2007 Houston Press Music Awards Showcase

Sideshow Tramps Nominated in: Best Folk/Acoustic; Best Miscellaneous Instrument (Uncle Tick) www.myspace.com/sideshowtramps 9 p.m. The band formerly known as Medicine Show has just ditched their band name, redubbed themselves the Sideshow Tramps and released their first album, which is calledÉThe Medicine Show. Got that? Good. By any name, these punk-raised hillbillies have been becoming more and more citizens of the world of late, moving towards something very much like a music that could only be called polyethnic slamgrass. It's too bad they only get an hour here — the Tramps are one of the few bands in town that could play at least three times as long.

Life Lounge 308 Main 832-489-7910 Ryan Scroggins and the Trenchtown Texans Nominated in: Best Drummer (Patrick "Beans" Wheeler) www.myspace.com/ryanscroggins; www.ryanscroggins.com 4 p.m. One of several bands to have emerged so far from the implosion of Los Skarnales, the Trenchtown Texans are led by the organ-playing of former Skarnal Ryan Scroggins. (Others from the same camp include accordionist Robert Rodriguez, bassist Nick Gaitan and guitarist Jeremy Peña.) As the name suggests, the band is way traditional, taking cues from artists like Jackie Mittoo and comps like Club Ska '67, while adding what Scroggins describes as "country-sounding melodies." The Trenchtown Texans already have a better record on the road than a certain other batch of Texans in town, winning over fans from California to New Jersey. What's more, there is a rumored national record deal in their immediate future.

Wayside Drive Nominated in: Best Alt-Rock www.waysidedrive.com 5 p.m. Hoping to pick up where Japanic left off with some well-known ringers behind him, Wayside Drive's Jeremy Osborn didn't let a discouraging reply get him down. "I wrote a very personal and sincere letter to U2 asking them to be my backup band," he says. "They kindly replied that I should seek professional help, so I just found my own people." Taking their name from the street all three have worked on or near at various times, Wayside has scared off the crowd at a kicker bar on Richmond and found the backstage at Numbers by accident. They're also hiring. "Roadies," says Osborn. "Dear God, we need roadies."

The Flamin' Hellcats Nominated in: Best Roots Rock / Rockabilly www.myspace.com/theflaminhellcats 6 p.m. Imagine if a slimmed-down Oscar Zeta Acosta, the "Samoan" attorney made forever infamous in Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, fronted a psychobilly band out of Houston, Texas. Now imagine he would take the stage dressed as a priest, and then would throw down inferno-fueled jams about what comes naturally to him — drinkin', druggin', screwin' and fuckin' with your head, and then throw in a twangy dirge about the fact that all of San Antonio was murdered along with Tacoland's Ram Ayala. You have just begun to imagine the fearsome spectacle that is the Flamin' Hellcats.

The Wiggins Nominated in: Best Traditional Rock www.myspace.com/thewigginsrox; www.geocities.com/thewigginsrox 7 p.m. Somewhere in the nether reaches of the cosmos where fuzzed-out guitars, reverb-saturated vocals and click-track drums roil in unholy communion, you'll find the Wiggins. It all ends up sounding like the din that would result from dropping a radio playing the Yardbirds into a bathtub full of both Fighting Cock whiskey and Kurt Cobain's reanimated corpse.

Ragged Hearts Nominated in: Best Roots Rock/ Rockabilly www.myspace.com/raggedhearts 8 p.m. Set to tour Europe this fall, Ragged Hearts was once a side project that became full-time after drummer Davey Jonez toured with former New York Doll Sylvain Sylvain. Recovering from an ill-fated opening of a "since-failed" cupcake shop in Marble Falls, they've found the footing for their literate roots-rock — think Steve Earle, Marah, Austin's True Believers — at the Continental Club while indulging their glam side up the block at Mink. And, like all good Houston boys, they swear by Archie Bell & the Drells' "Tighten Up."

John Evans Band Nominated in: Best C&W, Best Bassist (Shawn Supra) www.johnevansband.net; www.myspace.com/johnevansband 9 p.m. We've frankly lost count of the number of awards the lanky, bespectacled singer-guitarist has taken home over the years; in fact, were there a Carolyn Wonderland Houston Press Music Awards Lifetime Achievement Award, Evans would be one of the few who would qualify. To describe John Evans's music as "Buddy Holly fronting AC/DC" is among the more apt shorthand descriptors for any act in this town, but lately it's a little less accurate. Side Show, Evans's newest, soon-to-be-released platter, is an acoustic set.