Music

Don't be surprised to see some familiar local names on the Grammy winners list Sunday – as well as a few obscure ones.

Nominees with ties to Dallas-Fort Worth range from big stars such as Kelly Clarkson (country vocal collaboration, "Because of You") to Denton jazz professor Steve Wiest, who's up for an instrumental arrangement trophy for The One and Only Maynard Ferguson.

Mr. Wiest isn't the only music professor at the University of North Texas competing for a Grammy. Pianist Joseph Banowetz is nominated for a chamber music performance award for "30 Songs of the Russian People."

Denton is brimming with nominees this year: Brave Combo hopes to bring home its third polka album Grammy for Polka's Revenge. But to do so, it'll have to beat ex-Combo member Bubba Hernandez, who's up for the same statue for Polka Freak Out, his CD with Alex Meixner.

Frisco-based growler King Diamond – he of the ghoulish face paint – hopes to win his first Grammy for "Never Ending Hill," in the metal performance category. Dallas-based rocker Don Henley and his fellow Eagles are up for their fourth Grammy for "How Long," in the country group vocal contest.

In other country contests, Garland-raised LeAnn Rimes (who was Grammy's best new artist at age 13) is nominated for a female country vocal trophy for "Nothin' Better to Do." And Dallas-raised, East Texas-based country legend Ray Price could win the country vocal duet award for "Lost Highway," which he recorded with Willie Nelson.

The Blue Shoe Project, a label run by Colleyville's Jeff and Mike Dyson, hopes to win the traditional blues album trophy for Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen: Live in Dallas. The CD, recorded in '04 at the Majestic Theatre, features Honeyboy Edwards, Pinetop Perkins and the late Henry James Townsend and Robert Lockwood Jr.

The Dallas Wind Symphony performed on Garden of Dreams: Music by David Maslanka, engineered by Keith O. Johnson and nominated for best-engineered album (classical).

One glaring snub this year was Dallas-raised singer Norah Jones. The past Grammy darling didn't get a single nomination for her excellent third album, Not Too Late. She'll have to settle for her guest nomination for singing a tune on Herbie Hancock's album of the year nominee, River: The Joni Letters.

ARCHIVES: Search for more stories on this and other topics | Search Tips

SUBSCRIBE: Get The Dallas Morning News delivered to your home