Arts, Entertainment, and Media

Country Divas Ashley Monroe and Kacey Musgraves Have a Need for Weed

This week the Golden, Texas native Kacey Musgraves finally releases her eagerly-awaited debut album, Same Trailer, Different Park. Indeed, it's fitting that she's from a town named Golden, as the new album is but the most recent example of some serious Solid Country Gold that's come from the younger ... More >>

Straight from the Poet’s Mouth

David Bowie Tops the Dallas Independent Record Store Charts

This is not your everyday Billboard chart. Each week, we'll tell you which bands are selling in the fine record shops in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, where we consumers of music have impeccable taste. Consensus arose at Good Records and CD Source as David Bowie takes the lead in top selling alb ... More >>

Eric Clapton at American Airlines Center, 3/19/13: Review

Last night, Eric Clapton and Dallas-born guitarist Doyle Bramhall II set fire to their Stratocasters' fretboards. Their fingers slid across the neck, bending strings until they bled the blues. Feeding off a musical energy straight from the Crossroads, the talented guitarists empowered some of Clapto ... More >>

This Week's Top Show Announcements: Divine Fits, Blue Oyster Cult, Ben Folds Five, Rob Zombie and More

As we sit in our cubicles, school chairs or desks today, the Texas sky is relentless with its 73-degree beauty, tempting all of us to turn on some tunes, throw up our hands and have recess. Texas has just reached the perfect time of year when all of the alchemy is correct for hosting a plethora of m ... More >>

The Best Ways for Musicians to Get Health Insurance

Are you a musician? Is your group having issues? Ask Fan Landers! Critic Jessica Hopper has played in and managed bands, toured internationally, booked shows, produced records, worked as a publicist, and is the author of The Girls' Guide to Rocking, a how-to for teen ladies. She is here to help you ... More >>

Ultra 2013: Yeasayer Insulted the Ravers While Matt & Kim Charmed Them

On day one of Ultra Music Festival 2013, the main-stage DJ surprisingly played Red Hot Chili Peppers' "By the Way." It's not one of the Cali crew's early songs, but it's a hit that came out when about 60 percent of the crowd (now dancing in tutus, "Show Me Your Tits" tees, and beaded masks slathered ... More >>

Rex Brown is Ready to Talk About the Rise and Fall of Pantera

Pick up a copy of Official Truth 101 Proof: The Inside Story of Pantera at any local bookstore or online at Amazon. Rex will be signing copies of the book at Barnes & Noble on Northwest Highway in Dallas on Tuesday night, March 19, at 7:00 p.m. Back in the Nineties, Panetra rocked venue after venu ... More >>

There's a Special Place in Dallas' Hip-Hop Heart for Snoop Dogg

One Thirty Productions' Greater Tuna Melts your Heart, Makes You Laugh

Five of This Week's Top Show Announcements: Best Coast, The Octopus Project, Brad Paisley and More

Best Coast Tuesday, May 28, at Granada Theater, $24 L.A.'s surf-pop duo Best Coast blew up on everyone's radar in 2010 when they were one of the most blog-worthy bands around after releasing their debut LP Crazy for You. Then, last year they had an equally as powerful follow-up with The Only Place, ... More >>

Justin Timberlake and Kanye West's Feud And Avoiding Famous-Guy Backlash

The foundation of Justin Timberlake's fame--broad-based and consistent and weirdly resistant to automatic internet backlash--is that it came, originally, from looking this ridiculous, and he seems to accept that. That's the only thing I can come up with to explain just how many people I heard talkin ... More >>

The Bands Who Have Played Every 35 Denton Talk About the Festival

The festival now known as 35 Denton first set up its permanent residence in the city five years ago. More than 20 musicians from the area have played all four previous incarnations and will be back again this year. We asked a few of them to share their thoughts on the festival and its growth. See a ... More >>

Top Show Announcements: Big Boi, Smashing Pumpkins, Bruno Mars, Black Flag and More

This particular announcement post stirs up some old memories: The last time Big Boi was in town, a handful of my friends--after dancing with him onstage--somehow made their way onto his tour bus, and proceeded to happily dance, smoke weed and partake in all sorts of fun, drunken debauchery. I was st ... More >>

As Legislature Mulls State Parks' Closure, Would-Be Sites Languish For Decades

The budget ax brought down by the state legislature in 2011 gouged a huge chunk from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, which lost more than a fifth of its funding. The result was layoffs and a reduction in staffing and hours of operation at a number of state parks. The initial spending propo ... More >>

How to Appreciate Metal: A Four-Step Guide

Step One: Admit the world and worry obliterating limitations of Indie Rock, Top 40 and basically everything else. Boss getting you down? Spouse (or partner) ripping you a new one? Fido pissing in the house? Friend forgetting to pay you the $20 that you loaned him (or her) last Friday night? Is your ... More >>

Del Shores' Yellow Takes a Jaundiced View of Family Life at Uptown Players

Nicholas Altobelli is Betting Everything on His New Album

Madonna and Bruce Springsteen are 2012's Richest Musicians: All the Money's in Touring

I don't know how much else Madonna and Silvio Berlusconi have in common--her extremely visible fight against aging is going much better than his--but here's one connection: This weekend Italy voted in an election that's serving as a referendum on a decade of economic stagnation caused by, among othe ... More >>

Billboard Now Counts YouTube Plays, so "Harlem Shake" is Number One

"Harlem Shake" is the No. 1 song in the United States of America this week, which means that now is your chance to listen to more than fifteen seconds of it. Baauer's meme soundtrack is the beneficiary of a Billboard rule change--YouTube views have been added to the Hot 100 calculations, joining phy ... More >>

In Defense of New Girl (Hear Us Out...)

This Week's Top Show Announcements: Of Monsters and Men, Pat Benatar, Dave Matthews Band, Alkeline Trio, Gramatik and More

Of Monsters and Men Tuesday, June 4, at House of Blues, $37.50 Cinematic and instrumental folk rock band Of Monsters and Men are heading out for a much anticipated tour this summer after their debut album My Head is an Animal dropped and the world discovered the track "Little Talks," which eventuall ... More >>

River Phoenix's Dark Blood: Not the Epitaph He Deserves

Noms. Nods. And Noshes.

The Postal Service are Coming to Dallas: Presale Starts Tomorrow

Update, 2/20, 9:50 a.m. The pre sales have started for East Coast dates. The link goes live to the right of the date, where it currently says On Sale Soon. Once you click, you get put in a queue for tickets, so I'd try and click as close to 10 a.m. as you humanly can. As in, start refreshing your br ... More >>

DJ Quick Chris was a Guiding Light for Dallas Hip-Hop: R.I.P.

Last Sunday, Dallas lost a true beacon in the scene. Christopher Evans Kelly, a.k.a. DJ Quick Chris, died of pneumonia and congestive heart failure after a year-long fight with lymphoma. "Even through his ongoing stays in the hospital, Chris continued to create new and original sounds," says his si ... More >>

How Do We Convert From Christian Rock to Indie Rock?

Are you a musician? Is your group having issues? Ask Fan Landers! Critic Jessica Hopper has played in and managed bands, toured internationally, booked shows, produced records, worked as a publicist, and is the author of The Girls' Guide to Rocking, a how-to for teen ladies. She is here to help you ... More >>

The Really Slow Death of the Die Hard Franchise

Pizza, Weed And Finals? Begin Scene!

Not Everything Goes

The Jealous Sound's Blair Shehan Remembers his First Guitar: A Black and White Epiphone

In honor of the Jealous Sound's third appearance in the DFW area in 12 months (they play in the House of Blues' Cambridge Room tonight), we caught up with frontman Blair Shehan on how he got into playing guitar, hardcore punk, and where the band is now. What drew you to playing guitar? I grew up ... More >>

The xx Counts Rihanna and Gossip Girl Among their Fans, Much to Their Surprise

No one sounds as taken aback by the success of the xx than the band's guitarist, Romy Madley-Croft. Even though she helped co-found the band in 2005, Madley-Croft remains skeptical of her own playing, but somewhat reluctantly admits that her band is evolving for the better. Speaking from a tour sto ... More >>

Murs

Friday, February 8, at The Prophet Bar

Nice Day For A... Blood Wedding

My Bloody Valentine's Website Crash Shows What it Means to Be Indie in 2013

My Bloody Valentine released a new album over the weekend, and by all accounts it's very good. There are a lot of thick, quavering guitars on it, you can't really hear the vocals, and nothing goes much like you expect it to, which is to say that if you enjoy My Bloody Valentine, you'll enjoy m b v. ... More >>

How the Super Bowl Halftime Show is Exactly like the Andrews Sisters (Kind Of)

Let me enter these facts into evidence: I enjoy the Super Bowl Halftime Show well enough, and I love the Andrews Sisters. One more: I think the 2013 Super Bowl Halftime Show, featuring the indestructible Beyonce, is liable to be the strongest show in--well, since your favorite of the aging rock star ... More >>

Gojira

Thursday, January 31, at The Granada Theater

The Atlas Moth Genesis: Metallica, Talent Shows and Peter Gunn

The Atlas Moth will be in town on Thursday with opening for death metal proggers Gojira at the Granada. Frontman Stavros Giannopoulos took some time out to talk about the first shows he saw as a kid, The Blues Brothers, and Peter Gunn. Growing up, was there anybody that inspired you to play music? ... More >>

Father John Misty, Jim James, Cannibal Corpse and More of This Week's Show Announcements

Father John Misty Monday, May 6, at Granada Theater It's no news that J. Tillman has had many musical past lives, including a short-lived stint with the Fleet Foxes, but after the release of Fear Fun last summer, the first album under his moniker Father John Misty, he's perhaps never been more at ho ... More >>

Jack's Throwback 2013: Lineup and Ticket Information

Jack's Throwback, the self-described "largest and loudest tribute band festival" in North America, has just announced its 2013 lineup. It's presented by 100.3 Jack FM and will take place Saturday, May 11, at Gexa Energy Pavilion. The full list is below, including the band's name and the canonical gr ... More >>

Brad Paisley Tells Country Audiences There's Nothing Wrong With White Folks Becoming the Minority

Brad Paisley, "Southern Comfort Zone" Current Billboard Country Singles Chart Position: 10 The Verdict: Holy shit, songs on the radio can still be important! So, here, in a shimmering single whose title buzz markets a godawful no-whiskey whiskey liqueur, we have a black gospel choir belting "Dixie" ... More >>

Coachella Lineup 2013: Old Legends Going Solo and a Double Dose of Nick Cave

The 2013 Coachella Lineup is here! In case this is your only source of music information (what else could you possibly need, really?), the headliners are The Stone Roses, Blur, Phoenix and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Why yes, we do live in a world where New Order gets out-billed by Phoenix. Check out ... More >>

A.Dd+

Saturday, January 26, at Granada Theater

Broadway Our Way Raises Funds (and the Roof) at Uptown Players

Nathan Adamson's Vision for Music Utopia: No More Traditional Schools, Banks or Mayors

Nathan Adamson owns and operates a small recording facility and label: FourReelz Records, and Ferralog http://ferralog.com/ Studios in Deep Ellum. What caught our attention was the spotlight feature he does for new artists: "Catch & http://www.facebook.com/pages/Catch-Release/540478972638088 Rel ... More >>

Playing Footsie

How The Atomic Tanlines Went From Church Choir to Crawling Around in Broken Glass

The Atomic Tanlines received plenty of praise last year with their blend of punk, free jazz and soul. The Denton-based five-piece sat down with us at the Waffle House where they started to discuss their background in music. You can catch them this week at Le Bitch Manor on Thursday and at Dada on Sa ... More >>

Jessica Simpson's TV Show Means She's Finally Famous for Being Famous for Being Famous

Jessica Simpson's TV show--that is, her new TV show, a sitcom set to air on NBC--is going to be about her life as a celebrity. You should immediately be able to spot the problem, here: Her life as a celebrity is already about her life as a celebrity. The first 22 episodes are going to be board-room ... More >>

Alan Light's new book explains how Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" went from obscurity to ubiquity

The Destiny's Child Comeback is Proof: Beyonce is the Invincible Pop Star

Destiny's Child released their first major-label song on the soundtrack to Men in Black, which came out on CD, cassette, and MiniDisc; they became famous shortly before Monica Lewinsky. This is the kind of thing a pop star less secure than Beyonce wouldn't want to draw attention toward, which is one ... More >>