In 2018, The Boot introduced the Golden Mic Awards, and in 2019, the reader-voted digital awards series is returning for another year! Recognizing the best in live country and Americana music, The Boot's Golden Mic Awards feature nine categories of staff-selected nominees who rule the stage.

This week (April 22-26), The Boot will reveal 2019's Golden Mic Awards categories ... and then, it will be up to you, our readers, to crown the winners. After each Golden Mic Awards category is revealed, readers will be able to vote for their preferred winner in each category as often as once per hour through 11:59PM ET on May 22. We'll announce the winners on the site the next day, May 23.

This Golden Mic Awards category could be rechristened Best Texas Country Act, considering all 10 nominees hail from the Lone Star State. Beyond that obvious tie that binds them, this mix of bands and solo artists -- ranging from veterans to newcomers -- best represent the work ethic and musical creativity out there beyond what's spun on the radio or celebrated at awards shows.

William Clark Green exemplifies young singer-songwriters, constantly churning out albums that slowly but surely garner mainstream interest for independently released country music. But veteran outlaw Ray Wylie Hubbard might be the most consistently successful independent artist in all of country music; at the very least, he's the genre's longest-tenured, continuing a 40-plus year run of shunning big label support.

Momentum built by Cody Johnson's tour regimen and recent partnership with Warner Music Nashville positions him as a potential new Jon Pardi: a cowboy hat-wearing, past-honoring superstar. The Josh Abbott Band, meanwhile, formed on the campus of the 2019 NCAA basketball tournament's national runners-up, Texas Tech, but they don't need intercollegiate sports success for an excuse to kick-start a party.

Robert Earl Keen has promoted new music through touring for nearly 35 years, and the Texas troubadour shows no signs of slowing down any time soon. Despite being one of the newest names on this list, Austin singer-songwriter Carson McHone's 2018 album Carousel and her tireless work ethic as a touring artist have already earned her a global fan base.

Red Dirt country mainstays the Randy Rogers Band have kept live Texas music, on the home front and across the nation, vibrant since 2000. Punk-rocker-turned-alt-country artist Joshua Fleming put together the Dallas-area supergroup Vandoliers after figuring out the similarities between Hank Williams in 1947 and the Ramones circa 1977.

Over the past 20 years, Amarillo's own Aaron Watson has furthered his home state's reputation for traditional country singer-songwriters, culminating with the 2015 release of the chart-topping album The Underdog. Finally, East Texan Koe Wetzel carries the musical torch for ZZ Top and others as the leader of a rock band with deep country and Western roots.

Which of these acts should be named best Regional Live Act in the 2019 Golden Mic Awards? Vote below!

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