Well alright, alright, alright y’all. We’ve reached the end of our open submissions for artists looking to be considered for The Deli's Best of Austin Year End Poll for Emerging Artists. Many thanks and tacos to all those that submitted their work; we took a listen to it all.

After tallying our editors' ratings for the Open Submissions stage, it’s time to release the results. Please note that to avoid conflicts no local editor was allowed to vote for bands in their own scene.

Total submissions from Austin: 25

Jurors: Jurors: Cody, Dan, Paolo

Acts advancing to our Readers/Fans Poll:

1. Hard Proof (Afrobeat) – 8.17 (out of 10)

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2. Madisons (Folk/Americana) - 7.5

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3. The Cover Letter (Alt Folk) - 7.5

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4. Jackie Venson (Blues Rock) - 7.33

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5. Tennessee Stiffs (Alt Folk) - 7.33

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6. COSMS (Post Rock) - 7.17

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7. Molybden (Folk/Americana) - 7.17

Honorable Mentions (ranked above 6.5):

Bazile, SIGNY, Booher, Paula Maya, Steady Legend, Wildcat Apollo, Indoor Creature

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WHAT’S NEXT: These results end the first phase of the poll. We will soon unveil the artists nominated by our local jurors, and then let our readers and our writers influence the poll with their vote.

Keep creating, keep supporting, and stay tuned for your chance to vote!

—The Deli Austin Staff

Thanks a bunch to all the artists who submitted music for consideration in The Deli's Best of Portland Year End Poll for Emerging Artists!

Honorable Mentions (ranked above 6.5): 

Dead Men Talking, Nature Thief, Dirty Revival, Sabonis, Cedar Teeth, Jeff True Jones.

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WHAT’S NEXT: These results conclude the first phase of the 2015 poll. Soon, I will name the artists selected by Portland's local jurors and then all you readers will influence the poll with your vote.

Thanks for reading and participating! Stay tuned!

—Cervante Pope, The Deli Portland Editor

The opening track, Even Before I Learned to Write is like the exhale of a lengthy drawn-out drag, armed with a cold beer and your best friends sitting in a circle discussing how weird life really is. Sun Valley Gun Club’s self-titled album generates a yearning for those authentic, unassuming moments that you don’t truly appreciate the beauty of until it's gone. Consistent with the energy of the album, Sun Valley Gun Club's self titled album is casually addictive. The album is so good, you can catch yourself naturally mouthing the lyrics, floating home from work half-dazed after the long day. SVGC is reminiscent of the vocals of your favorite classic 90’s jam and at first listen could be mistaken as simple Indie revival rock. However, the most surprising and incredible element of this album is the heartfelt, powerful 80’s guitar riffs that decide to make a pleasantly surprising appearance at the most unexpected times. What is initially perceived as a simple, rock album reveals itself as a unique, fresh sound that draws itself from the highlighted elements of two classic musical eras that when combined create a sound that is as nuanced and innovative. Drop the needle on It Came From the Moon, light one up and start again.

 - Lindsay Stickney

After a thoroughly solid indie rock album release in 2015 with Cokomo, that was itself a quick follow-up to a spectacular split with influencer and fellow Austin rocker Britt Daniel of the legendary Spoon, few Austin bands enter this new year as hot as Sweet Spirit. To add fuel to that fire, the act has just released a new, gripping music video for Cokomo track “Baby When I Close My Eyes” that joins Anomalisa in the surprisingly fast-growing “Early 2016 Super Artsy and Emotional Puppet-Based Films” subsection of pop culture.

That upcoming movie with its realism+puppets thing is more of a touchstone to go with when understanding what hitting play on this music vid than something like the Muppets, because this here video is dark and serious, including a good, healthy heaping of violence both puppet on puppet and human on puppet.

Both the video and the track discuss modern life and its troubles, with director John Valley saying about the various storylines in the video, “We weren’t preoccupied with the three plots leading you to a final message, yet the characters all go through a life-altering experience and come out the other end scarred but still in love.”

Singer Sabrina Ellis says about it that “People will either love it or hate it and that excites me,” and you can decide for yourself which way it makes ya feel by taking a peep below.

"It Calls On Me" (streaming below), the title track off New Hampshire-based singer/songwriter Doug Tuttle's forthcoming sophomore album, is an ominous yet ultimately sweet portrait of a ponderous mind. Soundling like a mix of The War On Drugs and Simon & Garfunkel, the guitar-plained song has the smooth-voiced Tuttle gazing up at the unknown while dealing with the reality before him. While it may be about "panic attacks and the feeling of being at the mercy of some unexplainable otherworldy force," as Tuttle explains in a Noisey interview, it is surprisingly charming and ultimately compassionate. Ahead of the release date of 'It Calls On Me' on 2/19, Doug Tuttle plays at Lillypad on 2/27 and Artspace on 2/28. - Zach Weg