Best Band, Best Album, Best Country/Roots Act and Best Male Vocalist
Posted by: paul in Daily Buzz, Eleven Hundred Springs, Events, Headlines, Music, Reviews20th Annual Dallas Observer Music Awards
BEST BAND: Eleven Hundred Springs
BEST ALBUM: Eleven Hundred Springs, Country Jam
BEST COUNTRY/ROOTS ACT: Eleven Hundred Springs
BEST MALE VOCALIST: Matt Hillyer, Eleven Hundred Springs
By, Pete Freedman, Dallas Observer
To the 13 acts and artists that had the misfortune of being nominated into the same categories as Eleven Hundred Springs: Sorry. This was just Eleven Hundred Springs’ year. No hard feelings?
Armed with a pure sound, a widespread appeal, a deserved respect and throngs of loyal fans, the band won every single award it was nominated for—even tangentially. Bass player Steven F. Berg also won the Best DJ award for his work under the DJ Burlap moniker, and past Eleven Hundred Springs collaborators The Tejas Brothers too managed a tie in the Best New Act category.
So, yeah. Pull weight much?
With Country Jam to hang their hat on, though, this isn’t a surprise. Now, a few months after its release to critical acclaim, the disc’s still earning heavy rotation on KZPS-FM Lone Star 92.5, proving what so many around town have known for so long: When it comes to classic country music—the good stuff, as in: country done right, country done well, country done fun (and not cheesy, for crying out loud)—Eleven Hundred Springs is the cream of the crop, local or otherwise.
And Berg, frontman Matt Hillyer, pedal steel player Danny Crelin, fiddler Jordan W. Hendrix and drummer Mark Reznicek all seem astonishingly humble about it, just happy to be playing music for their ever-loyal fans, which they do constantly.
“There’s an old adage that says you’re only as good as your last show,” says Hillyer, who also takes home this year’s award for Best Male Vocalist, “and we play a lot of shows. I try not to look forward or back.”
Thing is: Looking back is exactly what Eleven Hundred Springs’ sound inspires. There’s an honesty to it all, a realness that inspires instant nostalgia, a genuine quality that transports its listeners into a slower, easier, gentler time and a place where the moonshine is served by the bucketful and everybody line-dances like a pro.
“People respond to country music because there’s a lot of truth to it,” Hillyer says. “And it’s simple too, one of the genres of music where you don’t have to be angry all the time.”
So does this signal a return to form for a genre that’s seen better days? You bet, says Hillyer. “Country music never went away. It’s just that it makes people feel good, and right now, people seem to appreciate that.”
As far as Eleven Hundred Springs’ abilities to elicit such a response, Hillyer credits the band’s latest lineup: “We all have our heads in the same place, and we’re in it to win it,” he says, laughing, “as cheesy as it sounds.”
Cheesy? Sure.
Accurate? Best Band, Best Album, Best Country/Roots Act and Best Male Vocalist resoundingly reply “yes.”
We are excited to announce the musical lineup for the debut Chattahippie Music Festival, featuring the best talent in Americana, Rock, Blues, Jam, Country, Folk and Bluegrass from around the nation! With over thirty artists from ten states, this promises to be a great celebration of peace, love and music!
BUZZ CASON
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