2007 Houston Press Music Awards Showcase

The Scattered Pages Nominated In: Best Drummer (Andy McWilliams), Song of the Year ("Iris"), Songwriter of the Year (Brandon Hancock), Album of the Year (Lazy are the Skeletons) www.myspace.com/thescatteredpages 8 p.m. To describe his music, Scattered Pages and Lisa Novak drummer Andy McWilliams composed the following haiku: "Not as strange as it might seem, definitely odd, but grandma likes it okay." The multitalented McWilliams is also an experienced studio hand, sound engineer and man of leisure. The following are his favorite places to drink and/or kick back: "1. Home. 2. Ginger Man on a weeknight. 3. Alabama Ice House on a Saturday. 4. Warren's, when I want a drink poured right. 5. La Carafe, when I want to be out but not out. 6. I'm taking some time off from drinking for a week or a month right now." One of McWilliams's future aspirations is to be in Tom Waits's backing band, and he may be just the man for the job.

Spain Coloured Orange Nominated In: Best Indie Rock, Local Musician of the Year www.myspace.com/ spaincolouredorange 9 p.m. After cleaning up at last year's HPMAs — Album of the Year for Hopelessly Incapable of Standing in the Way; Best Indie Rock; Local Musician(s) of the Year; Best Keyboards (Gilbert Alfaro) — Spain Coloured Orange is back for more. They're down to a mere two nominations this year, mostly because they didn't have a new album, but their description-defying fusion of indie, prog, R&B, funk and just plain rock is still about the best the Bayou City has on offer. With Hopelessly follow-up Sneaky Like a Villain due in October on Chicago's Lucid Records, they better start clearing space on the mantle for 2008.

Verizon Wireless Theater 520 Texas 713-230-1600

The Mighty Orq Nominated In: Best Blues, Best Guitarist www.mightyorq.com 7 p.m. The only musician in this year's HPMA questionnaires to describe his music as "face-melting," the Mighty Orq says his group is more original rock than blues these days, but it's all good. "Frankly, these days I'm not so concerned with labels," he adds. "We're just happy to be doing what we're doing, and glad that people like us. Call us what you want." They can't have strayed too far, as the Big Easy is still Orq's favorite place to play and kick back, and Joe Bonamassa gave them props after watching their opening set in Oklahoma City in May. Rock, blues, whatever, Orq has it all figured out: "The worst gig is almost always better than the best day at the office."

The Handsomes Nominated In: Best Pop www.thehandsomes.com 8 p.m. Hoping to make it four Best Pop HPMAs in a row, the Handsomes are often likened to Austin crowd-pleasers the Scabs — their first bit of press in the Press bore the headline "The Spirit of the Scabs" — but always take care to remind the crowd where they're really from. "Whenever we play in Austin, which is a fair amount, Jordon makes sure to let the crowd know that we're a Houston band," says bassist Ben Stark. And just because they're popular doesn't mean they haven't paid some dues. "We [once] blew out this venue's miniature and dilapidated PA on the first song," recounts Stark. "Jordon had to sing through a miniature keyboard amp for the rest of a two-hour set." A new EP is on the way.

The Dimes Nominated in: Best New Act; Best Indie Rock; Local Musician of the Year; Song of the Year (Delilah) www.myspace.com/dimes 9 p.m. These kids are young enough to admit the Arcade Fire as an influence, but most critics and fans cite the Pixies as a better fit for this "fun," "loud," "sloppy" and "goofy" four-piece. Paradoxically, or perhaps not, the band cites ZZ Top as both their favorite and least favorite local band; more of a straight-up head-scratcher is their identification with Kuykendahl Road. But clearly, they've come a long way in a short time, drawing some of the biggest and most enthusiastic crowds in town a scant 30 months after launching their career at Cardi's 2000.

Saliva Nominated In: Nothing www.myspace.com/saliva 10:15 p.m. Saliva is from Memphis. They had a hit a few years back with "Click Click Boom" and a bigger one with "Always." They appeared on the WWE's Forceable Entry CD and know the dude from Nickelback. Their new album on Island Records is Blood Stained Love Story. That's about all there is to say.