Yo, Kansas City! It's time to rock the vote!

Jerry Dowell
Jerry Dowell is a folk dreamer with his head in the clouds and both feet planted firmly on the Kansas prairie. Equal parts traditional, country and guitar rock, Dowell creates his own sound without ever abandoning deeply entrenched musical heroes like Neil Young and Stevie Ray Vaughan -- and every lick on any of his three full-lengths reinforces his roots. Now playing a handful of local shows, Dowell is also working on his second book, On Some Passionate Night, a collection of prose that brings his lofty ideas down to Earth. (www.jerrydowellband.com)

Old Canes
It's been a year since Old Canes' Early Morning Hymns came out on Kansas City's Second Nature label, but there's still nothing too old about the Canes. Led by Appleseed Cast frontman Chris Crisci and fleshed out by members of Minus Story, Casket Lottery and a bunch of other underground ragtaggers, the Canes -- though silent of late -- remain among the vanguard of young folkies (In the Pines, Drakkar Sauna) who aren't afraid to reinvent the American music traditions that gave Bob Dylan a reason to pick up a guitar in the first place. (www.oldcanes.com)

Best Hardcore/Metal
The Esoteric
The Esoteric has survived just about everything that can be thrown at a hardworking metal group -- lineup changes, record-company headaches and, most recently, a house fire that destroyed nearly all of the group's equipment. Fortunately, the Lawrence metal unit rallied and turned tragedy into triumph. The Esoteric's summer road trek (including 11 East Coast dates on the Warped Tour) packed venues from coast to coast, and the band's latest opus, With the Sureness of Sleepwalking, can only be described as incendiary. (www.the-esoteric.com)

Eyes of the Betrayer
It's already been an award-winning 2005 for Eyes of the Betrayer. The group dominated February's Heavy Frequency Awards, taking honors for Best Hardcore/Metalcore Band, Best Frontman (Dustin Albright) and Album of the Year (for Recovery). Betrayer also performed at that event, proving that it deserved every accolade. Albright, a self-assured showman, prefaces crushing breakdowns with improvised jokes and non sequiturs -- people actually stop midmosh to catch his latest quips. The group just embarked on its longest-ever nationwide tour in support of the Los Angeles group (and Recourse Records labelmate) Winds of Plague. (www.eyesofthebetrayer.com)

Moiré
Singer Waylon Callahan has just announced his departure from Moiré, citing frontman fatigue and a desire to get a day job that doesn't suck. But he insists that this isn't the end of Moiré (Paul Kelley, the band's electro-whiz, may take over vocal duties), which is a relief because, with a lot of hardcore, a touch of industrial and some clever electronic samples, the band draws a diverse crowd -- including a 2-year-old who reportedly attended a show sporting ear plugs and a shirt that read "Forget the cookies and milk, where's the titties and beer?" Now that's metal. (www.moiremusic.com)

The James Dean Trio
As of press time, rumors of the James Dean Trio's demise had not been substantiated. If true, though, this hearsay would be bad news indeed. Of all the bands in the area that play progressive thrash metal under flesh-peeling vocals, the James Dean Trio (a quintet, actually) is the most accessible for people who aren't crazy about hardcore. Chalk up the band's appeal to its kitsch-free appearance, whimsical math-jazz breakdowns, and the lead singer's Jack Black-on-crack charisma. (www.myspace.com/thejamesdeantrio)

Chloe Bridges
Chloe Bridges concerts don't look like metal shows -- not with Kansas City's most attractive MySpace members in attendance. Groups that value technical riffs and aggressive intensity haven't always drawn a hearty female following, but fashionable yet brutal bands such as this Kansas City quintet have made screamo stylish. Chloe Bridges gigs prompt actual dancing as well as frantic pits, another sign of the times. Its inaugural full-length, The Black Heart Empire, long delayed by the band's perfectionist tinkering, should emerge later this year. (www.blackheartempire.com)

Adayafter
Adayafter lasted only eight months, but it clearly left an impression on those who happened to wander in front of its metal maelstrom. Comprising multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Nathan Church, a singer named Burns, Cameron Fitzmaurice on drums, Krista Julius on bass and Phil Mitchum on guitar, Adayafter collapsed when Church and Fitzmaurice moved on to create the machine-gun-guitar metal of Sicadis, which has already met in the studio with M. Shawn Crahan of Slipknot, who produced the new band's first demo track.

Best Jazz
Angela Hagenbach
In 1989, Angela Hagenbach, inspired by the music of Sarah Vaughan, traded in her successful career as a fashion model to become a jazz singer. A fortunate swap given that her exquisite contralto voice has been heard from stages ever since. Renowned for her versatility, flawless pitch and vocal range, she is also known for her unique ability to take on both jazz and Latin ballads. Hagenbach's sultry voice is only embellished by her commanding stage presence -- a blend of poise, sophistication and subtle sexiness. (www.angelahagenbach.com)