Music

When a new, hyped-up rapper appears on the charts, I play a game in which I compare a rapper with others on the charts and judge whether they positively contribute to the hip hop. I call that game “What’s! Their! Niche!!!” Today’s contestant is … Mac Miller from Pittsburgh! Come…

Shortly after the late 2010 release of Junky Star, then newly minted Oscar winner Ryan Bingham was vocal about his confusion over what he saw as fans’ need to label his work as country. He went so far as to suggest that it was merely his ragged cowboy hat that…

The Turnpike Troubadours have arrived just in time. The so-called Red Dirt scene has been besieged by young guitar slingers acting as REO Speedwagon revivalists, veterans who rely on overly hokey hooks and acts that have, perhaps understandably, headed for the schlocky, sing-by-numbers gold of Nashville. Lately, the tops of…

In the great hall of Denton music, with its jazz and folk and pop, there certainly must be a basement. In that basement lie the darker, sludgier, more cavernous bands and artists to come out of this town, and one of the newest basement dwellers is BloodWitch. Members Nick Tallichet…

In 2008, a bar stool in Lewisville’s Old Town Flying Pig was as prime a place as any from which to witness two examples of North Texas’ country greatness. Back then, on Tuesday nights, honky-tonk vets Mo Robson and Nate Kipp shared a residency in the downtown Lewisville bar where…

Austin’s own lunatic laureate, Kinky Friedman, has been a fly in the ointment for four decades, working over country and honky-tonk with satire sharp as Michael Madsen’s straight razor in Reservoir Dogs. The Jewish son of a UT professor, Friedman possesses the imperturbably lighthearted manner of a confirmed wiseacre. It’s…

Singer Kevin Fowler and beer are so synonymous, you’d think he invented it and not Al Gore. The Amarillo native believes “The Lord Loves a Drinking Man,” in or out of “Beer Season,” because “Long Neckin’ (Makes for Short Memories),” which is why “Beer Money” tops his priority list of…

Sean Michael Anderson has been waiting for this moment for a while now. Although he didn’t release his first official project until 2008’s Finally Famous Vol. 1: The Mixtape — after he’d already signed a major-label deal with Kanye West — he knew the stars were aligned in his favor…

Sitting around the house waiting for Turkey Day to roll around got me to thinking about all the things I’m thankful for. Of course, I’m lucky to have my family and friends and, these days, I am very thankful to have a job. But musically speaking, the Dallas scene has…

The Polyphonic Spree certainly loves the holidays. It makes sense, seeing as they’re the most joyful band on the planet. And only three weeks after they throw their annual Holiday Extravaganza at Lakewood Theater, they’re throwing a New Year’s Eve bash at House Of Blues on December 31. Which show…

Dirty River Boys – “Carnival Lights” from Compound Productions, LLC on Vimeo.Texas Music is a term so broad it barely means anything outside of basic geographical terms. And Texas Country is almost as uselessly generic, given the wide swath of acts and sounds that fit under the million-gallon hat that…

File this under Shows You Should Totally See Because It’s For A Really Good Cause and Stuff… Wednesday, November 23, at Trees, the good ol’ Texans Reverend Horton Heat are performing, with Sawd Off Sick and Missile, for a special “Thanks For Giving” Concert. The good-cause-part: the proceeds are totally…

In the wake of Good Records Recordings’ relaunch last week, it was interesting stumbling across this 1999 Zac Crain-penned piece about the late Tripping Daisy guitarist Wes Berggren. For more than a decade, much ado has been made about Berggren’s untimely death, brought on by a drug overdose. But this…

In late 2009, America encountered a British band named Florence and The Machine on music charts and the web. My first thought when I heard “machine” in its name was that Florence Welch and her band must have some nifty sci-fi theme. When I finally heard Lungs, what I got…