Guitar Center Inc.

One Man's Search for the Perfect Instrument

Get To Know Your 2012 DOMA Best DJ Nominees

Leading up to our November 10 showcase, we'll be getting you familiar with some of our Dallas Observer Music Awards nominees, either via past features we've done on them, or new ones. You can vote for your favorite acts, venues and more right here. They are all hunched over the jukebox, scanning ti ... More >>

Ask Fan Landers: Is My Band Accidentally Aiding A Right-Wing Extremist?

Are you a musician? Is your band having issues? Our new advice columnist, Fan Landers (a.k.a. Jessica Hopper), is ready to give you Real Talk about any problems your musical outfit might be having -- whether professional, practical, or sartorial. Send your problems here; confidentiality is assured, ... More >>

Soviet and The Longshots On Their First Shows: "There's Still Nasty Dreadlock Hair Tangled All Through The Pegs"

Usually, we only interview one band for this feature, but given the chance to interview members of Soviet and The Longshots, to hell with regulations. Both bands will open for Pujol tomorrow at Dada, certainly one of the better shows this week. John, what can you remember about the first Soviet sh ... More >>

The Five Best Local Music Stores

There are plenty of places to go in Dallas to get music equipment. Whether you're a professional musician, the parent of a tween or just a person with a rather expensive hobby, there are six Guitar Centers in the metroplex. Truth is, Guitar Center has almost everything you need: Plenty of new and vi ... More >>

City Hall's City Store Remains a Good Deal, Especially If You're in a Band, Let's Say

​From time to time the city will post to Lone Star Auctioneers some of the finer offerings being sold out of the City Store, where there's always a bargain to be had. This week, I see, Richard Matthews is making available, among other curious (four "SelfCheck Checkout Stations"), an assortment of ... More >>

Rock ’n’ Roll Can Help

Nine Bands Confirmed For First Annual 45 Fest Set To Take Place on October 21 at Dada

The late, great Spector 45.​Hello Lover, Jim Suhler, The Mike Haskins Experience, The Marfalites, Dog Company, Here Holy Spain, The Assassins, The Phuss and Houston's The Sellouts are the first nine bands confirmed for the first annual 45 Fest, which will honor late Spector 45 members Frankie Camp ... More >>

Concert Foul No. 61: Being The Guy Who Talks Endlessly About a Band's Gear During Their Set

​You know this guy, but you don't usually know his name. Chances are good you've heard and seen him. And, uh, it is always a guy. Never a female by my experience.Anyway, right before a band he's about to see plays their set, he gets a close look at the band's equipment and his mind starts to race. ... More >>

Giveaway: Two Pairs of Tickets To See This Will Destroy You, Ume and The Boom Boom Box Tonight at the Granada Theater

In this week's paper, Doug Davis gets pretty gaga over Austin's Ume, whose spastic, churning blend of punk and thrash has been earning the band all sorts of accolades of late, thanks in no small part to the contributions of magnetic frontwoman and bona fide guitar heroine Lauren Langner Larson, who ... More >>

Ume's Lauren Langner Larson Shreds Gender Expectations.

What It Was Like: Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy Camp 2010

​Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy Camp is a chance for musicians to get a crash course in playing in a rock band. Whether your drumming skills are on par with Meg White's or somebody who can play "Pride & Joy" note-for-note in a dark corner of a Guitar Center, the intent of the camp is to become a better ... More >>

Listomania: Top 10 Most Annoying Songs Heard Regularly at Guitar Center (Not Counting "Stairway to Heaven," Duh)

Khue BuiNo "Stairway To Heaven," bro.​A musician's heaven can quickly turn into a musician's hell. If you need a new set of guitar strings or drumsticks, just head to that shining beacon of sundry rock and roll knick-knacks known as Guitar Center. It's a place where almost any piece of musical e ... More >>

Congratulations, City of Sherman: You're Having The Best Week Ever.

Bustling, ain't it.​A cursory Wikipedia search tells me that the City of Sherman has at least a little musical history--well more than I was a aware, at least--as the hometowns of Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame saxophone player Buddy Tate and country music icon Buck Owens.But, the Owens-hosted Hee ... More >>

Introducing Kashioboy and his Chiptunes.

SXSW Dispatches: The O's Let Us Read Their Diary

[Last week, we asked a few bands to check in with us from time to time over the course of the week to tell us about their SXSW experiences. Now, with the fest over, those diatribes are starting to show. Here's The O's' take on SXSW...]Steve VisneauThursday, March 19, 2009Dear O's Journal, It's 10:3 ... More >>

Echoes & Reverberations: Van Halen’s “Almost Infamous”

KZPS: Now the Best Radio Station Ever?

Peanut Butter Wolf Presents Stones Throw Ten Years

(Stones Throw)

Singles Going Steady

How to blow 99 cents

Cornelius

Sensuous (Warner [import])

One-Toke Wonder

Tenacious D gets the band back together and... and... and?

Odds & Ends

How Gang of Four's Dave Allen found a music partner in Jayson Bales

Odds & Ends

Raise a final beer (or seven) to the boys in Speedtrucker at their farewell shows

Moon Tunes

Odds & Ends

Laptop demolition, band self-destruction and the Eagle flies again (sort of)

Odds & Ends

The Cavern used to be a dark, dingy place for bad local bands. Lance Yocom is brightening it up.

2005 Dallas Observer Music Awards

Case Solved: Killer musicians captured, thanks to your tips

Don't Fret

Dallas Guitar Show plays on

Move Over, Flickerstick

A Dozen Furies wins Battle for Ozzfest

Catch the Tree Wave

Old Ataris playing music? Singing with a dot-matrix printer? For this duo, it's all perfectly natural.

Best Place to Buy a Guitar

Guitar Center

A New Texas Jam

Crossroads Guitar Festival celebrates six-strings and the men who make them famous

Rage Against the Machine

Live at the Grand Olympic Ballroom (Epic)

State Pen

My Morning Jacket is from Kentucky. Stop holding that against them.

Best Place for a Musician to Cash In

Guitar Center

Ozzfest

June 29

Turn Up the Volume

Check out Robot Monster Weekend, the best new band we've heard in a while

Pazz and Jop

With Unincorporated, the Earl Harvin Trio is no longer a jazz band. It's whatever it wants to be.

Ax to grind

Take me home, country roads

Producer Dave Willingham makes noise in the middle of nowhere

Letters