In two weeks, a whole bunch of local rock stars will gather at George’s Majestic Lounge for a night of some well-deserved recognition.

The 2011 Northwest Arkansas Music Awards are set for Thursday, April 28, and the organization today announced the nominees for this year’s set of awards.

The categories for this year’s NAMA’s have been tweaked a bit, with new awards for best album artwork, spoken word, and best Latin artist. Some of the other categories were re-named (Electronic/Groove became simply DJ this year, for example), but most are similar to what they’ve been in years past.

It’s been a crazy year for new local music, and as a result, there are 13 nominees for Album of the Year.

NAMA recently announced that they’ll be expanding into rockIt Music Week this year, including a week-long celebration of local music, events, showcases, and a day of educational panels on various the music business.

Voting is now open at rockitmusicweek.com. This year’s nominees are also listed below. Who should win?

Rock
Benjamin Del Shreve
A Good Fight
Randall Shreve and the Sideshow
The Good Fear
Silverstone

Blues
Rj Mischo
Earl & Them
The Kory Montgomery Band
Devil’s Promenade
Nathan Aronowitz

Indie/Alternative
Where’s Lawrence?
Memphis Pencils
Christmas Fuller Project
Messy Sparkles
Hosta

Metal/Hardcore
Perpetual Werewolf
MSG
Fauxnz
Voyageurs
Battle Within

Punk/Hardcore
The Plaid Jackets
Egyptr
The Counterlife
Well,Well,Well

Female Singer/Songwriter
Shannon Wurst
Candy Lee Long
Tiffany Christopher

Male Singer/Songwriter
Jeff Kearney
Wade Ogle
Jovan Arrellano

Female Vocalist In a Band
Bernice Hembree (Three Penny Acre)
Tanya Shylock (Mountain of Venus)
Candy Lee Long (Candy Lee and The Sweets)
Leah Spears (Leah and The Mojo Doctors)

Male Vocalist In a Band
Jeff Kearney (1 Oz. Jig)
Martin Bemberg (Memphis Pencils)
Randall Shreve (Randall Shreve and The Slideshow)
Eddie Love (A Good Fight)
Brian Kupillas (Where’s Lawrence?)
Caleb Enyart (Silverstone)
Wiley Seeger (Boom Kinetic)

Jam/Funk
The 1 Oz. Jig
Guta
Mountain of Venus
The OneUps

Folk/Bluegrass
Cletus Got Shot
Shout Lulu
Three Penny Acre
Shannon Wurst
Mountain Sprout

Country
Pope County Bootleggers
Charliehorse
Damn Arkansan
Bobby Drivers
Sarah Hughes Band

Jazz
Fayetteville Jazz Collection
Walter Savage Trio
Skinny Quartet
Hogtown Hot Group
Claudia Burson Trio

Cover Band
Big Uns
Full House
La Fu So
Leah & The Mojo Doctors
The Odds
Uncrowned Kings

DJ
DJ EQ
DJ BIZAR
DJ Derrick
DJ Shortfuze
Baby Armie

Hip-Hop/R&B
T.Jay
Hardaway
The Commoners
Black Pearl
Soundchild Crew

Latin
Nial
Ynzomino
Boris Silva
Estilo
Neta Band

Spoken Word
Clayton Scott
Houston Hughes
Doug Shields
Zac Henderson

Brand New Artist
Voyageurs
Damn Arkansan
Faunxz
Black Pearl
Messy Sparkles

Artist of The Year
Boom Kinetic
The Commoners
Where’s Lawrence?
Cletus Got Shot
Randall Shreve and The Slideshow
Benjamin Del Shreve

Album of The Year
Where’s Lawrence? – The Boy in the Well
Hosta – Bearfish
Cletus Got Shot – Unamerican
The Kory Montgomery Band – The Kory Montgomery Band
The 1 Oz. Jig – The 1 Oz. Jig
Benjamin Del Shreve – Sleeping Sweetly
Boom Kinetic – Part Gray/Part Bright Light
Candy Lee and The Sweets – The Gate
Shannon Wurst – What’s More Honest Than a Song?
The OneUps – Intergalactic Redux
MSG – Now or Never
Mad Spirits – Wade Ogle & The Mad Spirits
The Good Fight – The Good Fight

Album Art
Will Collins (Archetype Studios), artwork for The Kory Montgomery Band – The Kory Montgomery Band
Sarah Anderson (independent), artwork for Various Artists Art Amiss 13 Music Compilation
John Moore (Noir33), artwork for The 1 Oz. Jig – The 1 Oz. Jig
Chuck Bame (independent), artwork for The Plaid Jackets – The Plaid Jackets

Best Producer/Studio
Adam Putman (Insomniac Studios)
Chris Moore (East Hall Studios)
Eric Schabacker (Winterwood Studios)
Darren Crisp (Crisp)
Mike Bailey (Dreamakers)