Tyler Morning Telegraph

Red Carpet Award Show Brings Party To Palestine
January 13, 2008
 
By MEGAN MIDDLETON
Staff Writer

PALESTINE - Limousines, musicians and even a red carpet are expected to arrive in Palestine this May when the Texas Music Awards come to town.

It was announced Thursday that the Texas Music Awards would take place May 3 in Palestine at the 1,300-seat Palestine Civic Center, complete with live performances and an after party at another location in Palestine.

 
This will be the Sixth Annual Texas Music Awards, and Palestine is the fourth city to host the awards show, said Lucky Boyd, chairman of the board of the Academy of Texas Music Inc., the sanctioning body of the awards.
 
Other cities where the awards have been presented include Houston, Webster and Linden. There was not a show the first year of the awards.
 
The show has taken place in Linden the past two years, but Boyd said that, while that venue is beautiful, it's somewhat small and not as centrally located as they would have liked.

"While we had no problem selling out, we thought something a little closer to the middle of the state would be fabulous," he said. "The Palestine Civic Center really fit the bill for what we needed to do this year with the show. The people of Palestine have been great so far in helping us make the decision to have the show here this year."

Boyd and his wife founded the awards, he said. The awards were first given out in 2003, and the academy formed in 2005.

The awards are specifically for independent Texas artists.
 
"Most of them are unsigned," he said of the eligible artists. "None of them are signed to major labels. It was designed to give performing Texas artists that next rung on the ladder of their career - some recognition between local awards and the Grammys.
 
"At the Texas level, this is a great stepping stone for these artists. It also connects fans with music they might not otherwise get a chance to be connected to. There's so much great music that's being made that you don't always hear unless you're listening to the right radio station at the right time or happen to pick up the right CD."
 
He said there will be a lot of names Texas music fans have heard and a lot they have not at the TMAs.

What might knock out a larger star from being eligible for the TMAs is once 100,000 units of a particular CD have been sold, it's no longer eligible for the Texas Music Awards, Boyd said. Then, it's kicked into the Grammy category.

"That's what the TMAs are all about - it's bridging that gap between a massive amount of independent artists ,,, and the notoriety that they deserve," he said.

Categories of awards include Song of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year, Female Vocalist of the Year, Vocal Duo or Group of the Year, Producer of the Year, Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Entertainer of the Year, the Rising Star Award, Musician of the Year, Singer/Songwriter of the Year, Disc Jockey of the Year, Live Band of the Year, Broadcast Radio Station of the Year and Internet Radio Station of the Year.

"If you've ever watched an awards show on television like the Grammy's or the CMAs ... that's very much what this is like," Boyd said. "There's a lot of fanfare - there's a red-carpet entrance, all the nominees arrive by limousine, they get interviewed, there are awards given by presenters ..."

Peppered among the awards will be live performances, likely about 15 in a four-hour show, Boyd said.

"Your ticket gets you quite a show," he said. "It's an amazing spectacle. That's what the vision was from the very beginning."

The academy is a non-profit organization that raises money for scholarships and musician benevolence, Boyd said. He said the show is pretty much run by volunteers and funded by sponsorships.

Fans can nominate artists, artists can nominate themselves, industry professionals may nominate artists as well. The nomination process closes Friday.

Once the nominations are in, the nomination committee sits down with the likely 25,000 to 30,000 entries, weeding out anyone who is not eligible and does not meet certain requirements, including those who are not members of the academy.
 
Eventually, five nominees are selected for each category.

Winners are chosen based on different percentages of certain voting blocs.

The public's vote on the Web site accounts for 10 percent, while members' votes account for 20 percent. But the voting board, made up of past award recipients, accounts for 70 percent of the decision on who wins.

"When you receive one of these awards, it means that not only did your fans want you to be nominated, not only did members of the academy vote for you, but your peers - the very people who are out there every day and every night getting it done with you - they thought you were the best," he said.

The categories of Live Band of the Year, Broadcast Radio Station and Internet Station of the Year as well as Disc Jockey of the Year are chosen 100 percent by the public.

Boyd called it "the most prestigious day in Texas music."

"We have a lot of people who tell us after the show - 'I watch this show and it makes me want to put out a better album,'" he said. "Hearing that makes us think that in some small way we might be helping to improve Texas music just a little - and that makes us proud."
 

PALESTINE IMPACT
 

Boyd said the economic impact of the awards show to the region is "significant."
 
"The civic center holds about 1,300 people when it's full," Boyd said. "We fully intend to sell it out - probably 700 to 800 of the attendees, this will be their first visit to Palestine and their first visit to the region."
 
He said he expects the surrounding communities to benefit as well.
 
"The RV parks get filled up. Hotels get filled up, and a lot of dollars get spent," he said. "It's a significant economic impact to the region. We're proud of that."
 
Susan Cottle-Leonard, Pale-stine tourism director, said they were very excited Palestine was chosen.

"It's great for tourism," she said. "We expect to get a lot of people not just from around Texas, but from around the country."

There's been an emphasis on building the arts in Palestine, Ms. Cottle-Leonard said.

"This fits right in with what we're doing," she said.

Palestine Mayor Dr. Carolyn Salter was also pleased the show was coming to her city.

"I think it's incredibly exciting that Palestine is going to be star studded with music dignitaries," Ms. Salter said. "It's a wonderful thing for Palestine and another way for us to promote our city in a totally positive way across the state. I'm very excited about them coming."

She said the civic center, including the sound system, has recently been upgraded.

"This is coming at a great time - because we're ready for it," she said.

Ticket information is not yet available, but those interested may visit www.texasmusicawards.org for updates, more information on the event, past award recipients and to submit nominations.

 
The red carpet event on May 3 is set to begin at noon, while the show will start at 2 p.m. The after party, at a yet-to-be-announced location, will begin around 6 p.m.