To some, the battle over the sanctity of country music had been fought and lost before many of the people arguing about it today were even born. Maybe it was back when Glen Campbell hit No. 1 on the pop charts. Perhaps it was when Shania Twain or Garth Brooks…
2015 was, to say the least, not great for country. This exact sentiment was true in 2014, and the year before that, and so on. In reality, it’s been true for the last 15 years. As the genre has continued to move ever closer to the “pop” in “pop-country,” the…
For country fans — and fans of most genres, let’s be real — the annual release of the Grammy nominations is just confirmation of what you already knew. By the time these nods roll out in December, the hype over the year’s best songs, artists and videos is stale. These…
In 2015, there are plenty of people who would say that radio is irrelevant. It’s true that most of us listen to the majority of our music on Spotify or on iPhones, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t still a very real place for radio in the conversation. Maybe…
Now before we jump into breathless praise over the star turn Leon Bridges made on Saturday Night Live over the weekend, let’s put something in perspective. The Fort Worth singer has already played some seriously big gigs this year, including ones on national TV like The Tonight Show With Jimmy…
Christmas tunes are already on loop in every store and restaurant, the gift lists are getting decidedly more expensive, you’re probably already tired of Christmas, and it’s not even here yet. This time of year can be a real bitch, especially if you’re a responsible grown-up with Christmas parties to…
For being barely 25 years old, Maren Morris is no newcomer to the stage. At just 11 years old, she played her “first real show with a band” at Johnnie High’s Country Music Revue in Arlington, the legendary North Texas weekly variety show that has seen such talents as Kacey…
If you haven’t already started your holiday shopping, you’re going to want to get on that pronto. December 25 will be upon us before you know it, and unless you’ve decided to forgo the exchange of material possessions on the holiday as some kind of anti-capitalist protest, you’d better get…
With the 27th annual Dallas Observer Music Awards just around the corner — in fact, voting is open right now at 2015musicawardspoll.dallasobserver.com — we’re highlighting some of the nominees for this year’s awards. And when we say these venues are the “Best,” don’t just take our word for it: We…
Sometimes, you just find yourself with this impossible urge to have your tarot read. Or, hell, learn how to read the tarot yourself. Maybe you want to figure out palmistry so that you can finally learn when Mr. Right is going to wander into your life. You start to research…
Midnight Rambler is decidedly one of the best (if not the best) places to spend all your cash on excellent cocktails in Dallas. The bar program Chad Solomon and Christy Pope have cultivated is sophisticated, interesting and constantly changing. The drink you liked from Midnight Rambler six months ago probably…
Now that Thanksgiving is over, we’re now officially on the countdown to the end of the year. The cultural calendar starts to look a little bit bland throughout the holiday season, what with all the symphony Christmas carol performances and theatre performances of, well, A Christmas Carol. This week, though,…
If you’ve been to Remedy, the refined comfort food spot on Lower Greenville, you have definitely sipped one of barman Máté Hartai’s delicately balanced cocktails. The drink program here centers around the idea of the “American soda fountain,” and Hartai adds plenty of booze, enthusiasm, and sophistication to that classic…
We’ve got to give chef Eddy Thretipthuangsin one thing — he’s tenacious. The Thai-focused chef has worked in and opened multiple concepts across Dallas and Fort Worth, including Pak Pao, Bite City Grill and two locations of Kin Kin Urban Thai. For whatever reason, chef Eddy T struggled to make…
Thanksgiving week isn’t generally a time when most of us are able to get out and about. After pretending to work Monday through Wednesday, the luckiest (or unluckiest, depending on your own situation) among us will head home for a Thanksgiving feast with the family. Once that’s all over, though,…
When you’re at Small Brewpub, you should probably just order a beer. The house-brewed selections are the constant subject of beer nerds’ raves, and even those who don’t necessarily have a taste for anything fancier than a Michelob Ultra can understand the straightforward flavor profiles of these easy sipping beers…
Go on ahead and say thank you, Dallas, because we’ve been praying hard for this good news for a long while now. Just as soon as the newly-reunited Dixie Chicks, fresh off a 10 year hiatus from touring in the United States, announced that they were heading back on the…
After the tragedy, mayhem, and chaos of the last week, most of us could use a good and engaging way to get our mind off of how bad the world sucks sometimes. Fortunately, immersing yourself into arts and culture is an excellent way to refocus worrying about terrorism and the…
Thanks to the near-ubiquity of social media, it’s more difficult than ever for famous people get away with doing really stupid stuff. As Jason Aldean found out this week, the Internet will find out if you dress up in an offensive and racist Halloween costume even if you’re difficult to…
Yet another Elm St. Music & Tattoo Festival is upon us, which means that hundreds of inked Dallasites will flock to Deep Ellum for a chance to collect a new piece of body art from one of the country — nay, the world’s — best tattoo artists. There will also…
You might think the restaurant world wastes a lot of food, especially after watching guys like Gordon Ramsay turn full skillets of barely imperfect food directly into the trash. Sure, plenty of food is discarded because it’s burned, seasoned improperly or just doesn’t meet the exacting standards of a demanding…
If there is one thing Dallas doesn’t have, well, any of, it’s British cuisine. We have pubs, but no legit places to find bangers n’ mash. Now, though, you can find the best of Britain’s contributions to the baking world at the Dallas Farmers Market. There may not be a…
