We've been talking about Dell's Sound and Jury contest presently pitting two North Texas artists against each other for a spot on an illustrious Austin City Limits stage – a big deal, no doubt, for any emerging act. These bands have been campaigning for weeks to get to this point, and on September 30 will face off at Antone's in Austin for the final deciding performance.

In one corner we have Erin Austin, a Denton/Brooklyn/San Francisco treat whose powerful voice wraps around plinking, jazz-laced Americana instrumentation to create effervescent earthy tones in the manner of Eisley, Neko Case, and Jenny Lewis.

Granted, there are many singer-songwriters milling about festival stages these days, but for good reason. It was just a few years ago that dozens of female recording artists broke onto the scene as though there had been some sort of freak Kate Bush-cloning accident. Tori, Fiona, and even Regina all sounded like Kate Bush, but everyone seemed okay with that. We may be seeing similar reincarnations of June Carter Cash these days with the rise of folk, and once again, the festival circuit is embracing trends in female recording artists and letting these earthy-twangy gals play as much music as they wish.

That's the long and short of why I think Erin Austin would be a perfect fit on this year's Austin City Limits bill.

Then there's Andrew Tinker. He garners plenty of fans, generally of the 18-25 year old female persuasion, and he will likely continue to do so. He's smart enough to hire a kickin' band to back up his saccharine-sweet pop lyrics, and he himself is a driven, well-trained, and experienced musician. He is well-skilled at the art of self-promotion – almost to the point of qualifying as a politician. Tinker will, in all likelihood, win the contest and “make it.”

It reminds me of something Robert Gomez told The Guardian awhile back:

"There's only one thing," he says, "that you need to know about Denton. People come here because they're compelled to make music, not because they're compelled to make it."

I guess that's where the shoe falls for me. The pursuit of commercial success makes me nervous when it leaves the music devoid of passion and authenticity (this could of course be the snob obscurantist in me, or it could be that I have my ears on anyone representing our music scene). Tinker's a popular guy and he knows how to entertain a roomful of sorority girls and rally his avid fans to vote daily for this particular competition. They've even organized a party bus to head down to the final round of the competition to be sure to pack the place out with Tinker-belles. He'll probably win the competition. He has a pack of faithful followers, and they won't rest until he's on Grey's Anatomy and in a Neutrogena ad.

We'll find out September 30, I'll keep you posted.