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ABOUT THE MUSIC PRIZE
Not singles built for a week of attention. Not streaming numbers, social media reach or who managed to make the most noise around a release. Albums.
Complete pieces of work that took time, money, patience and belief to finish. Records that document where an artist was at a particular moment and add something meaningful to the larger story of music in North Texas. Each year, the JAMBALOO Music Prize celebrates the strongest album released by a Dallas-Fort Worth artist and gives its creator direct, practical support to continue moving forward.
More Than a Trophy
The JAMBALOO Music Prize is built to provide support that an independent artist can actually use.
The winning artist receives $20,000, along with additional opportunities designed to help the album and the artist reach a wider audience.
In 2026, those opportunities included recording time at Luminous Sound with Grammy-winning producer and engineer Tre Nagella, airplay through KXT 91.7 and support from Josey Records.
Finalist Aaron’s Book Club at the Final
Finalist Paul Schalda at the Final
The money matters because music is expensive to make. Studio time costs money. Touring costs money. Pressing records, producing videos, hiring photographers, paying musicians and simply creating the space to write all cost money.
But the recognition matters too.
For every album that finds a large audience, countless others disappear beneath release calendars and recommendation systems before listeners are given a real opportunity to hear them.
The prize creates another way for those records to be discovered.
Last year’s music prize final was headlined by the incomparable Marc Rebillet at the longhorn ballroom.
LAST YEAR’S SHORTLIST
Aaron’s Book Club
Doggies
Angel White
Ghost Of The West
J. Isaiah Evans & The Boss Tweed
Americana Radio
Joel Wells Jr. & The Revelers Hall Band
Joel Wells Jr. & The Revelers Hall Band
Los Gran Reyes
Cumbia Vibes
Luke Herbert
Forever Came Too Soon
Matthew McNeal
Highlonesome
Roman The Writer
The Musician of Space. Pt. I: Yves Klein.
Paul Schalda
Lately
Smothered
Dirty Laundry
The 2026 Music Prize
The 2026 shortlist represented the range of music being made across DFW.
The selected albums included releases from Aaron’s Book Club, Paul Schalda, Matthew McNeal, Angel White, Joel Wells Jr. and The Revelers Hall Jazz Band, Luke Herbert, Los Gran Reyes, Roman The Writer, J. Isaiah Evans & The Boss Tweed and Smothered.
Country, jazz, hip-hop, cumbia, indie rock, Americana and heavier sounds all appeared alongside one another, not because they belonged to the same scene, but because each artist had created a body of work worth hearing in full.
Matthew McNeal ultimately received the 2026 JAMBALOO Music Prize for HIGHLONESOME, an album that moves between country, rock and Americana without forcing itself into one fixed identity.
The winner was announced at the Longhorn Ballroom during a special event headlined by Marc Rebillet.
The 2026 Playlist
If you’re making (or have made) an album in 2026, this is your moment.
IN THE PRESS
Launching the JAMBALOO Music Prize
This New Music Prize Will Award $20,000 to One North Texas Album
Jambaloo’s Inaugural $20K Music Prize Bets on DFW Music
JAMBALOO Launches $20K Music Prize to Spotlight DFW Artists
Two New Contests Seek to Find Texas Music Talent
$20,000 JAMBALOO Music Prize
Meet the Dallas Lawyers Launching a $20,000 Contest for Texas Indie Artists
Semifinalists, Public Voting + Marc Rebillet
