Denton electronic duo Vulgar Fashion just cut their Violitionist Session, and the Q&A that follows is fairly illuminating, in terms of the spirit of the local scene, getting older and the experience of making music. Also, fingers crossed that they can indeed get sponsored by Virgin Airlines. Says singer Julie…
By Chaz Kangas Last week, rapper Lil Wayne added to his already-quite-substantial legacy by breaking Elvis Presley’s record for most songs on the Hot 100 charts by a solo artist. Immediately, however, many began squawking that this record deserved an asterisk, a la Roger Maris’ 61 home runs. See also:…
Are you a musician? Is your group having issues? Critic Jessica Hopper has played in and managed bands, toured internationally, booked shows, produced records, worked as a publicist, and is the author of The Girls’ Guide to Rocking, a how-to for teen ladies. She is here to help you stop…
The North Texas Chevy Music Showcase – not to be confused with the Chevy Stage at the State Fair – is a documentary series featuring a dozen local acts, focusing on their place and time in the North Texas music community. Starting tomorrow night, the two-minute episodes will air on…
Ryan Bingham isn’t a country singer. While he’s dabbled in the tones of roots and country, he’s a rock star at this point in his career. Sure, many people know the Los Angeles-based former rodeo cowboy from his celebrity-making, Oscar-winning tune “The Weary Kind” from the movie Crazy Heart, in…
The Fort Worth Music Festival Will Rogers Memorial Center Friday, September 28 All the highways and random roads that lead from Dallas to Fort Worth throw me completely out of whack and often I end up lost and late. This happened Friday night as I braved Texas’ “HOLY SHIT IT’S…
Will Johnson Monday, October 1, at Good Records/Tuesday, October 2, at Texas Theatre We chatted with Centro-matic frontman Will Johnson last month about his new excellent solo album, Scorpion, and how he finds time to record while also being in a bajillion side projects. He’ll be celebrating the release at…
Brothers Todd and Toby Pipes have long been fixtures in the North Texas music scene, going back to their time in Deep Blue Something. Regardless of one’s feelings on 1996 hit “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” their contribution to the musical landscape has been substantial, especially in the past couple of years…
Hot Wet Mess, North Texas Fairgrounds, September 1…
Why all the confetti? Well, we love a good party here at the Observer. Basically, we ball just as hard tomorrow as the day before. Also, we pop bottles but we don’t pour. (Editor’s note: That second part is not true.) With the announcement of the 2012 Dallas Observer Music…
Unlike Jesse Hughey and Darryl Smyers, I do not have children yet. I come from a large family. My father is eldest of five, so it’s understandable why I, a 33-year-old, have cousins who are teenagers. Something I’ve wondered about with my cousins is the kind of music they like…
If only there were a venue in town where I could see UNCLE KRACKER, Rebirth Brass Band and Kevin Costner’s band – WAIT, KEVIN COSTNER HAS A BAND? Well, sugars, dreams can come true. The State Fair of Texas opens today and if your appetite had not already been whet…
By Katie Bain In the past three years, one woman has ranked in DJ Magazine’s yearly Top 100 DJs poll. (Lisa Lashes, #75, 2009). The international EDM circuit is dominated by men like Justice, Diplo, Skrillex, Swedish House Mafia, Tiësto, David Guetta and Avicii, and the underground scene is as…
Local singer Sarah Sellers first came to my attention via Dallas jazz institution Damon K. Clark. But beyond that shining recommendation, I had no idea she’d been a contestant on American Idol, or that she had a pretty hefty series of YouTube song covers out there, reinterpreting Adele and Lana…
Find more of this weekend’s best shows in our shiny new concert calendar. Fort Worth Music Festival Will Rogers Memorial, Friday, September 28 and Saturday, September 29 Whether it’s the deep soul of Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires, the tears-in-my-beer ballads of Hayes Carll, or the smooth jazzing of Kevin…
Are you a musician? Is your group having issues? Critic Jessica Hopper has played in and managed bands, toured internationally, booked shows, produced records, worked as a publicist, and is the author of The Girls’ Guide to Rocking, a how-to for teen ladies. She is here to help you stop…
Fall in Denton is a breeding ground for music.The town receives its annual boatload of fresh faces dropped at its doorstep, from college freshman to young couples laying roots. I’ve sifted through the crap to bring you a list of five new Denton bands you should know. Daniel Markham A…
Tennessee’s Will Hoge has proffered a literate, solid and consistent collection of country, rock and soul since 1997. It’s been the last few years, however, that provided Hoge a more prominent place in the public’s consciousness, due to a horrific traffic accident in 2008 and the recent ascent of his…
“I lost my old hair in Denver, girl, so I had to get new hair today,” Christeene Vale says over the phone. “But, ya know, I have to fuck it up, wash it in the sink.” Vale, who has been labeled a “drag terrorist,” a nightmarish gutter of filth, bruise…
Last month, Stereogum ran a review of Animal Collective’s new album, Centipede Hz, which conceded that “we need to accept the possibility of a record so excellent we don’t understand it yet.” Laughable when talking about any new album, but especially a group like Animal Collective, which has whipped critics…
If the oft-employed term “influential” still has meaning in today’s musical universe, then a massive amount of its worth lives within the work of John Prine. A legend without being a household name, Prine’s songwriting is a force that’s turned many aimless youth into wonderful artists in their own right…
In its second year, Up To Eleven Entertainment’s musical gathering, Rock-a-Tron 5000, makes its way back to Fort Worth, where many of the bands on its lineup reside. Locals Sally Majestic, How’s My Driving?, Southern Train Gypsy, Here Holy Spain, Perdition, Mothership, The Dangits, The Phuss, One Fingered Fist and…
