Small Act of the Year...Horton Duo

Non-Club Venue of the Year...El Chico

Jazz Band of the Year...Mustard Seed

Musician's Friend Award...The Family of C.O. Gilstrap

Production Award...Angie Hardin

Rising Star Award...Holly Tucker

Gospel Band of the Year...10th Leper

Pop Band of the Year...Mustard Seed

Hall of Recognition...Wade Bowen

Female Vocalist of the Year...Lorna Willhelm

Lead Player of the Year...Marcus Johnson

Bass Player of the Year...Mike Donohue

Drummer of the Year...Kelly Casey

Instrumentalist of the Year...Wes Hardin-Harmonica

Male Vocalist of the Year...Wes Hardin

Rock Band of the Year...Dr. Shame's Love Circus

Hip Hop Act of the Year...Tha Kidd

Tejano Band of the Year...TIE...Valor De La Sierra and Grupo Laredo

Songwriter of the Year...Wes Hardin & Dan Hinojosa

Blues Band of the Year...Sonny Mac Blues Band

Club Venue of the Year...Coyote Run

Americana Band of the Year...Modern Day Drifters

Country Band of the Year...Wes Hardin & the Country Outlaws

Metal Band of the Year...X's 4 Eyes

Favorite Performace of the Night...Mad Edison

Entertainer of the Year...Wes Hardin

The Music Association of Central Texas is proud to announce the music line up for this years Groovy Awards!!!

We will be inducting Wade Bowen into our Hall of Recognition this year!!  Wes has been on the phone with Wade's manager and road manager, and it has been confirmed that Wade will be at the Groovy Awards to receive his award in person!!!  M.A.C.T. feels so honored that Wade will be taking time out of his busy schedule to come spend this exciting evening with us!!

Mustard Seed will be starting the evening off by playing while everyone is finding their seats.  They will also be the segue band the entire night!!!

Our very own Daddy T will be our emcee for the evening.  Can't wait to see what he has in store for us this year!!

We have the lineup for when each band will be playing during the Groovy Awards,  here is the line up...Mad Edison, BLM, 3 Days Lost, The Tucker Peterson Band, Tha Kidd, and  Wayward Sons !!!  All this great music in one night...WOW!!!

Tickets for the Groovy Awards are $10.00 and they are on sale now, and they are selling fast!!!  Contact me with a message for ticket information.

Looking forward to seeing all of you at the Groovy Awards!!

Remember...

"It's all about the Music"

Angie Hardin

I am so pleased to say that I have been asked so many questions about the Groovy Awards show that will be held on March 26th.

I thought I would try to list some of the most frequently asked questions and answer them to the best of my ability.  Here we go...

Q.  HOW DO I NOMINATE SOMEONE?  This is an easy one!!  Go to our new website - www.mactmusic.com - there, you will find a page called "Groovy Ballot".  There is a printable ballot link on that page.  Fill it out and mail it to M.A.C.T., P.O. Box 2343, Waco, Texas  76703.  You can also bring the ballots to one of our monthly meetings.

Q.  ARE THERE ANY QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED TO BE NOMINATED?  Our website can help you there, too.  www.mactmusic.com - again, go to the "Groovy Ballot" page.  Click on the "Guidelines for Nominations".  These guidelines were made so that the nomination process didn't get too crazy.  A good example of this is a country band that plays a few rock songs at the end of the night would not qualify in the rock category.

Q.  HOW MANY BALLOTS CAN I FILL OUT?  There is no limit on how many ballots you can fill out.  In the past, I have heard of different bands getting their fans to fill them out at gigs.  I've also heard of bands sending ballots out on their email lists.  The more participation we have the better!!

Q.  HOW LONG IS M.A.C.T. TAKING NOMINATION BALLOTS?  We will be accepting nomination ballots until February 28, 2009.

Q.  I'VE NEVER BEEN INVOLVED WITH M.A.C.T. BEFORE.  HOW CAN I GET MY WORK TO THE MEMBERSHIP SO THEY CAN HEAR WHAT I DO?  We are encouraging everyone to bring cd's to the meetings to hand out.  It doesn't have to be the fancy wrapped merch that you sell at your gigs.  Burn a few songs from your computer on to a cd.  That is a small price to pay to get your work out there.  promote-promote-promote!!!

Q.  I DON'T KNOW WHO TO NOMINATE IN ALL THE CATEGORIES.  WILL MY BALLOT STILL BE COUNTED IF I LEAVE SOME BLANK?  Yes it will.  But we would like to see the ballot filled out completely.  We all know that we have the habit of "sticking to our own" when it comes to music.  If you have a Saturday night off, you go see a band you like.  What I'm doing to fill out my ballot is visiting myspace friends!  There are over 850 music friends on this page and they cover every genre of music.  Take a minute and visit some myspace pages...you'll be amazed at what you hear.  Central Texas has it going on!!

Q.  WHAT HAPPENS TO THE NOMINATION BALLOTS AFTER THE FEBRUARY 28TH DEADLINE?  All the ballots will then be counted by the "Ballot Counting Commitee".  At that time, the top 5 nominations will make it to the final ballot for voting.  There has to be a minimum of 3 nominations for each category for that category to make the final ballot.

Q.  HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOU MADE THE FINAL BALLOT?  That's where I come in.  I will be the one to notify everyone who made the final ballot.  Hopefully that will be done the first week of March.

Q.  WHO GETS TO VOTE FOR THE WINNERS?  All current members of M.A.C.T. get to vote for the winners of the Groovy Awards.  If you would like to join M.A.C.T., visit the website - www.mactmusic.com - there is a page to join M.A.C.T.  You can also join M.A.C.T. at our monthly meetings.  Become a member and vote for your favorite artists!!

Q.  WHO COUNTS THE BALLOTS?  Current M.A.C.T. members count the nomination ballots and the winner ballots.  The "Ballot Counting Commitee" consists of members, appointed by the Board of Directors, that are known to be unbiased.

Q.  WHEN DOES THE VOTING FOR THE WINNERS HAPPEN?  At our March meeting.  That would be March 16, 2009!!  Each current member will get one voting ballot to fill out.  The secretary will check your name off as you receive your ballot.

Q.  HOW DO I KNOW WHO WINS?  Come to the Groovy Awards show!!  Everyone finds out that night.  The only people that know who has won before that night are the members on the "Ballot Counting Commitee".

Q.  DO YOU HAVE TO BE A MEMBER TO BE NOMINATED?  No, you do not have to be a member to be nominated, or to win.  You do have to be a current member to vote for the winners.

I hope this helps everyone out some.  If I have left out a question that you have, shoot me a message.  You just might have a question that someone else has, too.

See ya at the Groovys!!

Angie Hardin

Well, we had our annual Music Association of Central Texas Christmas party on Monday night.  For those of you who missed it, you sure did miss a good time!!

I would like to thank TREFF'S for allowing us to have our party there.  Also, a thank you goes to CHARLIE BROWN for running the sound for us all night long.

A special thanks goes out to those who provided all the gear for everyone to use...BLAIN HENNIG for the drum kit...BOB AUSTIN for the bass rig...GENE BALLOU for keyboards...JOHN MCANALLY for a guitar rig...JAMES HURST for a guitar rig...TJ BELL for a guitar rig.  Because of all of you, everyone was able to jam all night long!!!  Thanks so much.

I can't forget CAROLYN HURST for all the hard work she did organizing and planning to make our party a success.  Thank you so much!!!

Let me tell you, we sure did have a spread!!!  Thanks to EVERYONE for bringing such great food!!!  I can't come close to being able to thank everyone individually...there was so much food, I don't know who brought what!!!  What I do know is that everything tasted so good!!!  By the way, whoever brought the homemade sandwiches, I have your platter!  Let me know and I will bring it to you!

The night started off by CAROLYN HURST welcoming everyone to the party.  She also introduced our newly elected President, WES HARDIN, and our newly elected Vice President, JAMES HURST.  CAROLYN HURST has been re-elected as our Secretary/Treasurer.  Congrats to all of you!

Then it was time to EAT and time to JAM!!!  A big thank you goes to WES HARDIN for getting the musicians up on the stage to do their thing.

The JAM was just amazing!  It's not often where you get to see so many musicians, with different backgrounds, get on stage and play together.  Look at the pictures and you will see what I mean.  Where else could you go, except for a M.A.C.T. function, to get all this at one time?  If I remember correctly, there was a point where BLUES, COUNTRY, CHRISTIAN, AND ROCK were all represented on the stage at one time!!!  WOW!!!  None of these guys had ever played together, but you sure couldn't tell.  Thanks to all of you for providing such wonderful entertainment!!

As I walked around visiting and taking pictures, I couldn't help but notice all of the smiles.  I know that I personally always look forward to our meetings.  That is one time when we all get together.  At the Christmas party, I realized something...THE MUSIC ASSOCIATION OF CENTRAL TEXAS is not just a group of musicians and music lovers, we're a FAMILY!  I felt such warmth in the room.  So, a personal thank you to all of you for giving me that for Christmas.

Well, Christmas is just around the corner and it is a busy time for all.  Have a safe and music filled holiday.

Merry Christmas!

Angie Hardin