For a decade now, Randy Rogers and Wade Bowen, along with their trusty band mates, have become A-Listers in the nebulously defined, increasingly lucrative world of Texas Country Music. The reason for each artist’s ascendency isn’t a secret. Rogers, a native of Cleburne just outside of Fort Worth, and Waco…
Willie Nelson’s Fourth of July Picnic Forth Worth Stockyards Friday, July 4, 2014 “Hey man, this is the wrong place to be wearing that,” slurred an older concert attendee, pointing at my black Pantera T-shirt as I made my way through the crowd. “This is a Willie Nelson concert.” It…
Wye Oak With Pattern is Movement Trees, Dallas Saturday, July 5, 2014 About a quarter of the way through Wye Oak’s set at Trees on Saturday night, a mother led her three children through the crowd carrying a pizza. They retreated to the upstairs segment of Trees, sat down and…
Sometimes the only thing that’s worse than a Monday is the Monday after a three-day weekend. Honestly, what does anyone have to look forward to now? Aside from, you know, some real summer heat finally starting to creep in. Fortunately the start of any new week in Dallas also means…
Open Carry Guitar Rally Trinity River Walking Bridge Friday, July 4, 2014 A miraculous “Open Carry” tradition started over the weekend on Fourth of July right here in Dallas. The miraculous part is that it didn’t involve needless public displays of heavy firearms and another reason to wonder if Kevlar…
Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band WinStar Casino, Thackerville, Oklahoma Saturday, July 5, 2014 It could be said that there are two types of Beatles’ fans: those who revere them as enlightened mystical geniuses for their revolutionary experimentation in music, and the other type which prefers the cartoonish, suited-up figurine…
Last night, just before his scheduled performance at the Gas Monkey Bar and Grill in Dallas, so-called “outlaw” David Allan Coe packed his rebel flag-adorned equipment and hit the road, leaving venue staff angry and fans perplexed. According to a message from Gas Monkey’s GM Alex Mendosa posted to the…
While Willie Nelson is a legendary artist from Texas (and we certainly love that fact), he’s long since transcended simple regional borders. It’s almost too limiting to even refer to him as an American icon, though he is obviously that without question. The man is a survivor, an activist and…
We’re halfway through the year and for most of the past week we’ve been turning our gazes back at these six months past, taking stock of all the fine music that’s been released in North Texas since the start of the year. It’s been a fun trip, boys and girls,…
It’s been more than 20 years since the Toadies dropped their signature record, Rubberneck. In fact, maybe you’ve heard about it. But what really makes the occasion seem significant is that the boys from Fort Worth are still going strong all these years later, gigging regularly around Texas and even…
We’re halfway done with 2014 and, before we know it, it will be time to bring in the New Year. (Okay, maybe that’s a little premature. There’s something like another five months of summer left first.) There have been plenty of exciting things happening for Dallas artists through the first…
With July 4th coming up this Friday, this will be that most patriotic of weeks where we can sit back and bask in the glory of our homeland: Texas. (Well, America too.) And can mean only one thing: lots of and lots of country music. From singer-songwriters to outlaws and…
Merle Haggard Billy Bob’s Texas, Fort Worth Saturday, June 28, 2014 Country music is built on a bedrock of incredible artists like Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings, but you’d be an idiot to not consider the tremendous influence of everyone’s favorite former felon, Merle Haggard. His career has certainly seen…
Deafheaven With Wreck & Reference and Pallbearer Club Dada Saturday, June 28, 2014 Having Deafheaven play the patio at Club Dada seemed like a good idea. It was a breezy, cool (for June) night with occasional wafts of barbeque smoke floating in the air. But a mere minute before the…
It sounds like cathedral music at first. Then, like modern classical. A drone of swinging chimes and rumbling gong is Swans’ overture. Each tone is so exactly measured that, initially, it sounds like stock music pouring forth from the venue speakers. Look closely though, there to the back-left of the…
Diarrhea Planet With Lee Bains III & the Glory Fires and Party Static Three Links Wednesday, June 25, 2015 What’s it mean to party? The guys in Diarrhea Planet know a thing or two about it. In fact, they almost have it down to a science. It involves lots of…
José James With Dustin Cavazos and Buffalo Black Kessler Theater Tuesday, June 24, 2014 By Thierry Peremarti José James’ 2010 album, For All We Know, is an authentic jazz album that’s won its share of jazz prizes. But although the jazz community has accepted James as one of theirs, you…
In October of 2013, Lee Bains III and the Glory Fires had the plug pulled on them during their set at the Live Oak Music Hall and Lounge in Fort Worth. On that night, the group’s amp-busting brand of southern soul-rock was too much for the venue’s operators to handle…
Blake Shelton With the Band Perry and Neil McCoy Gexa Energy Pavilion Saturday, June 21, 2014 Saturday night was the first official night of summer and to celebrate some of country music’s biggest contemporary acts performed to a sold-out crowd at Gexa Energy Pavilion. Blake Shelton was the headliner, but…
Jeff Tweedy With the Handsome Family Majestic Theatre Sunday, June 22, 2014 By the time Jeff Tweedy and his four-piece backing band left the stage Sunday night, it was like he had played two shows in one night. Devoting the first half of a 28-song set to his forthcoming solo…
Cut Copy With Classixx and Nile Delta Granada Theater Sunday, June 22, 2014 By H. Drew Blackburn There comes a point when you go to enough concerts, the pomp and circumstance behind The Encore just fades away. You realize screaming like some sort of crazed social activist or Benghazi truther…
The Mountain Goats With Loamlands Dan’s Silverleaf, Denton Friday, June 20, 2014 By Jezy J. Gray I first saw the Mountain Goats in 2006 at The Opolis in Norman, Oklahoma. I was 19 and the band had just released their Get Lonely LP, songwriter John Darnielle’s most polite and somber…
