We often wonder what it’s like for artists slugging it out on the tribute circuit, dragging out their best versions of songs by dead guys (or guys we wish were dead like, say, Steve Perry). Luckily for jazz musicians/tribute artists Patti Austin, Byron Stripling and Paul Mercer Ellington, the source…

If you’re gonna call your stage production The Great American Trailer Park Musical, you better have the goods to back it up. We want to see some tacky living, dammit. You know what we’re talking about—Dale Earnhardt memorabilia, Keystone Light, Power Wheels, three-legged dogs, stolen cable, that peanut butter and…

You might have seen R&B singer/Tommy Hilfiger model Tyrese this summer battling giant killer Decepticons in Transformers. Or perhaps you caught him a couple summers back racing Japanese cars in 2 Fast 2 Furious. Or maybe you saw him co-starring in the Dennis Quaid remake of Flight of the Phoenix…

The Cotton Bowl Classic may be moving to Arlington, and sure, the Red River Shootout might follow them someday, but good riddance—that just means more fried cookie dough for us and the boys from Grambling and Prairie View A & M. After all, the State Fair Classic, or as we…

Fort Worth artists Stuart and Scott Gentling are best known for the mural that adorns the dome of Bass Performance Hall, though their work can be seen in many museums and private collections across Texas. The twin brothers are also beloved by birding enthusiasts for Of Birds and Texas, a…

When I hear the term “Average White Band,” I automatically think, “Coldplay,” or maybe “The Killers.” If I’d come of age in the ’70s, however, I would probably think of the funky grooves laid down by Scotland’s greatest (by default) R & B export. Scoring hits like “Pick Up The…

I wouldn’t go see a play about Reese Witherspoon (boring!), but I am somewhat interested in the play Miss Witherspoon, playing this week at the Unity Church of Dallas, 6525 Forest Lane. Sure, the basic description offered in the press release—”a provocative comedy by Christopher Durang about life, death and…

Artist Jane Helslander’s work can currently be seen in the International Terminal at DFW, though it might be hard to fully appreciate if you’re late for a flight (she designed a terrazzo floor medallion which mimics the sensation of “walking on water and creating ripples”). If you’d rather avoid secuirty…

We’ve never been huge fans of Bob Marley (hippies killed him for us long ago), but we certainly respect the guy. After all, he recorded several legendary albums and turned the world onto reggae, all while fathering 13 children by 10 mothers, several of which would go on to beat…

Who doesn’t love potato chips? We’ll eat ’em in just about any variety—plain, barbecue, salt and vinegar, dill pickle, sour cream and onion, etc., etc. You might even say we’re connoisseurs of fine fried taters. We’ve even had friends and family ship us bags of our favorite regional chips (Ever…

Lubbock native Terry Allen is a true West Texas renaissance man, as famous (if not more so) for his contributions to the visual arts as he is for his quirky and intelligent country albums. Like a high plains, pre-Pixar Randy Newman, Allen mixes barrelhouse piano with biting social commentary to…

One might naturally assume that a play called Zero would be the heart-wrenching story of a Japanese kamikaze pilot. It might be hard to stage without a World War II-era plane, however (though it would be really fun to watch an actor play a plane for an hour). Said play…

If you’ve ever kicked back with a margarita on the patio of a Mexican restaurant, then you’ve probably heard the sweetly harmonized boleros, ballads and love songs popularized by Trio Los Panchos—the two-thirds Mexican, one-third Puerto Rican trio that took the world by storm starting in the 1950s, recording some…

You may not be familiar with designer-to-the-stars Manuel, but you’ve certainly seen some of his work. Got a copy of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band laying around? Manuel designed those suits. Love the Man in Black? Johnny Cash would have been the Man in Store-bought Levi’s were it not…

With the Cowboys’ preseason victory over the Colts, it seems the long, lonely post-Baron Davis summer of the Dallas sports fan is finally over, to be replaced henceforth by smiling Romos and the benevolent dynasty of Papa Wade. Honestly we had our doubts about Phillips at first, but after one…

As kids, we hated going to the dentist, because we loved candy and we always had cavities. We also hated flossing and loathed our hygienist, because we could never floss enough to satisfy her. Therefore, “open wide”is not a phrase that evokes a positive response in us. Open Wide, however–a…

Sure, I’m a huge Mavericks fan, but even I can admit Dirk and Co. need to stop shooting the long ball sometimes and go in for the rim-rattling dunk. Josh Howard and Pop Mensah-Bonsu can throw down occasionally, and Diop can put it up there without even jumping, but come…

Since the early ’90s, hundreds of young women have been found dead, raped and tortured in the outskirts of Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua–the Mexican sister city of El Paso. Most of them worked at one of the city’s hundreds of maquiladoras (assembly factories operated by American corporations in search of cheap…