The 2013 Westword Music Showcase ballot

By Dave Herrera Thu., Mar. 21 2013 at 9:10 AM

Update 3/21/13: The poll is now open. Let the voting begin!

The road to the nineteenth annual edition of the Westword Music Showcase is officially being paved. While we've already announced some of the acts appearing on the Main Stage this year, below are the acts appearing on this year's Showcase ballot. With input from folks active in various facets of the scene (readers, bar owners, talent buyers, bloggers, critics, radio personalities and promoters), we've assembled an exhaustive list of the city's top acts in nearly forty categories. It's a veritable tip sheet of the best and brightest from our scene.

Putting together the Westword Music Showcase ballot every year is an arduous but ultimately rewarding process. When we poll our committee members, aside from laying out some requisites (we ask them to abstain from nominating any acts that they are personally affiliated with, have a business relationship with, or are in any other way associated with, and advise that any such nominations are disregarded along with the rest of their ballot), we have a very specific request for them to consider when making their nominations. Rather than merely listing the acts that have name recognition, we ask them to point out the ones that left the biggest impression on them over the past year.

"Think about it like this," we say. "If you had one chance to introduce a group of influential tastemakers from across the country to the absolute best music our city has to offer, what are the acts you'd list? Or like this: If you could take casual music fans on a personally guided tour of our scene and leave them with a lasting impression of the absolute best music this town has to offer, which acts would you highlight? Which ones instantly come to mind? That's what we're looking for -- those acts."

We then weighed their informed opinions against our own. The result? The ballot below. And now that we know which acts are on our ballot, we're going to set about putting together the lineup, which we'll post in the next month or so. In the meantime, here are the nominees for the very best musical acts in town. In a few days, when the polls open, you'll have a chance to vote for your favorites -- and if you don't see your favorite act represented, there's a blank line in each category, where you can write them in.