2006 Fort Worth Weekly Music Awards

by Aaron Alfrey Mandlak

Well, last night marked Fort Worth Weekly's annual music awards banquet, where anybody who is anybody - or nobody, for that matter - in the Fort Worth area music scene came out to the Bass Performance Hall's McDavid Studio Sunday night to see if their band had won the coveted panther statuette. In case you didn't know, each winner of a band's respective category receives a four-inch tall trophy of a panther's head (ready and sure to chomp off the face of anybody who dares come near it that wasn't fortunate enough to win the cute little guy). And at this year's banquet all attendees were truly blessed as we were graced by the presence of the legendary Guns 'n Roses. Or at least some guys who came dressed as them.

Now I'll be honest, I came for one band and one band only. And that band was Cadillac Sky. I'm with fellow TexasGigs writer, Blair Lovern, on this one. They are one of the best bands roaming this fair country, albeit if they are quote unquote bluegrass. Don't hear the word"bluegrass" and automatically turn up your nose. I grew up listening to bands like Tool, Nirvana, Korn, and Deftones. I know what cool is. And believe me, these guys are cool. Just give them a listen and you might actually hear a little Tool lick in that banjo players picking. The man is top 25 banjo players in the world and he practices...to Tool. Who ever heard of that?! I know, that's why it's COOL!!!

Okay, so back to the awards banquet. (Needless to say, Cadillac Sky won the much sought-after panther for best Folk/Acoustic band--which is a title they fall under better than just plain ol' bluegrass). Local bred comedian, The Chinaman (aka Mark Britten), kicked things off by doing some humorous musical imitations of Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, and Metallica's James Hetfield, among others. It was initially a tough crowd to get to chuckling, but upon discovery that he probably had the best vocal chords in the room, he started gaining some respect, and the laughs soon followed after. (I do have to say he stayed on about five minutes past his welcome, though. And some of his jokes got a little old as well. But anyway, I digress.) First year nominee, The Greater Good, was the first band to play onstage, and from what I saw, they would have been my pick for the best New Artist category. They had a talented singer, strong lyrics, and a decent look to boot. It's too bad I didn't stay long enough to see if they won their category or not. I guess we'll just have to wait until the winners are announced to see who Fort Worthians voted as their favorite new artist of the year.

Overall, it was a great experience there at the McDavid Studio. It was a tad bit cramped I must say, but I've checked out how much it costs to rent one of those rooms owned by the Bass Performance Hall, and believe me, it ain't cheap. I think just the fact it was held at the Bass as opposed to the Ridglea Theater like previous years is saying a lot. With artists like Smooth Vega (who won the award for best Rap/R&B artist), you get a feel for what this annual awards ceremony can do for a young, striving musician. His acceptance speech I'm sure expressed the sentiment of more than just a few artists who were there in the room last night:

"When I was growing up, I heard people say I wouldn't ever amount to nothing. Well, I guess this proves...I'm worth something."

And that's why I was happy to attend an event that celebrates the heart of these impassioned young performers. Even if the prize is only an inelaborate four-inch trophy of a panther. It might be small, but hey, it's saying something.

Aaron is filming a documentary on Fort Worth-based Cadillac Sky.

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