D-FW’s Snarky Puppy, Kirk Franklin score big again at Grammys

Fort Worth gospel star Kirk Franklin won three Grammy awards and the Dallas/Denton band Snarky Puppy continued its winning streak Sunday night by picking up its fifth trophy in as many tries at the 65th annual awards show in Los Angeles. Franklin — a perennial Grammy favorite who’s now won 19 awards — topped the list of North Texas winners for his collaboration with the Atlanta group Maverick City Music. Franklin and the group earned trophies for best gospel album (One Deluxe), gospel song/performance (“Kingdom”) and contemporary Christian song/performance (“Fear Is Not My Future”). Snarky Puppy won the contemporary instrumental album award for its Dallas-themed Empire Central,recorded live last March during an eight-night stand at the Deep Ellum Art Co. The sprawling jazz-funk ensemble has now won that category four times in the last eight years, adding to a crowded mantel that includes an R&B performance Grammy for its 2013 song “Something.” Another Dallas act, DOMi and JD Beck, were up against Snarky Puppy for the contemporary instrumental album award for their Blue Note debut Not Tight. The keyboard-and-drum duo also lost in the best new artist race to jazz singer Samara Joy. Taylor Gayle Rutherfurd, the Plano-raised, Nashville-based singer who simply goes by Gayle, scored a song-of-the-year nomination for her hit “ABCDEFU” but lost to Bonnie Raitt’s “Just Like That.” Irving native Liz Rose had also been nominated in that category for co-writing Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well.” Arlington-raised singer Maren Morris and Miranda Lambert, who grew up in Van Alstyne and Lindale, went home empty-handed after competing against each other in the country album, song and solo performance categories. Willie Nelson won the country album trophy for A Beautiful Time and country solo performance for “Live Forever,” a song by the late Corsicana-born songwriter Billy Joe Shaver. Last week, in a nod to his six-decade career, Nelson was nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Burleson-raised Kelly Clarkson, Grapevine’s Norah Jones and the Arlington quintet Pentatonix all lost in the traditional pop vocal album race to Michael Bublé’s When Christmas Comes Around. Doja Cat and Grapevine native Post Malone lost in the group/duo performance category to Kim Petras and Sam Smith’s “Unholy.” East Texas native and past Grammy winner Kacey Musgraves performed during the memorial segment, playing Loretta Lynn’s acoustic guitar as she sang the late country legend’s trademark tune, “Coal Miner’s Daughter.” Houston native Beyoncé was the night’s biggest winner, snagging four trophies and breaking the record for most Grammy wins at 32, even as she lost out for song, record and album of the year. She surpassed the conductor Sir Georg Solti in wins. A Dallas fan appeared on the CBS telecast ahead of the album of the year announcement, praising Kendrick Lamar, who was nominated for Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers. “I was at his very first concert in Dallas in a little bitty club,” she said. “In 2017, I had a GoFundMe set up to earn money to get a new accessible vehicle. Kendrick Lamar found out about it and decided to surprise me and he bought me a brand new van. I can relate to his realness and spirituality, kind of his outlook on the world.” Harry Styles beat out Lamar for the award with Harry’s House. Last week, DeSoto High School choir director Pamela Dawson won this year’s Grammy Music Educator Award, which comes with a $10,000 prize and a matching grant for her school’s music program. The show’s host, Trevor Noah, gave a shout-out to a smiling Dawson in the closing minutes of the show.