Alessia Cara With Kevin Garrett Granada Theater, Dallas Thursday, February 4, 2016 All hail Alessia Cara: the queen of the wallflowers, heroine of the introverts, YouTube cover artist extraordinaire. Her soulful voice would lead one to believe she’s lived through decades upon decades, but the Canadian singer and songwriter is…
When Cold Cris isn’t on tour with Erykah Badu these days, he can usually be found at a local hip-hop event supporting a new generation of acts. He’s a well-known figure in the scene and many know him as an OG, but it’s hard to believe anyone really knows his…
When SuperSonic Lips took the stage at the Dallas Observer Music Awards showcase this past December, they soaked up every bit of spotlight at the dark Deep Ellum metal bar Reno’s Chop Shop. As singer Yaya Lion jumped up and down in a hoodie like a non-pregnant Juno, they became…
Frank McCright has just shy of three decades in the DJ game as DJ Love. He has seen every facet of the DJ biz, from the production side in the studio to a front row seat for the infamous ’90s rave scene. Love has benefitted from a depth of experience…
This week, the Texas Musicians Museum (TMM) debuted an exhibit commemorated February 3, 1959. “The Day the Music Died” was the day Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Richie Valens died in a plane crash in Iowa. With rare memorabilia, the exhibit is a great addition to a museum on…
North Texas may be losing one of its most profitable artists. Mike Murdock, a contemporary Christian singer-songwriter and televangelist, will auction off two lavish Dallas-Fort Worth estates on Saturday, February 20. You could actually attend both auctions if you feel so inclined. Murdock is a 69-year-old who dresses like someone’s…
If you’ve had the pleasure of receiving a hug from Kevin Howard, the current keyboard player for the Rich Girls, it was probably one of the best hugs you’ve ever received in your life. A lot of sincerity, as well as incredible strength, comes through his skinny body. On…
“Fuck SonicBids.” That was one of the first phrases local legend Paul Slavens uttered about the music networking site, which purports to connect artists with gigs and promoters to grow their careers. Last December, when 35 Denton announced its first round of artists for 2016, Slavens posted on Facebook about…
In the middle of Pleasant Grove’s new album, The Heart Contortionist, a titular three-song suite details the beautiful highs and the dramatic lows of relationships. It’s not a stretch to suggest the three songs represent the three stages of Pleasant Grove’s life as a band: birth, death and resurrection. A…
Not all that long ago, being a DJ was a world removed from the life that LaTosha Duffey was living. Fresh out of college, she was married, had a child and had never worked as a DJ before. But today Duffey has managed to do just that, and last year…
“River,” one of the standout tracks from Leon Bridges’ 2015 debut Coming Home, thrives on its understatement. A contrast to the R&B bounce of singles like the title track or “Better Man,” “River” is stripped down and bare, mostly Bridges with his guitar, his voice and his demons. In many…
G-Eazy With A$AP Ferg The Bomb Factory, Dallas Sunday, January 31, 2016 Trying to comprehend the magnitude of G-Eazy’s fan base is a tough task. They are an enormous, ravenous horde. Well before doors opened at The Bomb Factory on Sunday afternoon this dedicated bunch filed in a line that…
This week, we learned that all it takes to rekindle your fading rap career is deny heliocentrism. We can only hope that in the coming months we see some marketing moves such as refuting the laws of gravity and conservation of mass. But, if you’re looking to distract yourself from the…
Six Shooter is a recurring feature where we highlight six new releases by North Texas-based musicians, with some extra ammo to spare. New year, new music and, as it’s always been, everything Erykah Badu touched turned to gold in January. But don’t worry, in this month’s edition of the Best…
Last year, an artist named Felix released a solid, lo-fi ’80s funk album recorded straight to cassette. Soon after, another release appeared, a collaboration between Felix and rapper Lord Byron called Ghoulfive. The music has created enough buzz that both records will be released on vinyl next month. But much…
Tippy Balady is a 15-year-old singer with a powerful voice and sophisticated delivery. Even more impressive, this teen is also an inspired songwriter. “Sometimes I grab a piece of paper and write it down before I go to sleep,” Balady says. “When I wake up I go to the piano…
Quick, name the last Coldplay song you listened to. Well okay, it’s been a little while, hasn’t it? It’s been a quiet stretch the past couple years for (one of the many) band(s) formerly known as “The Next Radiohead,” what with the conscious uncoupling and all. Chris Martin and co…
Tom Strong comes to this week’s Mixtape with a banging electro mix. Electro as a term is often thrown around as an adjective to describe a wide variety of electronic music styles when it is very much a specific genre. It has evolved from its humble roots in hip-hop, from…
Later this year, The Colony — of all places — will welcome arguably the most ambitious music venue opening in North Texas. Lava Cantina, a 28,000-square-foot restaurant and live music depot, will become the brightest star in the promising Grandscape development. If all goes according to plan, The Colony could…
The last time Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band were in Dallas, it was for a one-off performance at Reunion Tower during the NCAA March Madness festivities back in 2014. As usual, The Boss put on a killer show, although the novelty of having it at Reunion was dampened…
Deep Ellum clubs are not supposed to be the place to get closer to God. You might dance yourself clean or, at most, have a drug-induced out-of-body experience, but for the most part these are the havens of excess, depravity and decisions made to be regretted later. But at RBC,…
We’ve gotten pretty spoiled of late here in Dallas. Three times in the past four months, one of our homegrown musicians has made it onto the biggest late-night TV stage in North America (and, arguably, the world): Saturday Night Live. First it was Demi Lovato, then Leon Bridges and finally,…
