Maynard James Keenan — a musician, vintner and enigma — just added “bestselling author” to his impressive list of titles and occupations. His autobiography, A Perfect Union of Contrary Things, debuted at No. 10 on The New York Times’ best sellers list, long before the final stop of his book…
At the age of 13, Hailee Steinfeld got the opportunity that she and 15,000 other girls across the country crossed their fingers for. She was reading for the role of Mattie Ross in an upcoming movie called True Grit, a remake of the original 1968 book by Charles Portis. “Going…
The first Art of the Guitar exhibition launched during an emotional time. It was 2011, just a few months after one of the organizers of the event, Frank Campagna, had lost his son Frankie to suicide. Within weeks, Frankie’s bandmate in Spector 45, Adam Carter, also killed himself. Mourners donated nearly…
While some sights and sounds of the State Fair of Texas stay the same year after year, Jack Libby is on the verge of saying goodbye to the annual attraction after nearly 17 years of traveling from one fair to the next with his wife, Regina, and his father’s Jeltron…
From the thickly inked backs of the Yakuza to that specious tribal squiggle your aunt has on her ankle, tattoos are a staple of the human experience. And as body art rapidly sheds its social stigmatization it’s high time to get that cute bird on your hip or sleeve. You…
Die Antwoord House of Blues, Dallas Saturday, Oct. 1, 2016 Saturday night’s show at the House of Blues may have been the final in Dallas for South Africa’s Die Antwoord. The rave-rap Zef trio have been touring behind their new album, Mount Ninji and da Nice Time Kid. The group announced it…
DFW locals Billy Hudson and Jay Hunter were in the middle of an episode of American Pickers when their lives changed forever. “During the commercial break [Billy] said, ‘Hey, let’s do this with video games,’” says Hunter, who goes by the name Shady Jay on the duo’s YouTube show, The Game…
After a lengthy hospital stay sidelined Dallas music scene fixture Wanz Dover, he just didn’t have the strength for rock ’n’ roll. Rest ridden and restless, he turned his attention to more solitary musical pursuits, releasing Music for Hospitals soon after his release from the hospital. Now, a little over…
The already congested streets of Deep Ellum are littered with masonry materials and construction vehicles as the neighborhood makes way for new high rises and redeveloped retail outlets, and amidst all this chaos the Deep Ellum Foundation is hoping to carve out a space for all to use. Reimagine Crowdus…
Monty Lee Wilkes saw a lot in the 30 plus years he worked in the music business. A Minneapolis native, he bumped heads with Prince and dodged bottles onstage with the Replacements. He worked as a tour manager and sound engineer with the likes of Britney Spears, the B-52’s and…
A thick layer of vapor settles over the main hall of Dallas Market Center as consumers and vendors take their seats Aug. 19 for the advocacy program at the 2016 Vape Showcase. The panel includes representatives from consumer and trade vape advocacy groups as well as longtime anti-smoking crusader and…
Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein grew up fascinated by sound. Their early experiments with electronic music may not have impressed their teachers, but the Dallas born-and-bred half of Austin synth band Survive have impressed millions of fans after composing the score for the Netflix Original sci-fi drama, Stranger Things. Stein…
Long-time Oak Cliff resident Carlos de la Fuente spun paper mache and crepe paper into gold when he made his first Donald Trump piñata. Last June, when media outlets and political commenters were scoffing at Donald Trump’s attempt on the presidency, Fuente saw something different: a chance to capitalize on…
Local teenage chess prodigies Jeffery Xiong and Ruifeng Li straightened their pieces and set their minds to the task of winning during the opening round of the U.S. Junior Closed Chess Championship, which concluded in St. Louis on Monday. By the end of the 10-day tournament, hosted by the Chess…
Jeffery Xiong was 5 years old when he played his first game of chess. His friend was playing a game by himself at a birthday party when Jeffery decided to join him. Ten years later in 2016, he is currently the best under-16 chess player in the world, and the…
Since 1989, TVs across the world have been illuminated with the yellow-skinned Springfieldians and cutting satire of The Simpsons. Series creator Matt Groening can’t even recall off the top of his head how many episodes have aired. “It’s all a blur,” Groening says. “[Recently] we had our table read for…
The Avett Brothers Gexa Energy Pavilion, Dallas Saturday, June 18, 2016 On Saturday night, the Avett Brothers used every bit of their North Carolina roots and hellbent-leather-explosiveness to whip their Dallas fans into a steamy, hour-and-a-half-long frenzy at Gexa Energy Pavilion. Scott and Seth Avett, front and center, were flanked…
Growing up in Lake Highlands, Amy Acker never imagined she would find herself anywhere near a comic convention, let alone traveling to cons from Canada to San Diego, greeting fans dressed up as characters she’s played on TV. But that’s exactly what she did this weekend at Fan Expo Dallas…
97.1 FM The Eagle’s BFD With Shinedown, Drowning Pool, Sixx:A.M. and more Gexa Energy Pavilion, Dallas Sunday, May 29, 2016 Mistakes were made at 97.1 The Eagle’s BFD. Fans with chairs and coolers were turned away from the door, forced to walk back to their cars. A few suffered the…
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has built an empire on tech money and professional games. Now he’s eyeing another expansion — into the digital universe of the game Minecraft. In an unprecedented move, the Mavs have announced a partnership with Mineplex, one of the largest Minecraft servers in the world, to…
Boom 94.5 Fest With Master P, Kurtis Blow, Big Daddy Kane and more Fair Park, Dallas Saturday, April 30, 2016 This year’s Boom 94.5 Festival wasn’t just a love letter to the history of rap. It was a group therapy session for the lovers and practitioners of hip-hop. The theme…
It wasn’t supposed to take this long for Dead Mockingbirds to release an album. It’s been three years, if you trace things back to when they settled on their current lineup, and twice as long if you factor in the band’s murky origins. But Dead Mockingbirds have never really followed…
