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Best Rock
Bowling For Soup

Best Songwriter
Jaret Von Erich

Pop? Certainly. Rock? Most definitely. Punk? A little. Emo? Yup. Even a bit of that's in there too.

So with pop, rock, punk, and emo stylings all mixed together, why does Bowling For Soup get to wear the crown of Best Rock Band for a full year? Simply put, they are just that good.

Their self-described sound of "pop-rock with loud guitars and three-part harmonies we can pull off live" is refreshing at a time when overproduced junk fills the "rock" sections of music stores everywhere. But maybe more importantly, the band's hard work, grueling tour schedule, and incredible live shows have helped Bowling For Soup become one of the area's top bands -- if not the top outfit.

One of the keys to the band's success lies in its simplicity. Musically, the group is not trying to break any rock boundaries. If anything, they steer themselves away from boundaries altogether and stick with the simple three- and four-chord arrangements that got Bowling For Soup where it is. Lyrically, they follow the same plan. Lead singer/guitarist and primary songwriter Jaret Von Erich's self-described "self-taught, borderline retarded" version of songwriting is perfect for the band. His almost comical approach to relationships gone bad is not only novel in the wake of a huge uprising in suicidal-ish emo songs, but intelligent enough to act almost as therapy for those with broken hearts. No matter how sad and disheartened you feel, Von Erich can always manage to bring a smile to your face with his lighthearted point of view.

While Von Erich's sincerity-filled songwriting can make the depressed feel a little bit better about themselves, a Bowling For Soup live show can make even the most uptight tight-asses chuckle. The boys in the band tell jokes about each others' moms or sometimes pretend that the power has gone out -- just as an excuse for them to take off their pants. It's a shtick that could go over well at improv night at the comedy club but one that also seems right at home in a place like the Ridglea. Without sacrificing a speck of musical credibility, Bowling For Soup will also take requests (from the Diff'rent Strokes theme song to Poison to Pink). Basically, if you haven't seen them live (and they play about 250 dates a year), you haven't seen rock 'n' roll in the Metroplex. --Vic Drabicky

Best Hard Rock
Baboon

Best Hard Rock: Baboon.

"Hard rock" is an interesting classification. Every angst-driven, dyed-black-top, Korn-worshipping teen in the world not only loves it, but for one reason or another, feels he should try his hand at it. Unfortunately, the result is far too often hideous. But every once in a while, a band like Baboon comes along and takes the easy-to-do-but-hard-to-do-well hard-rock genre to new levels of respectability.

Described as everything from "The Butthole Surfers meet The Cure" to "Henry Rollins meets the Beatles," Baboon has been wowing audiences for more than a decade with its trombone-infused version of hard rock, and shows no signs of slowing down.

Not only is the band's live show jaw-droppingly energetic, but its collection of top-notch releases leaves the group at the top of a very short list of respectable local hard-rock acts. Baboon's 25-minute, six-song 1999 release, We Sing and Play, remains one of the best local discs in the past five years. The group surprisingly found a way to seamlessly mix the headbanging insanity of its first release, Face Down in Turpentine, with the darker, more introspective moodiness of the band's 1997 cut, Secret Robot Control. In a couple of words: Brutally brilliant.

Whether it's crippling an audience with an energetic live show or being blown out of home stereo speakers, Baboon remain the area's top hard-rock act. --VD

Best Country
Eleven Hundred Springs

Steve Berg, who formed Eleven Hundred Springs with Matt Hillyer in 1998, describes the band as "straight-up country," which he said some listeners find weird because the members are on average only about 27 years old.

Straight-up country in this case means old-school honkytonk instead of Nashville pretty-boy pop. Berg's influences go deep: Buck Owens, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard. The band's sound is simple, really. It's classic country without the bullshit.

With four c.d.'s under their belt, Eleven Hundred Springs now depend mainly on originals to win over audiences; covers are few and far between. Soon they plan on recording new material, with Kim Pendelton of Vibrolux lending vocals on some tracks. (The link is no doubt Springs drummer Bruce Alford, who used to play in Vibrolux.)

Berg said the band was "pleasantly surprised" to win the award. "I didn't know you guys knew who we were," he said. For those who still haven't heard of Eleven Hundred Springs, Berg said they play about three times a week, everywhere from the Wreck Room to the Gypsy Tea Room and lots of places in between. If country is your bag, then catch them live or visit www.elevenhundredsprings.com for more info. --MS

Best Blues
Tony Dukes

Best Blues: Tony Dukes.

Tony Dukes may not be a familiar name to most, but the names of his friends certainly are. Over his career, Dukes has played with everyone from Stevie Ray Vaughn to ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons to fellow Fort Worth Weekly blues-award nominees Rocky Athas, Pops Carter, and Holland K. Smith. The guy has also opened for Muddy Waters and Son House. And as proprietor of Parker Music, he has sold guitars to Eric Clapton, Duane Allman, and the Eagles and served as chairman of Gibson's advisory board on vintage guitars.

Hell, the guy took legendary rock scribe Lester Bangs out hunting. He also worked with Ted Nugent, though he says he had nothing to do with the name of Nugent's early band Amboy Dukes; everyone assumes he did.

"I grew up in West Texas listening to Wolfman Jack's Black and Brown Soul Special, and got hooked on blues through Big Joe Turner and B.B. King," Dukes said.

Although he plays blues, rock, swing, and various Tex-Mex genres, Dukes said the early blues of Robert Johnson and Big Bill Broonzy remain his first loves. "I keep going back there because I think the first emotional transfer of any art form remains the truest and best," Dukes said.

Dukes appears regularly at the 6th Street Grill and Red Star Lounge, among other places. Catch his set of sweeet Texas blues. Afterward, if you're lucky, he may pass on a few stories from his rich musical past. Truly, a guy who's seen and done it all. --MS

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