Everyone And His Or Her Cousin Nominated for 2007 BMA

Have you played a show in Boston over within the last 18 months? Have you ever crashed on a Boston couch? Do you know someone who did? If so, check out the Boston Music Award nominations. You or they just might be nominated.

Listen, we actually enjoy the fact that local musicians are honored once a year through the BMAs. Sure, it's always dominated by the usual suspects (Aerosmith, Dropkick Murphys, Dresden Dolls and, most inexplicably, Godsmack), but there is opportunity to see the names of underground guys and gals get a much-earned place in the spotlight for an evening, and we are always in favor of that. There's also, of course, the fact that it lets us vote for our favorites and make predictions.

We'll point you to the full list of nominees, but first we're going to tip our caps to the Phoenix for pointing out that some of the 2007 crop really doesn't make a whole lot of sense - perhaps moreso than usual. In an effort to seem as inclusive as possible, categories go well beyond the standard five, maybe six, nominees; in fact, different categories feature a different number of names (Local Male Vocalist of the Year has eight, Local Female Vocalist has nine). It's great to see people included (for instance, Tim Blane, Ryan Montbleau, and Hallelujah the Hills), but we suspect that it's going to do a real number on splitting the votes.

Pressing, comical questions elicited by the nominations: Would the Bon Savants or Everyday Visuals send shoutouts to fellow nominees The Click Five if one of those bands takes home Outstanding Pop Act of the Year? Does anyone in Listener Land know that Paula Cole (Outstanding Singer/Songwriter nominee) is back? How can one really compare and judge against one another the live performances of the Dresden Dolls, Bang Camaro, Killswitch Engage (which led the pack with seven nominations), and Matt Nathanson? If JoJo attends the Dec. 1 awards ceremony at the Orpheum, will she try to sneak a glass of bubbly or will the 16-year-old stick with a martini glass full of milk? And how can Buffalo Tom and a New Edition-less Bobby Brown be inducted into the Hall of Fame on the same night?

One final thought: does anyone really think that nominating John Mayer with three nominations will encourage the guy to follow through on the promise he makes every few years to move back to Boston? We get it: he went to Berklee. But he dropped out and moved to Georgia.

Athens is calling, Boston. They want their Mayer cred back.

View the complete list here - tickets for the Dec. 1 ceremony are also on sale now.