It soars into the air, a sparkling baton for rock singers. Its chrome-plated shaft sears fingertips upon contact. It spins first, then tumbles while singer Aryn Black of Scorpion Child dances and jams with the solos being played on a Flying V and a Les Paul. He doesn’t need the…
When John Lennon penned the lyrics to “Help!” on a small piece of paper, he probably didn’t think that generations later, people would frame it in a glass case and send it across America on a 12-city tour. But neither did Buddy Holly probably think his wallet with its business…
Ever since Mike Scaccia and Dimebag Darrell broke on through to the other side, many Dallas metal fans have been longing for someone to step into the limelight and accept the legendary guitarslingers’ mantels and inspire a whole new generation of headbangers. Never fear true believers (hey, didn’t someone else…
Every six minutes another guitarist is born. Every 13 minutes another guitarist falls out of the musical spotlight and into the household one. Some polls claim there are 20 million guitarists living in America, while others claim there are 50 million if you include the ones who only know how…
In the late ’80s/early ’90s, if you wanted to become a guitarslinger but couldn’t afford lessons, your options were limited to guitar tab in a magazine like Guitar World or Guitar One, your old man or some other drunken family member willing to show you a chord or two before…
Don’t spend too many late-night hours reading longtime Ministry leader Al Jourgensen’s memoir. It’s a dark, dark nightmare. Ministry: The Lost Gospels According to Al Jourgensen is harrowing tale of drugs, sex and, of course, rock ‘n’ roll, inspired by the artist who influenced a generation of musical pioneers like…
Megadeth: One of the most influential thrash metal bands to come out of the ’80s. Megadeth are so metal that lead singer Dave Mustaine was kicked out of Metallica after he punched James Hetfield in the face (a hair-metal feud that’s lasted three decades). Megadeth are so metal that after…
In honor of the Texas hero’s 80th Birthday celebration and legendary 4th of July Picnic, we’re celebrating Willie Nelson Week here on DC9 at Night. Check back for interviews, retrospectives and more. Saying Willie Nelson is a Texas icon is like claiming the sun is hot. It’s simply understood. Willie’s…
The Lone Star State has long produced some of the greatest blues legends to ever pick up a guitar or stand behind a microphone. Legends like Albert Collins from Leona, Sam “Lightnin'” Hopkins from Centerville and Johnny Winter from Beaumont all have found the blues in Texas. Hell, we even…
For more than three decades fans have been waiting for a Black Sabbath album with the original founder, the Lord of Darkness himself, whose distinctive growl along with Toni Iommi’s pulse-grinding rhythms influenced generations of metal heads to pick up an ax and replicate the metal purity that reverberated from…
When the fossils of a giant plant-eating reptile were found in South East Asia, paleontologists wanted to give the world’s largest lizard ever discovered a proper name. They just couldn’t decide between Jim Morrison, a rocker with an affinity for lizards, or Hunter S. Thompson, a rock & roll journalist…
Fleetwood Mac American Airlines Center June 4, 2013 Fleetwood Mac was a band known for its in-fighting, relationship struggles and affinity for drugs. Bankruptcy, betrayal, the Betty Ford Clinic, the band was a modern-day Shakespearean tragedy unfolding on stage. Their most popular album, Rumours, which has sold more than 40…
Talk about falling from grace. Tim Lambesis, the 32-year-old lead singer of the Christian metalcore band As I Lay Dying, is accused of plotting to kill his estranged wife. He posted a $2 million bail on Friday. Lambesis must wear a GPS monitor and stay away from his estranged wife…
Rigor Mortis, Gammacide, Devilfist and Demonseed are all the musical ingredients the supergroup Texas Metal Alliance needed to create Warbeast, a legendary Texas thrash metal super supergroup. Adding just a dash of “no bullshit metal onslaught” by local acts Protest and The Black Moriah, Warbeast sent fans into a mosh-filled…
Watching the Devil tune his guitar in the middle of the night isn’t how Robert (or Tommy) Johnson imagined he’d be spending his Saturday night. When that ol’ demon started playing songs, fire flew from his fingertips as an otherworldly sound reverberated into the night. According to legend, despite his…
“Vintage Silvertone Acoustic guitar,” “1977 Dobro Duolian,” “Martin 00X1 Auditorium Acoustic Guitar (14 Fret)” are just some of the headlines advertising guitars on Craigslist, but how are you supposed to play them, hear them, feel them? When you order a guitar online, you’re missing an important part of the musical…
Editor: In last week’s music feature, Christian McPhate began his search for a guitar. Not just any guitar, but his Trigger, his missing part. In that story, he went north to our weird music utopia, Denton, and came away with nothing. Here, he tries his hand in Dallas. I’ll start…
People pick up the guitar for different reasons. Johnny Marr, guitarist of Morrissey and The Smiths, wrote an article for The Guardian called “Why Playing the Guitar Means Everything.” In it, he says it’s always having something “cool to do,” whether it’s rock-star ambitions or just escaping life. It means…
Last night, Eric Clapton and Dallas-born guitarist Doyle Bramhall II set fire to their Stratocasters’ fretboards. Their fingers slid across the neck, bending strings until they bled the blues. Feeding off a musical energy straight from the Crossroads, the talented guitarists empowered some of Clapton’s greatest hits with a musical…
Pick up a copy of Official Truth 101 Proof: The Inside Story of Pantera at any local bookstore or online at Amazon. Rex will be signing copies of the book at Barnes & Noble on Northwest Highway in Dallas on Tuesday night, March 19, at 7:00 p.m. Back in the…
Step One: Admit the world- and worry-obliterating limitations of indie rock, Top 40 and basically everything else. Boss getting you down? Spouse (or partner) ripping you a new one? Fido pissing in the house? Friend forgetting to pay you the $20 that you loaned him (or her) last Friday night?…
In the near or not so-near future,when you’re lying on your deathbed, you’ll reflect on things in your life that you’ve failed to accomplish: the kiss you never gave, the boss you never slugged and the metal album you never bought because your partner was bitching about the money that…
