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…
The Pistol Annies are not a “supergroup.” The trio, led by country singer Miranda Lambert, is super talented, however. Aside from the small tastes of Music City success fellow member Ashley Monroe has received, this is the greatest professional triumph for both Lambert and Angeleena Presley. The subject matter of…
In the wake of Russian punk band Pussy Riot’s famed prison sentencing for “hooliganism with religious hatred,” following their February arrest in Moscow, two North Texas activist groups are hosting a benefit show at Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios. The groups include the International Socialist Organization and the Radical Alliance for…
The Granada Theater is turning 8, and instead of begging for a sweet new dirt virtual reality bike or whatever kids ask for these days, they’re inviting us over for a drink and a show. Portland duo Menomena pump up the jams with tracks from brand-new album Moms. Australian experimental…
It sat in storage for years, a broken record player and its un-played records. It had not spun a tune since my freshman year of college, and with each move I planned to get it repaired, to have a proper place for it in my home, to amass a collection…
“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…
Nas, Lauryn Hill Palladium Ballroom, October 29, $54 Having seen Nasty Nas at SXSW this year, working an entire Austin City Limits stage solo for an hour while he performed Illamtic, this double-header looks to be one of the more solid Palladium shows this fall. The appearance of Ms. Hill…
Party Mouth, Matthew Posey’s latest play at the Ochre House, is a tale of two best friends named Baby Doll (Elizabeth Evans) and Bunny (Natalie Young). They shoot up, smoke, snort and drink a day away in a cramped Dallas apartment circa the late ’60s, while three n’er-do-well men and…
2 Chainz House of Blues Tuesday, September 25 Look, we all make mistakes. The first mistake occurred when Daniel Hopkins somehow ended up behind the velvet rope at the 2 Chainz show last Spring. The second mistake happened when I completely procrastinated buying my 2 Chainz ticket for House of…
Welcome to Ask a Failed Musician, in which I will help struggling musicians make sense of their careers and even offer some advice. Whether or not it will work, who knows? It obviously didn’t work for me. But then again, I was on Kimmel once, so there’s that.A musician responded to my previous…
Brandon Butters drums for two of Dallas’ most promising new bands, The West Windows and Things of Earth. The West Windows debuted earlier this year to a packed Double Wide and are gearing up for an opening slot with The Jealous Sound. Things of Earth have yet to play live,…
As a teaser for his upcoming album Writer Dye: Deux or Die, which comes out October 22, Dallas rapper Playdough just unveiled this video for “King of Queens.” The Queen part is taken literally, as the whole song hinges on a sample of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which Playdough repurposes for his…
Local folk-rock artist Andrew Delaney, along with his band, The Horse You Rode In On, has steadily improved over three years and two studio albums. He’s created a catalog that isn’t easily defined, yet is easily accessible. In a live setting, he and his band are able to give even…
This year’s Fun Fun Fun Fest scavenger hunt began at 4 p.m. on Saturday afternoon, when I found the Raving Lunatics – Sheriff Red, Inmate 66247, P.P.O.P. and Sherlock Ownz – at the Libertine Bar. Each team registered for the hunt received a packet with a list of tasks separated…
