Plugging an auxiliary cord into a phone is commonplace at a hip-hop studio: Let’s hear what you got. But it’s different when you are standing in Aftermath Studios and Dr. Dre is handing you the cord. You’re about to hear your music like you’ve never heard it before. Dallas producer…
Best known for his epic run hosting the ’80s night at Hailey’s Club in Denton, Jonathan Graham has been a staple DJing as DJG in North Texas for the past few decades. Due to an older brother that was involved with the DJ scene in his younger years, he was…
Shania Twain With Gavin DeGraw American Airlines Center, Dallas Monday, August 10, 2015 She’s baaaaaaack. You love her. You karaoke her songs when you’re blackout drunk. She’s the queen of the country-pop crossover and you and Taylor Swift are forever thankful to her for that. She’s Shania Effin’ Twain and…
When’s the last time you left your house? Was it for a beer run? (If so, c’mon, you can get that shit delivered.) Or maybe it was for a concert (because, nope, you still can’t do that from home). If the latter, we may have just the thing to get…
Denton’s Rubber Gloves is going through a badly-needed facelift. To hear owner Josh Baish tell it, it’s actually more like reconstructive surgery following blunt trauma for the 19-year old venue, which makes it one of Denton’s oldest. “Rubber Gloves is going through something of a rebirth at the moment,” Baish…
Shredding. Slapping. Fingering. Oh my. Three-fifths of the ‘classic’ Deep Purple team that wrote the famous Smoke on the Water descended upon Verizon Theatre Sunday and squeezed every possible solo into the evening. On a purely logistical level, you’ve got to give props to any band that can jam 30…
Raekwon With Ghostface Killah, Dillon Cooper and the Outfit, TX House of Blues, Dallas Friday, August 7, 2015 Let’s face it: Getting a true Wu-Tang Clan reunion is never going to happen. Sure, promises have been made over the years (and tickets have been sold for the “full” line-up), but…
Bruce Corbitt isn’t ready to die. It’s not that he’s afraid of death; e says he just has too much to live for. A popular local metal singer for bands like Rigor Mortis and Warbeast for decades now, the 52-year-old Dallas native recently finished a display of Texas metal at…
Been wondering when Index Festival is going to announce its 2015 lineup? For last year’s festival, which took place in September, organizers Spune held a big to-do at Trees in the springtime to reveal the first round of bands. Here we are in August but still there’s been no word…
It was a scene that was almost too hard to believe. Here, in one room, was a collection of some of the hottest up-and-coming rappers in the country, all kicking it and exchanging verses. There was Travis $cott, Vic Mensa, PartyNextDoot and G-Eazy, with current it-producer Metro Boomin’ on the…
There’s been some short-notice news at Dallas’ beloved volunteer-run community radio station, KNON 89.3 FM which calls itself “The Voice of the People.” The station has to move out of its 5353 Maple Avenue location by the end of September. The space, a garish brown office building next to the…
If you’ve been waiting for the Elm St. Music & Tattoo Festival to come around to get that (next) Friday the 13th tattoo, then you’re getting a pretty good exercise in patience. Now in its third year, the annual music, tattoo and burlesque marathon has made it a habit of…
Jay Clipp is a career DJ. For the past 10 years, he’s made a living from live performances. But in the past year something changed: He started offering music production courses through his Keep Spinning DJ Academy and now admits that educational entertainment is what he is most passionate about…
Music festivals are nothing if not predictable. Find an A-list headliner, some mid-range supporting acts and pad out the bill with some local artists, then hire some food trucks and art vendors and throw in some beer and food, and voilà. The formula is simple, but in the case of…
Within the first 45 seconds of his brand new album, over a greasy blues lick, Jonathan Tyler roars, “Hallelujah, Hallelujah, I’ve been saved.” That simple but revelatory line represents where Tyler’s head is these days in a number of ways as he nears the release date of Holy Smokes. The Tyler of 2015…
Dallas has a long and somewhat hidden history of electronic dance music producers that have made their marks far beyond the Texas borders. House, techno and drum and bass all have deep roots here that tie directly to the larger international scene. Producers from here have caught the ear of…
For the past four years, Girls Rock Dallas has been doing something that no one else in North Texas offers: giving young girls a chance to form their own bands and write their own music during a week-long summer camp. It’s one of the feel-good stories in the local music…
Five years is a long time. When Brent Best set out to record a new album — his first one as a solo artist — five years ago, the former Slobberbone leader singer had no idea just how long it could be, or how many struggles he would endure. Along…
Staying in one place just isn’t in Edwin Cabaniss’ nature. Before he reopened The Kessler Theater six years ago, Cabaniss had been a successful businessman — so successful that he could afford to retire in his early 40s. Now that his “retirement” has seen him rebuild The Kessler into one…
Dr. Dre releasing a new album is big news for any hip hop fan, but for his new (and supposedly “final” album) Compton: The Soundtrack it’s especially big news for Dallas fans. Compton will feature the long-awaited release of material Dre recorded with Dallas rapper Justin Mohrle, who it turns…
EV Borman is obsessed with pop culture. Old movies, pulp magazines and pulp art all influence the Dallas singer-songwriter, but it’s by no means a matter of ironic consumption. In particular, Borman is fascinated by burlesque dancers, which she’s parlayed into a musical style that walks the line between raunchy…
The city of Dallas has a tendency to not get its due for its musical history. From the blues and country up through punk and hip hop, it’s a history that’s rich and varied (and often run through Deep Ellum), but sometimes you need some visuals to get the full…
