2007 Houston Press Music Awards Showcase

Cl'che Nominated in: Best Local Rap/Hip-Hop www.myspace.com/clche 6 p.m. They used to call teen pop sensation Brenda Lee "Little Miss Dynamite." In Cl'che's case, better make that "Little Miss W.M.D." Five feet tall and nothin' but curves, class and fire, this southside MC is a dynamic live performer who never leaves her showgoers feeling cheated. As she says in the video for "Ghetto Blues," "See once they nominated me in the Houston Press / I showed 'em all the Cl'che is known as the best."

LL Cooper Nominated in: Best New Act, Traditional Rock www.myspace.com/llcooper 7 p.m. Enduring several shows "on par with 'Puppet Show and Spinal Tap,'" LL Cooper has been busting out its roots-rockin', beer-battered, country-fried Texas rock and roll since late 2005. It all started, says Larry Cooper, when "I started writing some decent songs again, and was stupid enough to believe folks would want to hear me this time around." Soon to start recording El Penguino, a concept album about Hunter S. Thompson, Cooper says the quintet aspires to "conquer the world, or just get lit up during the last set at Henry's Hideout in Plantersville."

Drop Trio Nominated In: Best Jazz www.droptrio.com 8 p.m. Prog-rock fanatics who formed a funk-jazz combo and wound up on the sound track to the 2004 Cedric the Entertainer vehicle Johnson Family Vacation (thanks to the patronage of costar and fan Solange Knowles), Drop Trio provides the ideal "spaceship jazz" sound track for a chill night out at Brasil, Luna or the new AvantGarden. Well-seasoned by frequent touring, they have a Web site that's well-stocked with a streaming "Drop Trio Radio," tons of live tracks and easy access to their three CDs: 2003's Big Dipper, 2004's all-improvised Leap and 2005's live Cezanne.

Karina Nistal Nominated in: Best New Act, Best Local Rap/Hip-Hop, Best Salsa/Latin Pop www.karinanistal.com; www.myspace.com/karinanistal 9 p.m. Drawing inspiration from a broad palette of luminous ladies from Celia Cruz to Janet Jackson, Karina Nistal has been dropping rhymes with soul and style since 1997, both solo and with her beloved Rebel Crew. Recent gigs have included a Disco Donkeys le Funk date at Chaise Lounge and Frida Kahlo's 100th birthday party, but she prefers the dusky back room at Mink on Main. "The vibe is set just right with dim lighting," she says. "But there's still room to get up and groove." If she were a Houston street, Nistal chooses Interstates 10 and 45, "'cause my career is going far and wide."

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Collective Hallucination Nominated In: Best Funk/R&B www.collectivehallucination.com 4 p.m. Like Mr. "Gloryhallastoopid" himself, George Clinton, Collective Hallucination is far too funky to put spaces between words. They started when they came together to vibe to some "funkyrockingsoulfultunes." Ant Boogie praises "Soul Diamond" Stacy Butler as "the bestbadassed vocalist in Houston." A recent gig at Scott Gertner's Sky Bar was "krazysexycool." With the joint "Between You and Me" due next year, Collective Hallucination dreams of hooking up with Prince for a fantasy-fulfilling tour. The Purple One did name them, after all. "He had no idea, though, until recently," admits A-Boogie.

Deadbolt Zen Nominated In: Best Pop www.deadboltzen.com; www.myspace.com/deadboltzen 5 p.m. "Godsmack should be opening for you guys!" So says one of Deadbolt Zen's many MySpace friends, and if it didn't quite work out that way earlier this month at the Verizon Wireless Theater, they may still be the heaviest group up for Best Pop Band in HPMA history. Close your eyes and concentrate really hard, and you'll definitely hear some melody filtering through the sea of guitars, but it's still way more Deftones than Kelly Clarkson. Which makes sense, as DZ added the three founders of Houston metal band Somber to their lineup last year, and saw near-immediate results when Garageband.com named their "Everything Changes" Song of the Day back in May.

Deep Ella Nominated In: Best Alt-Rock www.deepella.com 6 p.m. Sweeping melodies anchored by a sturdy spine, Deep Ella's music contains introspective, progressive elements similar to Tool and Incubus, and more agitated moments echoing Linkin Park and Shinedown. After a decade of musical chairs, the band has settled into a steady lineup; this spring, they released new album Empty Seas and Memories, which moves into harder territory than the ballad-heavy Last Year's New Thing.

Southern Backtones Nominated In: Best Traditional Rock, Best Bassist (John Griffin) www.southernbacktones.com; www.myspace.com/ southernbacktones 7 p.m. Last year's HPMA Traditional Rock winners hope to make their tenth year as a band a memorable one with a repeat. Since last year's win, they landed five songs in the documentary There Ain't No Surf in Texas, the UH basketball team advanced to the Conference USA tournament final using the U2-ish "Forever" as their theme song and Donewaiting.com scribe David Cobb named their self-titled third album his favorite Houston record of 2006, saying "the album is full of Britrock pomposity, a gothic undercurrent and addictive tunes reminiscent of Nick Cave, The Cult circa Love and David Bowie."