Merle Haggard

Listen: North Texas Collective Chapter 11 has a Beautiful Hit with "Whiskey and You"

When speaking of North Texas country music collective Chapter 11, we're not using the term "collective" lightly. The project, dreamed-up by Sherman-based producer and engineer Dustin Hendricks, who's worked with such greats as Kris Kristofferson, Merle Haggard and even metal giants Hellyeah, isn't a ... More >>

The 10 Greatest Alt-Country Bands Ever

With Jay Farrar and Son Volt playing at the Sons of Hermann Hall this weekend, it seems a good time to evaluate the entire Alt-country semi-movement. For all practical matters, Alt-country began with Uncle Tupelo's album No Depression in 1990. Shortly thereafter, the magazine of the same name was pu ... More >>

Texas Television Troubadour Matt Caldwell Shuffles His iPod For Us.

Texas Country, or Red Dirt, or whatever one wants to call it, has become big business these days. So, it's not really shocking that a couple of television shows dedicated to artists fitting into the Lone Star-loving realm have popped up and are shedding light on the talent all over the state and int ... More >>

A Chat With Randy Brooks, the Guy Who Wrote "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer"

I attended the Oral Fixation "Cold Turkey" show at the MAC last Tuesday night, mainly because Observer copy editor and beer enthusiast Jesse Hughey was going to be reading, and he ended up getting some of the biggest laughs of the night, from a crowd that took in some pretty dark tales. Also notable ... More >>

Five Slowcore Bands That Weren't Really Slowcore

Last year, we detailed five fantastic post-rock bands that scoff at the term post-rock and, more or less, pissed on the very thought of being tagged as such. With Luna's Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips conquering the grassy hill at the Belmont Hotel tonight as a part of KXT 91.7's Barefoot at the ... More >>

Nine of This Week's Most Notable Show Announcements: Swans, Crushed Stars and More

Swans, Xiu XiuSunday, September 16, at Trees, $20In 1997, post-punk act Swans went on hiatus and didn't return until 2010, when they released My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky. A successful tour followed. Seems the band has settled back in nicely, as they're set to release The Seer in Aug ... More >>

Calhoun's Tim Locke Talks U2, Metallica and My Morning Jacket

​ Calhoun frontman Tim Locke will be live and full in effect on Thursday night at Dan's Silverleaf. Opening for The Life and Times, the Fort Worth four-piece will deliver a show that could be as inspiring as the shows Locke saw as a kid, which range from John Denver all the way to Metallica. H ... More >>

Pete Anderson: "We [Dwight Yoakam and I] Were Americana Before There Was Americana"

If known only for his guitar playing and production work with Dwight Yoakam, singer/songwriter Pete Anderson would still be a legend in both the country and alt-country genres. There is much more to Pete Anderson than the stellar licks on such Yoakam hits as "Guitar, Cadillacs" and "Streets of B ... More >>

Lydia Loveless Talks Classic Punk Versus Modern Punk and Not Being Afraid of Jesus.

Despite being just 21 years of age, country singer-songwriter Lydia Loveless has the world-weary demeanor of someone twice her age. After leaving home at the age of 14, Loveless found solace in, of all places, Columbus, Ohio, and that city's underground punk scene. Like a lot of punks, Loveless th ... More >>

Thirty Years Later, The History of Western Swing in 26 Minutes as Told by Johnny Gimble

Via.Johnny Gimble and Bob Wills, circa '64​What you'll find after the jump was posted to Vimeo only a few hours ago: a cleaned-up version version of Ken Harrison's 1981 doc on Western Swing fiddle-playing legend Johnny Gimble titled, simply, Gimble's Swing. The film, made for the Tennessee Folklor ... More >>

Good Friday: Ben Kweller, Rhett Miller, Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, Os Mutantes, Deerhunter, Best Coast, Monotonix, Delorean, Magic Kids, Alejandro Escovedo, Bill Frisell, Suicidal Tendencies, DJ Shadow, Merle Haggard, Tumbledown & More!

Ben Kweller punching the bottom of Rhett Miller's head--for Cystic Fibrosis​This weekend's concert calender is abnormally full to the brim, but the show we're maybe most excited about is Ben Kweller and Rhett Miller's Cystic Fibrosis benefit concert at Granada Theater. Two of the biggest local ind ... More >>

The 15 Worst ...and Friends! Albums Of All-Time

​It's hard not to remember Santana's 1999 album Supernatural. Besides just the Rob Thomas collab "Smooth," which we've spent the past decade trying to erase from our memories, the album received a lot of attention at the time for being one of those records that featured a different collaboration w ... More >>

Gig Alert: The Knitters Play Dan's Silverleaf Tonight

The Knitters​We already mentioned it in print, but this one merits a reminder: The Knitters, the alt-country spinoff of legendary L.A. punk rock band X, make a rare area appearance tonight at Dan's Silverleaf. John Doe and Exene Cervenka, the founding members of X, started The Knitters way back in ... More >>

Staff Trax: Kris Kristofferson, The National, David Garza, Fear and Phil Collins

Welcome to Staff Trax, the weekly feature here on DC9 where we shed some light on the music we've been enjoying of late, regardless of the touring or album release schedules that tend to bear the focus of most of our coverage. Consider it a chance for you readers to get some more insight into ... More >>

ACL '09: The Yeah Yeah Yeahs Sparkle Our Imaginations And Karen O Gets Crazy.

Photos by Patrick Michels Almost as magical as when Merle Haggard spits onstage.​Dressed like a character belonging more to Pan's Labyrinth than anything of the natural world, Karen O led the Yeah Yeah Yeahs through a fantastical, epic performance at Zilker Park last night.And it was all th ... More >>

Good Friday: Terri Hendrix, Lloyd Maines, Richard Lloyd, Charlie Louvin, Kenny Chesney, Dave Matthews, Ghoultown, The Uncontrollable Urge, Jason Isbell, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Slow Roosevelt, Eleven Hundred Springs

Darryl is totally stoked that this guy is coming to town.Quite a variety of musical happenings this weekend; and it's a nice mix of national and local fare. First the shows already covered in print or in the blog: Jesse did a nice job hipping you to tonight's Chalie Louvin/AM Ramblers show in Fort ... More >>

Amos Lee

Saturday, September 20, at the Granada Theater

Still the King

Bass Hall salutes Bob Wills

Please Release Me

Big ups to those who are gettin' down

Rhinestone Cowboy

Manuel visits Fort Worth

Dragna, The Action Is, The Archons

Thursday, May 24, at the Double Wide

Independence Day

What's indie rock? Who cares? Here are 10 great CDs that will blow you away, no matter your definition.

Dallas Punks on Parade in 1978

A Hoot of a Holler

There never was a tear in Bob Wills' beer

Cho Takes Aim

Margaret Cho is an assassin armed with joke bullets

Season's Bleatings

Thanks to these CDs, it's beginning to sound a lot like Christmas

Loretta Lynn

Van Lear Rose (Interscope)

Dave Alvin

January 10

Johnny Cash / Various Artists

At Madison Square Garden (Sony Legacy)
American IV: The Man Comes Around (American/Lost Highway)
Dressed in Black (Dualtone)
Kindred Spirits (Sony)

Robert Earl Keen, Cory Morrow

May 26

Straight Talk

Soul 73 KKDA's Millie Jackson tells it how it is, no matter what that happens to be

Thango Tied

Tasty Thai now available in Flower Mound

Critics' Picks

Pat Green

Good rockin' last night

A new CD resurrects the echoes of the long-gone Big "D" Jamboree, where Elvis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, and some forgotten heroes made Saturday nights swing

Ride with Ray

The best friend Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys ever had

Day for Knight

Ray Wylie Hubbard is no longer up against the wall, redneck mother

Bright light

Undermain turns the world premiere of Shiner into a beacon of Dallas talent

Night & Day

June 3 - 9, 1999

Out Here

NIGHT & DAY,

1998 December 3-9

Country and Midwestern

The best of the alt-country lot salute the majesty of the past--while defining the future

Whiskey-bent and hell-bound

With a monumental new boxed set, Hank Williams gets out of this world alive

Why Christmas music sucks

Unlikely hybrid

The cocktail country of the Lucky Pierres proves to be the right mix

Roadshows

Events for the week

Out There

Grading on a curve

This was the year local music broke, but was it fixed?

Far from Gone

Dwight Yoakam's latest conjures up echoes of '60s AM radio

Strait to hell

George Strait saved country music. Then he killed it