The Deathray Davies can’t share their best road stories. They can share some advice, some pleasant memories, but their best stories, come on–those are the ones that take place in dark alleyways and strangers’ bedrooms, the nights that would be unforgettable if only…well, if only they hadn’t been so damn…

Writing a recommendation for an Old 97’s show is a little like coming out strong for oxygen. And if I know my hardcore 97’s crowd, there’s nothing I can tell you about the hip-shaking, sweat-flinging, beer-swilling singalong that will be the New Year’s Eve show that you don’t already know…

Britney got married. Ashlee was caught lip-synching. ODB died. Congress continued to wring its hands about the legality of downloads, which flourished anyway. Conservative groups condemned sex in popular culture, while Usher’s sultry Confessions shot to No. 1. A major label signed a guy who can’t sing, can’t dance and…

You’ll find the Dallas Observer staff’s year-end list a few pages over, but enough about us. What albums in 2004 did local musicians pick as their favorites? We asked 10 for their take on the year in music. Eric Michener, Fishboy Brian Wilson, Smile (Nonesuch): Mr. Wilson started his greatest…

Let’s skip the chit-chat. Here are the top 10 local albums of 2004: 1. Sorta, Little Bay “I love life, but it’s sad,” Sorta vocalist/guitarist Trey Johnson once told me. “And if my songs have a theme, it would be: How are you going to function in life, knowing that…

Britney got married (twice!). Ashlee was caught lip-synching. ODB died. Congress continued to wring its hands about the legality of downloads, which flourished anyway. Conservative groups condemned sex in popular culture, while Usher’s sultry Confessions shot to No. 1. A major label signed a guy who can’t sing, can’t dance…

Last year around Christmas, my parents and I sat down with a few glasses of wine and a stack of the year’s most popular music. The idea was to see what impression these songs would make on my folks–die-hard classical music fans who get all their pop culture from Good…

For the record: Congratulations to Brave Combo, who received their sixth Grammy nomination in the Best Polka category for their new album Let’s Kiss. Their 25th anniversary album, Let’s Kiss contains such chestnuts as a polka version of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” and the band’s indelible take on…

The shooting that occurred in Columbus, Ohio, last week isn’t as shocking as it is sickening. Ever since Lee Harvey Oswald took aim from a musty downtown book depository, modern society has been all too familiar with the effect of one man and his gun. Twenty-four years to the day…

It’s nearly 6 p.m. outside The Clubhouse–Dallas’ premier all-nude strip joint–and just in time for their nightly broadcast, two newscasters speak into their cameras: “Tonight a community gathers outside a local club to mourn the loss of metal legend ‘Dimebag’ Darrell Abbott…” It’s a solemn note for a character known…

There are so few genuinely talented female guitarists. A short list might include Nancy Wilson, Bonnie Raitt and, um, Lita Ford? But it would certainly include Sue Foley, the Ottawa-born roots-rock sweetheart known to swath the stage in blue and burn the mother down. Still in her mid-30s, Foley has…

If you haven’t been watching The Battle for Ozzfest–and unless your Monday night is as lame as mine, I assume you haven’t been–here’s an update: We’re seven episodes into the season, and Dallas’ Marc Serrano of A Dozen Furies is still going strong. The good news is that of the…

Last weekend, I joined MySpace. It wasn’t easy. For weeks people had been telling me about the Web site, the latest trendy wasteland for college kids and computer nerds, but I’d resisted joining–part Internet cynicism, part contrarian nature, the same portion of me that refuses to watch The Sopranos. And…

Just in time for Christmas–and a slew of lawsuits–comes another reminder that one of the great musical talents of the late 20th century is long past his prime. The Ultimate Collection is a comprehensive five-disc compendium of Michael Jackson’s career–including a live DVD and a handful of unreleased material–and yet…

Over the past decade, few Dallas bands have rivaled Slobberbone–a scraggly and swaggering group of musicians capable of both bruising live performances and songs that grew richer with each solitary listen. But after 13 years, four full-lengths and more tours than a truckload of carnies, Slobberbone is calling it quits…

Never been much on change. Don’t like it. We’re sentimental types who attach to people and places. And yet, history has proven to us that change is good. Healthy. So it’s with clenched jaw and hopeful sigh that we bring you the news of some major changes in the Dallas…

It’s Friday night at 9:30, and Erykah Badu has yet to arrive at her own event. By now, Minc is thick with smoke and people; moving through the crowd requires elbows and courage. It’s an eclectic bunch–men in halter tops and fake furs, big women in tiny dresses. If I’m…

“I’m gonna die one day staring at the dressing room walls.” –Old 97’s, “Dressing Room Walls” Christy Darlington grew up a small kid, a shy kid, who loved music probably more than anything–the grunt of Angus Young’s guitar, the velvet baritone of Morrissey. There was only one problem: He couldn’t…

Late last Wednesday afternoon, a call came to the office from a rapper named Dow Jones: He was performing that night at the Starck Club on McKinney Avenue. Oh, and also–he was opening up for Nas. Wait a minute: Did he just say Nas?!? Apparently the sharp-tongued New York City…

From the looks of it, Saturday night’s Rock Lottery in Denton could have been held a week before the election, not the week after. Matthew Barnhart, former Little Grizzly member and co-owner of the Echo Lab, fronted his band wearing a T-shirt with a picture of Bush and the words…

What’s better than winning the lottery? How about watching the Rock Lottery? This Saturday, 25 musicians convene for one of the coolest sonic swap meets around. This is the sixth installment of the Rock Lottery, brainchild of former Dentonite Chris Weber, which challenges artists to come up with a band,…

“John Peel was the only important DJ left in the world.” –The White Stripes’ Jack White Two weeks ago, John Peel died a legend at 65–revered by critics, artists and audiences alike–but the renegade British DJ actually began his broadcast career in Dallas under his given name, John Ravenscroft. Though…