Erv Karwelis

Mike Scaccia of Rigor Mortis Died With His Boots On: Echoes and Reverberations

Safe to say that I was doing bong hits on the couch one afternoon back in 1987 when Michael Alago, the A&R rep from Elektra Records who discovered and signed Metallica, called me up out of the blue and asked what was happening with the music scene here in Dallas. Alago was based in New York City, an ... More >>

Dead Flowers Will Be Dead or on the Road in Six Months

A lot of good things have happened in the past two years for Dead Flowers. They've played many well-attended shows since their formation, and frontman Corey Howe had the honor of opening The Revival Tour last year at Trees. This past Tuesday, Dead Flowers' debut album, For You, came out digitally, ... More >>

Spotify and the Future of the Independent Artist

Spotify and the Future of the Independent Artist

On August 31, Todd Gautreau, the brains behind excellent area dream-pop act Crushed Stars, took to the band's Facebook page to sound off on a topic that's turned into a national debate among artists, record labels, music consumers and various streaming services, specifically and most notably Spotify ... More >>

Joshua Jones Keeps It Live and Local on KHYI

Aside from being a spitting image of actor Dermot Mulroney, KHYI-95.3 FMGeneral Manager Joshua Jones is quite the rising celeb. On a local level, anyway. He's taken advantage of the fact that he manages a station owned by true supporters of good, old-fashioned local and live radio, and the Jones fam ... More >>

2011 Music, Turned Up to 11

Local Music 'Mericans: Erv Karwelis Has Kept Idol Records Going For 18 Years At This Point

Welcome to Local Music 'Mericans , where we meet some of the people behind the local music scene -- those who aren't necessarily members of local bands, but more the people who make the scene move.Erv Karwelis​You know who needs a serious set of stones? The person who chooses to run an independ ... More >>

35 Conferette Panels: Making Sense and Cents Of The Modern Music Industry Models.

​At the beginning of yesterday's "Monetizing Music in a Free Economy" panel, moderator Nico Marini raised an interesting question: Should music be free? Turns out, the musicians pretty much thought so -- despite their mostly humble backgrounds. "I might represent the musician still doing laund ... More >>

Bonus MP3: The O's -- "We'll Go Walking"

​The new disc from local folk favorites The O's wasn't originally supposed to earn its release until February. And, OK, that still remains the case as far as hard copies of John Pedigo and Taylor Young's sophomore album, Between The Two, are concerned -- their local album release show will take pl ... More >>

The O's To Have Three Songs On Tonight's Season Premiere of 16 and Pregnant

Steven VisneauThe O's putt from the rough.​...or so this here press release we just received from Idol Records' Erv Karwelis says. We'd watch and see for ourselves but we generally try to avoid shows like 16 and Pregnant, which seem to imply the impending apocalypse and/or inspire things like teen ... More >>

Idol Records Wakes Up From Slumber To Sign A New Band, Create A New Sub-Label And Get Some Toys For Area Tots

I'd heard a couple rumblings about some of the following items earlier in the week but, now, straight from Idol Records' Erv Karwelis' mouth, we can confirm them all...Idol has signed area post-punkers Here Holy Spain--a band a whole lot more aggressive than most of Idol's mainstream-leaning acts.Al ... More >>

Idol Records Shows Us It's O's Face

Catch Old School Punk Warriors GBH This Weekend at The Door’s Prophet Bar

DOMA XX: Best Label Nominees

Bonus MP3: Shibboleth -- "The 1912 Horsey Rebellion"

New PPT Video: "When We Was Kool"

Idol Records Hosting SXSW Showcase

Label Mates

While the bottom drops out for the big boys, many locals are doing just fine

Big D's Great Roar

In Between Days, Today

Hey, Didn't You Used To Be The Hot Guy in Chomsky?

The Lowdown

Music tidbits from the Big D

A Trip to The Last Record Store

2006 Dallas Observer Music Awards

Spanking New

The Spree set off fireworks, Corn Mo might be a giant and more

Record Setter

Stuart Sikes has worked on albums by The White Stripes and Loretta Lynn. His next project? Dallas.

2004 Dallas Observer Music Awards

You voted. We counted. It's your favorite local acts, amplified.

Fresh Meat

Local music police welcome a new chief

2003 Dallas Observer Music Awards

Remembering (Barely) SXSW

We've vowed never to do it again--but we can't wait till next year

True Idol

Local label releases a Vital album to commemorate its 10th year

Mechanic Needed

The Dallas music scene has the right parts; someone just needs to put them all together

2002 Dallas Observer Music Awards

These are your choices, not ours, for the best musicians in town

Band on the Run

With an army of fans behind them and a new album in front, the members of Chomsky are ready to take the next step. They're just not sure where it will take them.

Scene, Heard

Counting down the days 'til February

Mandarin Makes Its Debut

Chomsky, Brutal Juice and others make the news

Scene, Heard

Todd Deatherage's newest up for grabs; Buzz-Oven reheats; New info on Centro-matic and Polyphonic Spree discs

Across the Bar

Hagfish meets Bobgoblin; Touring the giglist; Toadies just might hatch

Across the Bar

X'd out; Columbia compiles rockabilly; Hellions tribute to the Circle Jerks; Gig plugs galore; And Street Beat is ch-ch-ch-changing?

Across the Bar

Comet sighting; Clumsy in Motown; Grand Street redubbed; Bar of Soap brings in road grime

Pink panthers

Is there such a thing as a local supergroup? Ask Pinkston.

Comes to mind

Even on album, Sivad's just making it up as it goes

Blue notes

Centro-matic's second album is so good, it will break your heart

Super Sonic

Don't call it space-rock, even if the Falcon Project's new record is set in...outer space

Just meat and potatoes, ma'am

The American Fuse gets elemental

Burning down the house

Pervis fires up their new CD