The Hold Steady

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 >>

California Wives on Vagrant Records and the Musée d'Orsay

Chicago's California Wives, featured most recently in a commercial for Sharpie, will grace Dallas on Saturday, when they open for Stars. Jayson Kramer took some time out to share with us about being on Vagrant Records, museums and touring with Stars. Since you're on Vagrant Records, I'm curious as ... More >>

Craig Finn Stays Positive at Dada

Craig Finn, Mount Moriah, Beau Jennings & the Tigers Dada Wednesday, February 1 Craig Finn stepped on stage with his four bandmates and declared, "I'm Craig Finn. This is my band. We need a name." Serving as the opening date for a two-month tour ahead of them, the erstwhile Hold Steady frontman wa ... More >>

For Craig Finn, Rock and Roll is Church

10 Albums To Not Overlook In 2012

In case you're already blinded by the golden aura of 2012's major releases -- The Shins, T.I., Soundgarden, Nicki Minaj, Mumford & Sons, Muse, Sigur Ros -- we want to make sure you don't forget about some other sure-to-be-top-notch albums that will see release next year. They may not shine on the iT ... More >>

Parade of Flesh Has Got a 2012 Deal For You

If that 2012 movie was right -- and it surely was because, ya know, Hollywood knows science -- then we're all going to die in a spectacularly crappy tidal wave of CGI effects next year. Huzzah. However, that movie came out in 2009. C'mon, Hollywood. We need to be more terrified going into the new ye ... More >>

Astronautalis Finds Different Chart Success

Concert Foul No. 32: Shouting Out Requests

​ "Meltdown! Meltdown!" He wouldn't stop shouting it. No, not Brent Best or anyone in Slobberbone. Some dude in the crowd during a recent gig.It was constant. Consistent, too. Always "Meltdown! Meltdown!," never just "Meltdown!"This was a guy that I had already moved away from once, yet somehow fo ... More >>

My First Show: Elkhart's Travis Hopper Shares His Memories Of Seeing The Jacksons, Guns N' Roses and The Hold Steady For The First Time.

Welcome to My First Show, where we give bands a chance to talk about the first shows they ever attended -- no matter how uncool and embarrassing those tales may be. Travis Hopper​You might have seen him play with The Americanos, J.D. Whittenburg or as a solo act, but, these days, Travis Hopper s ... More >>

Power Trip Frontman Riley Gale Shares Some Insight Into Fun Fun Fun Fest's Success From His Band's Backstage Perspective

Dallas' Power Trip was the sole regional participant at this year's Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin, so we asked frontman Riley Gale to document the band's experience at the festival, to help give our readers some insight into what things are really like behind the scenes at a concert of that scope. Belo ... More >>

The Descendents Ascend And Polvo Pulverize To Cap The Festival Weekend

Jesse HugheyPolvo Sunday, November 7, at Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin.​I kept repeatedly asking myself the same question on Sunday: "Why can't Dallas do something like this?" Seriously: It's high time Dallas music fans let their Austin friends couch-surf for a change -- we certainly owe them for all ... More >>

Fun Fun Fun Fest: MGMT and Bad Religion Cap A Great Saturday

​Oh, the decisions. As was the case last year, Fun Fun Fun's Saturday schedule forced some hard choices; today's toughest might be Washed Out and Deerhunter's simultaneous sets, thought there are plenty of other conflicting sets. But one of the things that makes Fun Fun Fun great is that the three ... More >>

Fun Fun Sunday So Far, With Toro Y Moi, Deakin, Kylesa And More

​The weather is perfect, with a cool breeze, bright sunshine and plenty of shade everywhere. Only complaint in that department is the clouds of dust kicked up by the thousands of festivalgoers, which explains the popularity of dust masks and bandanas worn bandit-style. With so many people in shade ... More >>

Giveaway: Yet Another Pair of Free Tickets to Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin

​We've done this not once but twice before, so by now you should know the drill. If not, a quick refresher: On November 5, 6 and 7, at Austin's Waterloo Park, the other fall music festival in the capital city will present it's biggest--not to mention, we think, it's best--lineup offering to date. ... More >>

Over The Weekend: Drive-By Truckers, The Henry Clay People at House of Blues

Drive-By Truckers, The Henry Clay PeopleHouse of BluesSeptember 25, 2010Better Than: The Drive-By Truckers' SXSW show in March, when they methodically rushed through their new album.Drive-By Truckers​It's always interesting to see and hear how a beloved band's newest material is received by its ... More >>

Today In Music News: Wilson/Crowe Call It Quits, The Hold Steady Support The Twins And Toby Keith Gets Social

Your daily dose of national music news for Monday, September 27, 2010...Divorce news that sucks as bad as your parents calling it quits: Nancy Wilson and Cameron Crowe are getting divorced. Members of The Hold Steady lend their support for the Minnesota Twins with a new song.Toby Keith may play up ... More >>

Last Night: Titus Andronicus, Soft Envoronmental Collapse, Bizarro Kids at Sons of Hermann Hall

Titus Andronicus, Soft Envirtonmental Collapse, Bizarro KidsSons of Hermann HallAugust 31, 2010Better than: sitting through Shakespeare, even at his goriest.Titus Andronicus​Titus Andronicus may have been the headliners at Sons of Hermann Hall last night, but even that band admitted while on stage ... More >>

Giveaway: A Free Pair of Tickets To Fun Fun Fun Fest

​Back at the beginning of the month, we shared with you all the very impressive lineup for the fifth incarnation of Austin's Fun Fun Fun Fest, which is set to take place on November 6, 7 and 8 in Waterloo Park, down in that pretentious city about three and a half hours south of here.This year's ed ... More >>

Fun Fun Fun Fest Announces Badass 2010 Lineup. Included On It? Dallas' Own Power Trip.

​The folks who run Austin''s Fun Fun Fun Fest have made it clear: Heading into their fifth year of operation, they aren't planning on slowing down their ever-growing momentum. Quite the opposite, actually: The fest is ramping up to seriously challenge ACL as Austin's premiere fall fest.Seriously: ... More >>

Last Night: Silversun Pickups, Against Me! and The Henry Clay People at The Palladium Ballroom

Silversun Pickups, Against Me!, The Henry Clay People The Palladium Ballroom Wednesday, July 21, 2010 Better than: playing "Lazy Eye" on Guitar Hero at home.Ally Jayne HoffmanSee more of the Pickups in the slideshow.​The crowd that came out to Silversun Pickups' headlining set at the Palladiu ... More >>

Staff Trax: Happy Birthday, The Walkmen, Stars, Sarah Jaffe, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and, uh, Rammstein?

​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 dominate our coverage. Consider this a chance to get some more insight into our personal tastes. And a chan ... More >>

Over The Weekend: The Hold Steady, The Whigs at the Granada Theater

The Hold Steady, The WhigsJuly 10th, 2010Granada TheaterBetter than: sitting at home and watching that episode of Lost where Hugo mentions The Hold Steady.All photos by Evan ClintonThe Hold Steady got the Granada rockin' on Saturday. Check the slideshow for proof.​There were a few understandable q ... More >>

Giveaway: Two Pairs of Tickets To See The Hold Steady and The Whigs at Granada on Saturday Night

The Brooklyn-based bar rockers in The Hold Steady, having just dropped their latest, Heaven Is Whenever album in May, are knee-deep in their national summer tour, with stops all over the U.S. and even the occasional dip across the Canadian border. Their new album has met widely positive reviews, and ... More >>

Good Friday: Brent Best, Telegraph Canyon, Greg Schroeder, Bob Log III, Brave Combo, The Hold Steady, The Whigs, True Widow, Dove Hunter, The O's, Rodeo Ruby Love, Mini Kiss, Second Saturdays and Others!

Larry Brown​American writer Larry Brown was born and grew up in Oxford, Mississippi. His works caught the eye of Alejandro Escovedo, who often played back-up for Brown during his public readings. Brown passed away in 2004, but Brent Best, Chris Welch, and Isaac Hoskins will celebrate his birthday ... More >>

The Hold Steady, The Whigs

Saturday, July 10, at Granada Theater

A Golden Ticket Can Be Found At The End Of KXT's Pledge Rainbow...

​Surely, you've noticed the pledge drive efforts going on over at KKXT-91.7 FM of late, yeah? Us too.Annoying? Mostly. Necessary? Most definitely, given the station's public radio domain.But it's not all bad: Anyone and everyone who pledged to the station this week--and anyone and everyone who doe ... More >>

Show Announcements: Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, Carrie Underwood, The Hold Steady, The Script, More...

Ariel Pink​My all-time favorite music list is riddled with bands that started out being a little too weird and "out there" for me. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti is on that list of bands. The band started off sounding like a slightly out-of-tune AM radio to me, but the blissed-out melodies enticed ... More >>

Former Million Dead Frontman Frank Turner Now Finds Folk More Punk Than Punk

The Shaky Hands

Let It Die (Kill Rock Stars)

Last Night: Gaslight Anthem and Heartless Bastards at the Granada

Gaslight Anthem with Heartless BastardsGranada TheaterApril 28, 2009Better Than: Watching an anti-climatic basketball playoff.The Granada played host to brawny rock last night as the Heartless Bastards and headliner Gaslight Anthem played to a testosterone-rich crowd. In sets that were long on musi ... More >>

At SXSW, The Bell Tolled For Thee

SXSW In Pictures, One Day at a Time

Patrick MichelsWhile most of the DC-9 crew enjoyed SXSW's offerings at a safe distance from the stage, note-taking and reflecting on the music, some of us did battle up by the stage to get concert shots, throwing elbows and telephoto lenses.We've got a handful of band photo slideshows, along with so ... More >>

What It Was Like: Baptist Generals, Red Red Meat, Mark Sultan, Herman Dune, Justin Townes Earle, The Tallest Man On Earth, Dinosaur Jr.

Noah W. Bailey The Baptist Generals' Chris Flemmons at the Sub Pop Showcase.Band: Baptist GeneralsWhere: Sub Pop Showcase at Radio RoomWhat It Was Like: If you're ever seen the Baptist Generals play one of their "rug shows" then you know what a special experience these all-acoustic sets can b ... More >>

Today In Music News: Chris Brown Gets Backers, Rachel Ray Gets Bands, and Hammer and Ice Are Back WIth A Brand New Invention

Your daily dose of music news for Friday, February 27, 2009...People are starting to stand up in defense of Chris Brown's actions--like Kanye West and Bow Wow. Meanwhile, everyone else in the world is still backing Rihanna.In Orem, Utah, tonight, Vanilla Ice and MC Hammer will share a stage for the ... More >>

And So It Begins: The End-Of-Year List Propaganda Arrives

Pet Peeves

The Beach Boys are popping up everywhere this year in music but don't seem to be getting their due

Last Night: The Hold Steady at The Loft

Die Young, Stay Positive

The Hold Steady navigates through the art of punks aging awkwardly

Crapping Out

What happens when a music journalist listens to Bryan Adams' newest release, 11, on loop for 11 straight plays?

Getting Gossip on The Replacements

A new oral history reads like a family member wrote it

Last Night: The Hold Steady at Palladium Ballroom

Steady Rockin'

The Hold Steady hit the Palladium

Cred Sheet

Stuff you need to know to avoid cultural ostracism

Independence Day

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

Listen Up, Because You Don't Hate Me Yet

Hold, Please

How 34-year-old Craig Finn became famous singing about drug-huffing 20-somethings

P.O.S.

Audition (Rhymesayers)

On Leaping From Texas

The quest for being not-so-secret machines started for Oceanographer in New York City