Lone Star Grammy Noms

Texas artists score big in 2015 Grammy Award nominations

Texas was well-represented in the latest round of nominations for the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences 57th annual Grammy Awards. Beyonce, Miranda Lambert and Lecrae topped the list of 24 Texas-born or -based musical acts who earned 35 nominations for music released during the eligible period between October 1, 2013, and September 30, 2014.

Beyoncé's self-titled album Beyoncé earned nods for Album of the Year and Best Urban Contemporary album. The Houston pop star's single "Drunk In Love" (featuring husband Jay Z) was nominated for Best R&B Song and Best R&B Performance. She was also nominated for Best Music Film for Beyoncé & Jay Z: On The Run Tour.

Longview-born Miranda Lambert received four nominations, including Best Country Album for Platinum, and two nominations for the single "Automatic": Best Country Solo Performance and Best Country Song. She was also nominated for Best Country Duo/Group Performance for "Somethin' Bad" (with Carrie Underwood).

Houston's Lecrae earned three nominations, including Best Rap Performance for "All I Need Is You"; Best Gospel Performance/Song for "Help" (with Erica Campbell); and Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song for "Messengers" (featuring For King & Country).

Dallas-Fort Worth nominees
Dallas native Edie Brickell was nominated for Best American Roots Song for "Pretty Little One" (with Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers); Brickell and Martin performed in Dallas in October at the Winspear Opera House.

Dallas native and rising star St. Vincent was nominated for Best Alternative Music Album for her self-titled album St. Vincent. Her climb to fame got a major boost when she performed with Nirvana in April 2014 during their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Dallas-residing producer Tim O'Heir received a nomination for Best Musical Theater Album for Hedwig and the Angry Inch (with Justin Craig and Stephen Trask). O'Heir also was nominated for a Tony.

Arlington a capella group Pentatonix was nominated for Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella, for "Daft Punk."

Austin nominees
Austin artists include a team who worked on The Rise & Fall of Paramount Records, Volume One (1917-27): Dean Blackwood, nominated for Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package (with Susan Archie and Jack White), and Scott Blackwood, for Best Album Notes.

Ruthie Foster was nominated for Best Blues Album for Promise of a Brand New Day, and Eliza Gilkyson was nominated for Best Folk Album for The Nocturne Diaries. Craig Hella Johnson, conductor of Conspirare, was nominaed for Best Choral Performance for "The Sacred Spirit Of Russia."

Houston nominees
Robert Glasper Experiment received two nominations: Best Traditional R&B Performance for "Jesus Children" (featuring Lalah Hathaway and Malcolm Jamal Warner), and Best R&B Album for Black Radio 2.

Houston gospel acts included Aaron W. Lindsey, nominated for Best Gospel Performance/Song for "No Greater Love" (with Smokie Norful), and the Walls Group, for Best Gospel Performance/Song for "Love On the Radio."

Houston jazz musicians included Everette Harp (with Jeff Lorber and Chuck Loeb), nominated for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album for Jazz Funk Soul, and Jason Moran, nominated for Best Jazz Instrumental Album for All Rise: A Joyful Elegy For Fats Waller.

Texas-born legends up for Grammy Awards include Johnny Mathis, a native of Gilmer, nominated for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for Sending You A Little Christmas; Johnny Winter, originally from Beaumont, nominated for Best Blues Album for Step Back; and Jacksonville-born Lee Ann Womack, nominated for Best Country Album for The Way I'm Livin'.

Mariachi Los Arrieros Del Valle of McAllen were nominated for Best Regional Mexican Music Album (Including Tejano) for Alegría Del Mariachi. And Pepe Aguilar of San Antonio was nominated Best Regional Mexican Music Album (Including Tejano) for Lastima Que Sean Ajenas.

Two Christian acts received nominations as well. MercyMe of Greenville was nominated twice: for Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song for "Shake," and for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album for Welcome To The New. And Waco act Crowder was nominated for Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song for "Come As You Are."

The Grammy Awards air February 8, 2015, on CBS.

Grammy Award nominees Edie Brickell toured with Steve Martin during the summer of 2014.

Paul Simon, Edie Brickell, Steve Martin at Houston Symphony concert July 2014

Photo courtesy of Houston Symphony

Grammy Award nominees Edie Brickell toured with Steve Martin during the summer of 2014.

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Vinyl Record News

Dallas record store chain Josey Records spins new location in Garland

Josey Records

Vinyl at Josey Records

Dallas music maker Josey Records has extended its reach east: The record store chain, whose empire includes one of the largest single independent record stores in the U.S., has opened a location in Garland, at 1005 Northwest Hwy., at the intersection of Centerville Road, where it's selling its trademark assortment of vinyl records, CDs, cassettes, turntables, music posters, new releases, and music accessories.

This is the sixth location and the third in the Dallas area, joining the original in Farmers Branch which owners Waric Cameron and Luke Sardello opened in November 2014. They've since opened locations in Plano, Tulsa, Kansas City, and Vidalia, Missouri.

The original location is a giant place with 16,000 square feet devoted to vinyl, 45s, CDs, turntables, and T-shirts. They do a good job showcasing new releases and collector vinyl — they made CultureMap's list of 5 best places in Dallas to buy vinyl records — and are known to host album release and listening parties such as a recent blockbuster celebrating Linkin Park.

They made headlines in June 2020 when they acquired the vast musical inventory of Bill’s Records following the death of owner Bill Wisener; Cameron and Sardello both worked at Bill’s, and knew the sprawling collection first-hand.

"It has taken us years to even start going through it, but in last two years, we've made some headway," Cameron says. "Bill's has its own audience, so we created a specific Instagram account, just for Bill's Records merchandise called @billsrecordsvault."

They chose Garland because they saw it as an area that was under-served.

"There are very few record stores in that area of northeast Dallas, Casa View, Garland, Rockwall, Mesquite," Cameron says. "We have customers who live over there, so it seemed like a good place for a store."

The storefront they're in was most recently The Music Store, which sold and rented musical instruments and accessories; but coincidentally, it's next to an address that was once RPM Records, a hip record store from the '90s.

The Garland store follows the same model as their others: selling new and used records and merchandise, and buying used goods, as well.

"One thing that's cool is that each location takes on its own identity," he says. "We buy used CDs, vinyl records, cassettes — we're a used resale business — and what we buy from our customers dictates what that store becomes. For example, our Plano store has a lot of classic rock. So we're looking forward to seeing what Garland gravitates to."

Garland does have one thing that the other locations do not.

"Right now, Garland has this incredible collection of jazz," Cameron says. "We bought a great collection of jazz records — someone called and wanted to sell it. We get that a lot, we buy major collections from all over the U.S., we even make house calls. So we saved it for the Garland store."