John 5 plays Trees on Sunday, March 26 Given all of his years touring with Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson and David Lee Roth, it’s surprising that guitarist John “John 5” Lowery was hesitant to take his instrumental solo material on the road. His reasoning? He wasn’t sure anyone would want…
You can tell Chuk Scott is a consummate cratedigger when you listen to the samples on Kemet, the 32-track experimental hip-hop opus he released on Bandcamp. Scott, who produces under the alias Arkatype, has a lot in common with other trailblazing producers such as Madlib, samiyam or Flying Lotus. On this…
It’s impossible to overstate Selena’s impact, particularly on Latin communities. The artista del pueblo had stunning crossover appeal, a fact she proved in 1995 when “Dreaming of You” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200. Selena already conquered the Latin charts and was prepared to do the same in mainstream…
Yesterday the state representatives advanced a bill to the House Culture, Recreation and Tourism Committee seeking to establish a Texas State Music Museum and Texas Music Foundation, both to be based in Austin. The state Senate also has a companion bill. These bills are bad news for Thomas Kreason, who has…
True fans of hip-hop culture love to debate which albums qualify as classics. Now imagine taking these intense conversations in a public setting, outside of your apartment or group texts. Josey Records is hosting just such a gathering at a new monthly open forum called the Hip Hop Book Club. It imitates…
Being a working musician is no small feat. Pair that with coordinating a “big band” of 11 players, schlepping tons of equipment to each gig, and keeping 1920s and ’30s period jazz alive, and Vince Giordano has quite a task on his hands. With his band, the Nighthawks, Brooklyn-based Giordano plays…
Morrissey plays Majestic Theatre on April 15 Few musicians inspire the adoration that English singer and songwriter Steven Patrick Morrissey does. Rising to fame using his last name since he rose to fame with the Smiths in the ’80s, Morrissey is regarded as one of the best lyricists of all…
Veteran Dallas DJ and promoter Willie Trimmer has served as an ambassador for the Dallas house and techno scenes for nearly two decades. Through his promotion company 12InchPimps, he’s organized parties, managed DJs and held down several residencies himself. Now he’s leveraging his experience and connections to start the four-day…
You might think electronic dance music, or EDM, is all about glowsticking and furry boots. The glow sticks are pretty cool, it’s true, but the genre is also about a lot more than that: The combination of deejaying, audio engineering, production and songwriting requires real artistry. Over the last few…
Jake Ryan Hull and Nick Melita have mastered the art of the intimate performance. The creators of Dallas-based Cinderblock Sessions — which delivers “one-take” performance videos for up-and-coming Dallas artists with a small, select audience in attendance — brought everything they’ve learned over the past two years to Austin’s South…
Big Sean With MadeInTYO South Side Ballroom, Dallas Saturday, March 18, 2017 The work of fog machines blended with marijuana smoke to blanket the sold-out South Side Ballroom Saturday as fans awaited the arrival of the evening’s performer, Big Sean. The rapper, born Sean Michael Leonard Anderson, stopped in Dallas…
Spring is officially in bloom this week. This not only means more brunches on sun-soaked patios and donning floral-printed everything, but more touring acts are making their way through Dallas. This week sees some big names such as Duran Duran, Kacey Musgraves, Flogging Molly and more. It’s also a big…
Pulse Dallas celebrates a year paying street musicians to busk downtown at Pegasus Plaza. It’s a program they’re hoping to expand to several other locations.
What started as a slow week on the concert announcement front quickly picked up steam. This week a slew of blues, soul and punk rock heavy hitters announced or altered plans to grace us with their presence. A few weeks ago, we told you about The Last Waltz 40 Tour…
In 2016, local rapper -topic was preparing to leave Dallas for the bright lights and big cities of California when nearly all of his life’s work was stolen from him. A thief stole his laptop in late September during a show at Drugstore Cowboy in Deep Ellum. Now he’s gearing…
Best known for ’80s hits like “Rio” and “Hungry Like the Wolf,” the new wave and synth-pop band Duran Duran have been making music for nearly 40 years and seen six of their albums reach top 10 on Billboard. With their most recent release Paper Gods, the band put out…
Aleah Axiom spent the past 15 years focused on the many forms of electronic music, but techno appears to be her true calling. Now it’s a full-time obsession behind the decks as a DJ and behind the pen on her blog Robotic Peacock. She travels to watch and interview techno…
Monoculture drew a small crowd the first time they ever took the stage two years ago, playing mostly to family and friends at The Door. But for the Dallas-based psychedelic rock band, the size of the audience didn’t matter. They were just grateful to be playing. “Psychedelic rock is essentially…
At the Drive-In With Le Butcherettes Club Dada, Dallas Tuesday, March 14, 2017 A few songs into At the Drive-In’s surprise Tuesday night concert at Club Dada, Cedric Bixler-Zavala got serious. The singer had virtually burst onto stage at the beginning of the El Paso punk band’s set, and had…
This month Dallas rapper Chris James, better known as G.U.N. — whom we profiled back in June — released the collaborative EP 2 Face with Atlanta’s OG Maco. The 5-song EP, produced by Cardo and Texas Boy, seamlessly blends G.U.N.’s melodies with Maco’s primal screams. “Everyone says we mesh really well,” James says. He…
For the past couple years, Oaktopia Festival has been Denton’s golden child. Started by a couple of University of North Texas students in 2013, the three-day music festival has grown into arguably the best in all of North Texas, and one of Denton’s few unequivocal success stories in the midst…
In the final week of 2016, the DFW music scene lost a fervent and inspiring musician named Matt Moseman. He was best known as the singer of Edgewater, a band that released four albums and had a strong local and regional draw. Though he was in good health leading up…
