - is one of the most easy going/ hard working/ down to earth people I've come across in this business so far. Then we add he is humble and diplomatic and a family man. Is it any wonder he is in this category alone for the FOURTH time, first winning the award back in 2006.

jAm has been on the nominees list for various awards nine times counting his three nominations this year. A quick recap, those three would be: Song of the Year for Tennessee Left Texas, Popular Cover Award (for his rendition of the Merle Haggard classic, Sing Me Back Home) and Entertainer of the Year.

I send Good Luck and Country Blessings!





Pauline Reese is one of my favorite ladies in Texas Music today. Why? Because this woman personifies the 'I Can Do It All' attitude. She is a doting mother, a country wife, a talented singer, songwriter, performer. Geez. The woman can cook, garden, take care of the critters and love on her babies... all while fresh lyrics run through her head. When we chat on twitter, I can hear the 'happy' in her voice. I can't wait for the day when we actually get to sit and talk.

In the mean time, let's talk about her music accomplishments as they relate to the Texas Music Awards. Since her debut on the Awards list in 2006 when she debuted as a nominee for Record of the Year with Cowboy Way - The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, Pauline has been nominated NINE times. PLUS in two different years (with 2 separate producers - John Burris and Justin Pollard) her albums resulted in Producer of the Year nominations for John and Justin respectively. John for 'TOO TEXAS -Live at Cherry Ridge" and Justin in 2012 for "Just Getting Started".

With all those nominations, she has three wins to her credit... including the honor of being the first FEMALE Entertainer of the Year - (2010)  Tomorrow, Pauline Reese will serve as Grand Marshall in the Texas Music Awards parade through Linden.

I send Good Luck and Country Blessing!

Linden TX is going to be one happening town tomorrow. Wish I could be there. Will you? Please stop and leave comments for any of our artists. I should have the complete Winners List posted Sunday morning.

Congratulations to all the nominees and Good Luck at the Music Barn and the Texas Music Awards!
Country Blessings - Kelly

The Winners!

Well, in my book nominated or not, you're a winner for all you do to support and showcase Texas music.

That said, the 10th Annual Texas Music Awards took place last Saturday in Linden TX... the official home of the Texas Music Triangle. Aside from an awesome line-up of nominations, there was plenty of great music to be heard. The links below will take you to the artists' webpage. In some cases, you'll also have a link to their My Texas Music page where you can listen to snippets of their music and order their albums. You can also go to My Texas Music, look up the artist by the alphabetical list and it will take you to their MTM page.

Here are the award recipients this year:

Male Vocalist: Dave Fenley

Female Vocalist: Pauline Reese

Duo of the Year: ShAnnie

Vocal Group: Brad Dunn and Ellis County

Rising Star Award: Brad Boyer

Band Musician: Coby Tate (guitar) for his performance on 'There is No Fun in Funeral'

Studio Musician: Brad Davis - multiple instruments

Live Band: Sammy Fox and The Intervention

Song of the Year: Monahans (Justin Haigh- People Like Me)

Singer/ Songwriter: Michael Hearne

Record of the Year: All My Best Friends (are behind bars) Justin Haigh

Album of the Year: Good to See You (Scotty Thurman & The Perfect Trouble Band)

Entertainer of the Year: Pauline Reese

Disc Jockey: Roark Smith (KPFT-90.1 Houston)

Broadcast Radio Station: KHYI 95.3 The Range - Dallas TX

Popular Cover: "Minnie the Moocher" (off High Price of Low Livin) Randy Brown

Award of Distinction: Learning as I Go- Michael O'Neal

Artistic Excellence: Jean Synodinos, Casey Hubble, Lou Ann Petty

Historical Significance: Jim Stricklan

My Texan: Mark Allan Atwood, Brian Kalinec

Palmwood: Dillon Steen

Gone to Texas Award: Slim Bawb

Congratulations to all the nominees! A BIG Texas Thank You to everyone who played a part in making sure the 10th Annual Texas Music Awards was everything it should be and more.

I'll be off the next couple of weeks spending time with my granddaughter but will be back here on April 16th to kick off spotlights on some of the artists we didn't get to meet prior to the TMAs.

Country Blessings!

Today's the Day!

Good morning, everyone!

Today's the Day! The Texas Music Barn as well as the Bowie- Cass stage on the corner of Kaufmann and Rush streets on the square, and the Tin Star Stage will be showcasing awesome Texas talent and handing out awards.

Pauline Reese has already been tweeting. You can hook up with Pauline or John Arthur Martinez on twitter. I'm sure they'll be keeping us posted on the day's events.

If you're lucky enough to be attending the festivities today, I'd appreciate tweets. Circumstances beyond my control prevent me from attending this year, and I'm pretty bummed. So I'm counting on all of you to make me feel as if I'm there!

Good Luck to all of our nominees and we'll see you Monday with the results

Country Blessings!