Fort Worthians Kirk Franklin and T Bone Burnett landed on the GRAMMY nominees list yet again.
Franklin is a frequent flier in the award’s gospel and contemporary Christian categories. Since 1996, the Fort Worth native has been nominated for 27 GRAMMYs and won 16. He’ll have the chance to take home three more for his work with Maverick City Music in the following categories: Best Gospel Performance/Song, Best Contemporary Christian Performance/Song, and Best Gospel Album.
Burnett, an alum of Paschal High School, has 18 nominations under his belt and 13 wins. This year, he will have the opportunity to add one more trophy to his case for “High and Lonesome,” a song he co-wrote with Robert Plant that is a contender in the Best American Roots Song category.
Several other artists on the list have connections to Fort Worth or the greater Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.
Tom Martens, director of the Fort Worth Music Office, noted North Texas’ collaborative music scene and pointed out that several metroplex and Texas artists can trace early performances back to Fort Worth.
“There’s just a really cool assortment of folks from our neck of the woods,” Martens said. “It’s not just limited to one genre. … I think there’s just this kind of special sauce that makes so much great talent come from Fort Worth.”
Maren Morris is from Arlington, but Martens noted she had her first real gig at the White Elephant Saloon in the Stockyards. She garnered three nominations in the following categories: Best Country Solo Performance, Best Country Song, Best Country Album.
Post Malone, who recently performed a sold-out show at Dickies Arena and is a 2013 graduate of Grapevine High School, was nominated in the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category for his collaboration “I Like You (A Happier Song)” with Doja Cat.
North Texans have three nominees in the running for “Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album”:
- Burleson native Kelly Clarkson was nominated for “When Christmas Comes Around…”
- Norah Jones, an alum of Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas, is nominated for “I Dream of Christmas (Extended)”
- Arlington a capella group Pentatonix for “Evergreen.”
Snarky Puppy, an ensemble founded in Denton, is nominated for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album.
“It’s just great to have these artists recognized,” Martens said. “But also, the more we do to put Fort Worth forward, we start to see the returns, whether it’s film, music, sports, we’re seeing that Fort Worth is being put on the map.”
Winners will be announced at the 65th GRAMMY Awards held at Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena on Feb. 5.
Marcheta Fornoff covers the arts for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at marcheta.fornoff@fortworthreport.org or on Twitter. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
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