A tip from an Uber driver about a property that was for sale along the Trinity River led Jay LaFrance to saving one of Dallas’ most historic musical landmarks. Built in 1950, the Longhorn Ballroom was once the home of Bob Wills and run by Jack Ruby, but when it came up…
Fort Worth rapper T-Ryde is straight off a gig with Struggle Jennings, Waylon’s grandson. T-Ryde, whose real name is Jerry Hammons II, writes his own lyrics in a style he refers to as underground, double-time rap, and his music left quite an impression on Jennings. “Struggle just really liked my…
In January we announced that none other than Jimmy Eat World will be headlining the Dallas Observer’s annual St. Patrick’s Day party on March 11. Well, guess what? There’s even more fun rock coming your way: Rooney and the Unlikely Candidates are also on the lineup. Rooney was formed in…
His tombstone is unnerving in its stark simplicity. It bears his name, his birth date, and the date of his death: Feb. 22, 1987, 30 years ago this month. There’s no list of accomplishments, nothing artsy or clever or ironic. That’s all you get. Andy Warhol once said that he…
One of Dallas’ most beloved cult rappers has come back to life. Jeff Liles, creative director of the Kessler Theater, says he’d been hitting up Mark Griffin once a year since the venue opened in 2010, hoping to get him on stage to perform as MC 900 Ft Jesus, an…
Last Friday night, during Foreigner’s hit-laden performance at the Verizon Theatre, 26 members of the Arlington Heights High School Treble Choir joined the band for a version of the soft rock staple, “I Want to Know What Love Is.” Foreigner has done this song with local choirs for years, and…
If you haven’t been able to get out to see some good shows the past few months, you’re in for a treat this week as Dallas is seeing a few familiar faces. Former Dentonites Riverboat Gamblers have created a side project along with a member of Rise Against called the…
Several local record shops that focus on vinyl, such as Josey, Good Records and Spinster, are managing to thrive in the age of streaming; meanwhile Dallas’ oldest store, which has specialized in CDs for the last two decades, is struggling to keep its doors open. But Top Ten Records on West…
On any given Saturday in Deep Ellum, throngs of 20- and 30-somethings roam the streets in small packs, looking for a good time, live music, or their next lay — maybe all of the above. But what’s relatively unusual is to see people forming lines outside the neighborhood’s laid-back watering holes. This…
North Texas is fertile music ground. While we may not have the reputation of Portland, Minneapolis or our neighbors to the south in Austin, a quick jaunt through Deep Ellum, the downtown area of Denton or the riverfront in Fort Worth proves that a great number of talented musicians developed their…
In December 2015, we profiled Banquet, a Denton-based band made up of four members of Midlake along with members of Band of Horses, Travis, Grandaddy and Franz Ferdinand. This week their first single, “Restart,” dropped and their full debut album is set to be released on April 28. The release, titled…
Even Brutal Juice’s frontman has difficulty describing the band. But sitting out back at Dan’s Silver Leaf in Denton, Craig Welch tries anyway, calling it “an acid-fueled excuse to turn amps to 11 and play with feedback loops.” It’s a fairly close approximation. The band’s post-punk music was known to roar, thrash…
Brian Armstrong has spent the past two decades as a dedicated apostle of DJ culture. At various points he’s been a budding dance music fan, an MC, a record store employee and a full-time track slinger under his alias DJ BrianPibb. Like any good working DJ, Armstrong is not one…
Manuel “Manny” Frayre, the music editor of the online art outlet NAKID Magazine and experienced music photographer, wears his style on his sleeve. He met up with the Observer in Austin to discuss his career, upcoming shows and committed approach to concert photography. How did you get started in music…
The origin story of Denton darkwave duo Psychic Killers goes all the way back to childhood, when Leigh Violet and Nick Tidmore met and bonded over their similar tastes in music and art. After some years apart, they reunited to find that their tastes haven’t changed much. Violet became interested…
Six Shooter is a recurring feature where we highlight six new releases by North Texas-based musicians. Che — Che Got Wings If you’re a fan of PartyNextDoor, Bryson Tiller, Travis Scott or Post Malone, this five-track EP from enigmatic singer Che and Dallas-based producer Cardo Got Wings is for you…
DNCE is what happens when the preacher’s kid gets ahold of some drugs. It’s the quarter-life crisis after the Jonas Brothers split for failure to agree artistically. It’s Joe Jonas’ band and it’s weird as hell. The band walked out onto the Granada stage at 9 p.m. sharp to the…
You may think we’re rickrolling you this week once you scroll down a couple of videos. But no pranks here: The redhead with all the right moves will be visiting Dallas in the flesh Wednesday night. But if you’ve been burned too many times by false promises of adorable cat…
South by Southwest started as a small indie festival in 1987, but in 29 years it’s grown to become a keynote event of the music industry. That means it’s also increasingly crowded with performances, and the chances of getting a big break seem slimmer every year. Nevertheless, many Dallas musicians have…
It’s about an hour before showtime at Freedom Place Church in Rowlett for The Voice alumna Holly Tucker. She made the top 6 in season four as a country music artist on Blake Shelton’s team. While finishing her courses at Baylor University via email and competing on one of the…
There’s a red-brick mansion sitting on a grassy hill on 15 acres in Sherman, Texas, 65 miles north of Dallas. At the top of a tall staircase is a striking, colonnaded front porch, and rows of symmetrically placed windows flank the front entry on either side. It’s simultaneously beautiful and…
For 15 years Cyberina Flux was the reliable voice from the underground on KNON’s Rocket Radio show. There, she pushed the envelope for radio in Dallas and gave an on-air presence to some of the fringiest electronic music and rock. For this week’s mixtape she brings an eclectic mix ranging…
