Ryan Hamilton doesn’t see what the big deal is. He and his musical partner Jencey Hirunrusme have performed as Smile Smile for more than five years, splitting the band duties between the two of them, an acoustic guitar and a keyboard. When they recently decided to expand their sound for…
Levon Helm, Ray LaMontagne Verizon Theatre, Grand Prairie November 11, 2010 Better than: watching my old Rick Danko instructional bass VHS tapes. I don’t know what’s wrong with some people. We’ve all been in a situation where we go to a show to see only one artist on a bill,…
When you leave your humble abode to attend NX35 in Denton this March, you’ll actually arrive at 35 Conferette. The Denton-based festival made the name change official this week with the launch of a new website. And they’re already selling bracelets for the 2011 run. The name change has been…
NX35 is dead.After months of hints, rumors and premature tweets, the Denton-based music festival has formally announced its name change to 35 Conferette.The festival, which started in Austin as a day-party to celebrate and showcase Denton bands during SXSW, became a North Texas institution three years ago in an effort…
Vampire Weekend, Beach House, The Very BestPalladium BallroomOctober 6, 2010Better than: watching the Yankees win another play-off game. To understand just how good 2010 has been for Vampire Weekend, one can look at their trips this year through Dallas: Their first time through last April had them playing a sold-out…
Seasons will change. The sun will set and rise again. Austin will host some music festival. It happens every few months with almost mathematical precision: Some massive event will pop up just beyond our southern horizon, causing an exodus of North Texans to flood Interstate 35 to take in the…
In just four years, Two Door Cinema Club have gone from a group of high school buddies to rocking thousands at festivals all over the world. That much isn’t necessarily surprising: The band’s sharp, dance-infused indie rock has drawn comparisons to Passion Pit and Hot Hot Heat. And, while they…
Guided by VoicesPalladium ShowroomSeptember 29, 2010Better than: watching almost any other group of men in their 50s get drunk in front of a large number of people. It’s been 16 years since the “classic” line-up of Guided By Voices graced the stage together, and, apparently, the band thought Wednesday’s crowd…
Mix one part infectious indie-pop with one part world music section from your favorite record store—old and new, East and West. Stir vigorously and serve with a wink and a nod. It’s true: Ever since they first appeared in early 2008, Vampire Weekend’s recipe has been laid bare. At a…
Robert Pollard doesn’t do phone interviews. The frontman of the reunited Guided By Voices feels, according to his publicist, that he can give more accurate, thoughtful responses via e-mail instead of the immediacy of a direct conversation. It’s an interesting position to take, for a man who reportedly only uses…
Levi Weaver just left me a Facebook message, a text and a voicemail. He just got off the phone with a councilman in Fort Worth. Apparently, there had been some he-said-he-said that left the air between the two awfully muddy, and Levi had called to clear that air. Now, he…
Two minutes into “Queen of Sonoma,” the lead-off track on Shiny Around The Edges’ Denton’s Dreaming, frontman Michael Seman sings, “I know where to put the knife in.” It’s fitting: He and his bandmates, Kerm Rivas and wife, Jennifer Seman, spend the next eight tracks riding between beauty and dissonance…
Who says concerts need to rock? Low-key acoustic shows can be just as moving as big-time rock extravaganzas, and the Granada Theater will prove it at this show, when it plays host to Balmorhea, Doug Burr and Bosque Brown. Local folk songsters Bosque Brown and Doug Burr shouldn’t need introduction…
Dallas Family Band cohort Jacob Metcalf is leaving town. But is he off to NYC, like Norah Jones or Neon Indian? Or, perhaps, he’s just fulfilling the old cliche and moving to Austin? Nope. But he is headed south.”I’m going to Guadalajara,” Metcalf says over the phone from his parents’…
