Carrie Rodriguez has lived in Austin and New York City over the past several years, but thanks to her many performances in the metroplex, we like to think of her as one of our own. Heaven must also claim her as one of its own, due to how many times…
Country icon George Jones famously asked “Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes” back in 1985. For the most part, modern Top 40 country isn’t terribly interested in the footwear of elder greats, given the way radio playlists have tossed aside so many aging legends over the past 20 years or so…
While comedian and “Funny or Die” vet Sebastian Maniscalco’s question “What’s Wrong With People?” (also the name of his recent Showtime special and DVD release), is a bit generic, the way in which he seeks the answers are not only hilarious, but insightful and spot-on. On Leno, he lampooned dudes…
Pop culture has a way of overdoing it when it comes to ridiculing various temporary touchstones that helped define a certain point in time (where’s your Girbaud jeans these days?). Even more to the point, comedians often fall prey to this gantlet of hipster-ness. For a while, they are laughed…
Phil Hamilton’s latest Red Dirt, Southern rock record, Renegade Rock n Roll, runs the gamut from heartsick love songs to working-man rock anthems. The local’s played stages from South Texas to Kansas in recent weeks, celebrating the release of his second album. The video for “You Can Have Me” has…
Since the 2005 release of his modern outlaw coming-out party, Put the “O” Back In Country, Shooter Jennings has proudly waved the banner his mother and father, Jesse Colter and Waylon Jennings, had helped design decades ago. After the surprising release of his 2010 concept album, Black Ribbons, Jennings collected…
While The Office or the film Office Space provide laughs through the everyday happenings inside of generically stale workplaces, they’re far more entertaining than the real thing most of us cubicle warriors encounter between clocking in and out. Dallas-based playwright and filmmaker Eric Steele, however, knows that life for the…
When a recreational runner tackles a 5K “fun run,” it’s the overly cheery providers of false encouragement wielding cups of water that the runners end up wanting to physically tackle. If runners didn’t need the water, those fake-happy hand-clappers would get leveled. If they want everyone to do so great…
Former Cross Canadian Ragweed singer Cody Canada’s current band, The Departed, is a properly named one. In May of 2010, Ragweed, or CCR as many fans still refer to them, were arguably the most beloved of all Red Dirt acts. It was then the band made national news by announcing…
For those fortunate enough to have witnessed a Cadillac Sky performance before the genre-blurring bluegrass outfit’s January 2011 break-up, many things were apparent after the show. The group’s expert craftsmanship would likely be the main memory, but not too far behind would be the energetic showmanship of a band that…
Wake up early, stretch, run three miles or so, drink to impressive excess, wave and holler at the fellow inebriated revelers atop parade floats, vomit, pump fists and thrust pelvises to whatever band happens to be playing in Energy Square, then — and only then — hop the DART Rail…
Philadelphia’s folk-pop trio Good Old War just released their third album, Come Back as Rain, and stop in Dallas tonight before heading off to Austin. Guitarist Dan Schwartz took a few minutes to chat with us about sing-alongs, SXSW and other bands from Philly. Given how many shows you’ve played…
While Austin will have a more concentrated amount of bands over the course of the next several days, we’ll see just as many in the Metroplex. One of the bands that rarely trek through Texas but will be hitting ATX for a few shows later this week is Portland sludge…
Heartless Bastards Lola’s Friday, March 9 Before a sold-out Lola’s in Ft. Worth on Friday night, Austin’s Heartless Bastards simply dazzled, playing almost every song from their excellent new release, Arrow, as well as a few standouts from 2009 breakthrough The Mountain. While Wennerstrom was understandably the star, the band’s…
Thanks to a good number of young acts that have stumbled upon Roky Erickson vinyl, psych music is hardly on the fringe anymore. Experimental music has also never quite receded from view, whether it’s the danceable math-rock of Battles or the constantly evolving non-radio friendliness of Radiohead. A band that’s…
Austin’s Heartless Bastards recently released their latest LP, Arrow, solidifying their reputation as a damn fine band. For those who didn’t hop on the bandwagon after 2009’s The Mountain, there aren’t very many seats left. The four-piece makes a stop at Lola’s on Friday night. Wennerstrom talked a bit about…
Read more: 35 Denton Cleans Up Its Block and Rebrands Itself THURSDAY Bleached The Labb, 11:30 p.m. San Fernando Valley sisters Jessica and Jennifer Clavin formed California beach-punk band Bleached after their previous group, Mika Miko, dissolved in 2009. Bleached combine sun-soaked, carefree rock with a tinge of late-’70s punk…
For Lucero’s Ben Nichols, the development of his band’s sound has been a matter of mere evolution, not a purposeful attempt to piss off longtime fans who wish they would play the same songs on every tour stop. The change began with 2009’s 1372 Overton Park, which introduced a horn…
With the release of their second album since moving to Austin, the self-assured Arrow, Erika Wennerstrom’s Heartless Bastards should be able to forever laugh off the asinine thought of them being musical carpetbaggers. After the triumph that was the group’s 2009 album The Mountain, Cincinnati transplant Wennerstrom used her voice…
Quirky, curious quasi-intellectuals, gird up your non-ironic berets: Stuff’s going to get busted. The Mythbusters themselves, Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, will again show audiences how they too can seek truth from clichés (aka “myths”). Maybe the stars of the Discovery Channel hit will bring a good ol’ Texas bull…
Flogging Molly House of Blues Sunday, March 4 Sunday night’s Flogging Molly show more or less served as the triumphant closing ceremony for what might have been the most Irish-intensive week in recent Metroplex history. Last Monday, Boston shamrockers Dropkick Murphys kicked things off, while the North Texas Irish Festival…
Back in 2010, I was privileged to be a regular judge for that year’s edition of the Shiner Rising Star contest. The band that won the very first round I helped judge, Saille Branch and the Big Benders, went on to convincingly win their second round match-up and almost took…
