Yes, it's that heady time of year, when local musicians, fans, and media types alike all swoon and pant in eager anticipation of the year's Houston Press Music Awards -- who will win the coveted "Best Experimental" award? Who will get snubbed, both by the voters and the indie-hipster elite? Who will be left crying on the red carpet with shiraz stains on their dress?

Okay, maybe it's not quite like that, and maybe the awards themselves don't mean a hell of lot to all who (or don't; us H-town types love the taste of sour grapes, don't we?) receive them, but the fact remains that the HPMA showcase is the coolest, most diverse, most entertaining festival-type thing we Houstonians currently have (sorry, Free Press/Westheimer Block Party folks; you'll get there, though, so keep it up!). I love wandering downtown on foot, bopping from bar to bar and band to band, hearing bands I've been meaning to check out for God knows how long, stumbling across amazing music I'd never heard of before, and mingling with spiky-haired punks and Downtown Pretty People alike -- and if I squint hard enough, H-town's downtown area almost starts to look like the downtown area of a "real" city, a place where people other than the homeless congregate and enjoy themselves. It's like our very own South by Southwest, minus the gotta-impress-the-label pressure, artiness (well, some of it, at least), and unwarranted hype.

To make things even sweeter, the HPMA showcase also happens to be a hell of a lot cheaper than SxSW -- 10 measly freakin' dollars. Yep, $10. On Sunday, July 29th, you can check out 50 or so of this city's best bands, singers, whatever, for a third of what it costs to fill up my damn car these days. Wristbands are on sale now, actually; normally you'd just buy 'em the day of, but apparently you can get now "advance" wristbands at Cat Walk (1431 Westheimer), $10 for one or $15 for two. If you're into getting things done early, you can also cast your vote now if you don't feel like filling in the ballot on the back of that big, sweaty guy who's got you mashed between a pole and the bar while an actual band's playing.

Now, for the lineup. Here's who's currently playing, as of the listing on the Houston Press site; my own personal picks are in bold (and man, is the 8PM slot gonna be rough...):

St. Pete's Dancing Marlin
4PM		EyeAgainst
5PM		Chrome 44
6PM		Sky Blue 72
7PM		Molly & the Ringwalds
8PM		Zydeco Dots
9PM		Sharks & Sailors
Slainte
4PM		Lee Alexander Band
5PM		Pride Kills
6PM		Jack Saunders
7PM		Insect Warfare
8PM		The Blaggarts
9PM		Arthur Yoria
Venue
5PM		Sean Reefer & the Resin Valley Boys
6PM		Snit's Dog and Pony Show
7PM		The Grit Boys
8PM		The Scattered Pages
9PM		Spain Colored Orange
Verizon Wireless Theater
7PM		The Mighty Orq
8PM		The Handsomes
9PM		The Dimes
10:15PM		Saliva
Bar Bollywood
4PM		Dizzy Pilot
5PM		Peekaboo Theory
6PM		Black Math Experiment
7PM		Paris Green
8PM		Tody Castillo
9PM		Fondue Monks
Grasshopper
4PM		Poor Dumb Bastards
5PM		Kemo for Emo
6PM		El Orbits
7PM		The Aqua Velva
8PM		O Pioneers
9PM		Bring Back the Guns
Hard Rock Café
5PM		The Jonx
6PM		Katie Stuckey and the Swagger
7PM		Miss Leslie & Her Juke Jointers
8PM		D.R.U.M.
9PM		Sideshow Tramps (form. Medicine Show)
Life Lounge
4PM		Trenchtown Texans
5PM		Wayside Drive
6PM		The Flaming Hellcats
7PM		The Wiggins
8PM		Ragged Hearts
9PM		John Evans
Livé
4PM		Allen Oldies Band
5PM		Whorehound
6PM		Opie Hendrix & the Texas Tall Boys
7PM		Dune, Tx
8PM		Satin Hooks
9PM		Million Year Dance
Mosaic
10PM		James Reed
10:30PM		Ethan Klein
11PM		Josh Dupont
11:30PM		Jessica Lazano
12AM		Ill Set
12:30AM		DJ Sun
1AM		DJ Red
Red Cat Jazz Café
4PM		The Octains
5PM		9 Volt
6PM		Cl'Che'
7PM		LL Cooper
8PM		Drop Trio
9PM		Karina Nistal
RocBar
4PM		Collective Hallucinatin
5PM		Deadbolt Zen
6PM		Deep Ella
7PM		Southern Backtones
8PM		Glass Intrepid
9PM		LoneStar Pornstar

Labels: H-Town News, Musical Crap, Things To Do

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