• When the band was nominated for "Best Industrial Band" at this year's New Times Music Awards, some complained that the band's music wasn't deserving (in fairness, VIE don't consider themselves an industrial group). Also, shortly before the awards were announced, a member of a competing band accurately predicted that VIE would win the award, theorizing that the group would probably push its fans to stuff the ballot box.

• When shock-industrial band BlessedBeThyName sacrificed four chickens before their Valley Art showcase at the New Times Music Awards in April, Rock Club Rising was there to capture them carefully applying greasepaint to their bodies and rubbing chicken feed into their hair before the show. When Nita's Hideaway shut down last month in a blaze of creative destruction, Rock Club Rising saved it for posterity. And when Zia Enterprises threw a tribute show for its deceased founder, Brad Singer, only Rock Club Rising was there to preserve it.

• Hillbilly Devilspeak likes to play loud. This compact disc demands to be played loud. The foursome, which won the much coveted Best Punk Band award at the New Times Music Awards Showcase, has been paying its dues around the Valley since 1993, but has gone mostly unnoticed by local scenesters. This can be attributed to some simple reasons -- Hillbilly Devilspeak is not stylish; its brand of punk rock is not arty, it's not "emo," there's no pop element, and there are certainly no pretty songs.

• On Saturday, April 18, Brad Singer was in Tucson. The owner of the Zia Record Exchange chain had driven down for the annual Tucson music awards club crawl, universally known as the TAMMIES. Although he was a bit run-down from a persistent cold, Singer knew that he needed to be at the TAMMIES. He not only owned three successful stores in Tucson, but his record label, Epiphany Records, had just released a TAMMIES compilation CD to coincide with the awards show, and the event was a perfect chance to promote the album.

• Ballot Box Tops: The ballot results are in for the New Times Music Awards, and here's what they look like: In the Modern Rock category, the winner is Jesus Chrysler Supercar; in Country/Americana, it's Keltic Cowboys; Funked-Up is Fred Green; Latin is Barrio Latino; Hip-Hop is Cousins of the Wize; Punk is Hillbilly Devilspeak; Reggae/Ska is Kongo Shock; Club DJ is Radar; Hard Rock/Metal is Zig Zag Black; Jazz is Blues Ratio; Industrial is Victims in Ecstasy; Blues is Sistah Blue. The band voted Most Likely to Make It Big is Sistah Blue.

• All in all, though, the showcase ran surprisingly smoothly and offered a strong sampler of the diversity of the local scene. Ballots for the showcase will be tabulated this week and the music awards will be presented on May 6 at Gibson's, from 6 to 8 p.m.

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