Yolanda Adams; SXSW's Nick Barbaro, Louis Black and Roland Swenson; SWISHAHOUSE; and ZZ Top to be recognized

GRAMMY.com

The Texas Chapter has named three-time GRAMMY winner Yolanda Adams; South By Southwest Music Festival co-founders Nick Barbaro, Louis Black and Roland Swenson; hip-hop music label SWISHAHOUSE; and Texas blues-rock icons ZZ Top as recipients of its Recording Academy Honors 2006. The event — which will attract recording artists, key entertainment executives and community leaders — will be held Nov. 13 at the Austin Convention Center Ballroom.

The Recording Academy Honors was established to celebrate outstanding individuals whose work embodies excellence and integrity and who have improved the environment for the creative community. Formerly known as the Governors Awards, this gala supports the Texas Chapter's ongoing programs, with this year's silent auction proceeds benefiting MusiCares for support of Texas-based musicians.

GRAMMY and Stellar Award winner Yolanda Adams is one of the most persuasive and popular voices in contemporary gospel music. Working with some of the biggest names in pop, R&B, hip-hop and gospel, Adams' career has been marked by a string of hugely successful albums, sold-out tours, stand-out TV appearances, and a desire to incorporate into her music a multitude of genres and influences. In 2005, Adams founded Voice Of An Angel Foundation, which focuses on mentoring high school students nationwide in order to help them pursue a career in education. She works closely with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Resources to ensure that kids in low-income areas receive immunizations. Additionally, Adams lends her energy and commitment to a number of other child-based organizations, including The Children's Defense Fund and Houston charities such as juvenile diabetes and The Escape Center.

With 21,000 registrants and 60-plus venues showcasing 1,500 bands, the SXSW Music Conference and Festival has drawn music industry professionals to Austin for more than 20 years, solidifying its place as one of the most influential music events in the world. With a common goal of creating an event that would act as a tool for creative people to meet, share ideas and develop their careers, Nick Barbaro, Louis Black and Roland Swenson embarked on a journey that not only launched the careers of some of today's top artists but also had a significant economic impact on central Texas, as well as a major impact on the global music industry.

"Major without a major deal!" That remains the credo of independently operated record label SWISHAHOUSE. The collaborative talents of founders DJ Michael "5000" Watts and G Dash's business savvy led the label to garner national attention and brand Houston's unique hip-hop culture by highlighting slowed down chopped and screwed music, kitted cars, diamond encrusted grills and Southern landscape. In 1999, SWISHAHOUSE had its first official release, The Day Hell Broke Loose, a compilation that set the pace for the growth of the label. Without a major label deal, SWISHAHOUSE acquired numerous spins on major music networks MTV and BET. Soon, the label broke artists such as Paul Wall, Slim Thug, Mike Jones, Archie Lee and Lil Keke.

After almost 36 years of rock and blues, ZZ Top is one of the longest running major rock bands with original band members: Billy F. Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard. Their third album, Tres Hombres, catapulted them to national attention with the hit "La Grange," still one of the band's signature pieces. Their 1983 release, Eliminator, was something of a paradigm shift for ZZ Top. Their roots skew was intact but added to the mix were tech-age trappings that soon found a visual outlet with the nascent MTV. Suddenly, Gibbons, Hill and Beard were video icons, playing a kind of classical Greek chorus in videos that highlighted the album's three smash singles: "Gimme All Your Lovin," "Sharp Dressed Man" and "Legs." The melding of grungy guitar-based blues with synthpop was seamless and continued with the follow-up album Afterburner as they sustained their chart juggernaut. A certified rock institution, ZZ Top's music is instantly recognizable, eminently powerful, profoundly soulful and 100 percent Texan in derivation. 

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