Rubber Gloves is one resilient venue. After COVID-19 hit in 2020, the renowned Denton mainstay managed to avoid a fate that befell countless other clubs. That tenacity has paid off, and Rubber Gloves hosts some of the most brutal metal acts around. From national bands to hometown heroes, this venue always has its finger on the pulse of the metal scene. And at a time when certain stages are spurning mosh, Gloves' consistently packed shows are conducive to fierce-yet-friendly pits and harmonious headbanging. Thanks, Rubber Gloves, for cultivating a mecca for local metalheads.

Operating as a nonprofit in a beautifully restored, hundred-year-old church in Winnetka Heights, Arts Mission Oak Cliff provides a radically different kind of space for local artists, one that focuses on health, wellness and the creation of new, original works. Yoga and meditation classes, hilarious comedy nights, an Artist's Way book study, Canorra's multimedia and fashion show event, live music performances by Home by Hovercraft and 808 Saints, a full theatrical fun of Cabaret, locally written works of "Artists-in-Residence" Rai Barnard and Very Good Dance Theatre, and a Beginner Beyoncé Ballet class have made for a staggering repertoire and a year of sold-out performances. If more venues and event spaces followed this business model, it could revolutionize the arts culture in DFW.

There aren't as many festivals here as there were before the pandemic, but one thing is as true now as it has been for more than 25 years. The annual KHYI Texas Music Revolution is a mandatory appointment for any serious Texas country fan in the Dallas area. For the past three years, the two-day fest has taken over the historic downtown square in McKinney, where several stages within easy walking distance offer headliners such as Randy Rogers and Charley Crockett along with the most exciting up-and-coming talent.

This local couple knows how to deliver the true crime goods: with excellent wine. Brandy and Chris Diamond's Texas Wine and True Crime podcast covers some of the most sordid tales to have unfolded in this state. The Diamonds recently taped a live episode at the Dallas Public Library's True Crime Mini-Convention to discuss the resurgent Candy Montgomery case, and they've also aired a series about the 2016 Midlothian murder of Missy Bevers. True to its name, Texas Wine and True Crime thoughtfully highlights Lone Star State-grown wines, making this podcast an all-around gem.

Nonprofit Deep Ellum 100 started as a way to help the musicians, businesses and workers of the entertainment district affected by the pandemic. A year or so later, it took on an incredible musical project: updating the Sounds of Deep Ellum album from 1987. Among hundreds of applicants, Deep Ellum 100 selected the 10 definitive musical acts that represented the sound of the time and helped keep music at the heart of the neighborhood. Together with a team of local producers and artists, the group recorded a live showcase at Trees that yielded a compilation album of performances by Lorelei K, Skinny Cooks, Memory Shivers, Maya Piata, Cure for Paranoia, Stone Mecca, Flower Child, Chilldren of Indigo, Ducado Vega and Labretta Suede and The Motel 6. It's now on vinyl, serving as an archive for the era.

The next time you feel a mean hangover coming on, pour yourself a bloody mary and crank up this song. Vincent Neil Emerson serves up some juicy, twangy goodness in this cover of "Bloody Mary Morning," one of Willie Nelson's essential drinking cuts. Emerson's version of the tune makes for the perfect first song on the album One Night in Texas: The Next Waltz's Tribute to The Red Headed Stranger, which also includes renditions by legends Ray Wylie Hubbard and Shinyribs.

Houston-born and, lately, Fort Worth-based Robert Ellis is a maelstrom of musical output. The singer-songwriter, a part owner of Niles City Sound (and the studio-affiliated label, Niles City Records), just released a superb new solo LP, Yesterday's News, to the same sort of acclaim he helps acts like Jamestown Revival and Thomas Csorba earn via his work as a producer. Ellis also finds the time, somehow, to tour extensively across the United States and Europe, both on his own and as a support act for artists like Ben Kweller and Belaver.

What is Erykah Badu up to now? When it comes to Dallas' High Priestess of Cool, the better question to ask these days is what isn't she doing? Seemingly every day, news of another fascinating Badu endeavor ricochets around the internet: Her collaboration with cannabis entrepreneur Berner; her appearance at this year's Met Gala; her arena-headlining tour with yasiin bey — hell, by the time you read this, she'll probably have done 12 more awesome things. Given her current ubiquity (did we mention landing the covers of both Vogue and Elle Brazil in the span of three months?), there's a sense the world has possibly caught up to the woman who has long been ahead of us all.

The first thing you notice while listening to Aperture, Mesquite native Hannah Jadagu's full-length debut on Sub Pop, is the songs' intimacy. Jadagu's lovely, delicate voice threads through precisely constructed thickets of snarling guitars, burbling synths and fleeting digital flourishes born out of her early days in the Dallas suburbs as a shy homebody impulsively assembling sonic collages on her iPhone 7. While she makes her home in New York these days (and studies at NYU), the 20-year-old Jadagu is also busy turning heads and earning raves from the likes of The New York Times with her cozy but commanding work.

Dallas' comedy community is relatively new, but locals have gone on to carve out huge comedy careers, and Ralph Barbosa is one of the newest names destined for stardom. The most admirable part is how humble and shy he is in an era of comedy where testing the edge to see what you can get away with and ramping up the energy in lieu of good writing are shortcuts to the spotlight. He calls himself "one of the shyest attention hogs to ever do comedy" on his website, but any comedy fan knows that the quiet ones often have the best material because their patience gives the time to write and practice. He's got a Bob Newhart vibe where he seems sedated but still enthused by his material. Barbosa started the year with a performance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, followed it by opening for Dave Chappelle and ended it with a sold-out, six-show run of live performances at The Kessler that will become his first feature length special on Netflix.