When you were growing up, Mom said to be yourself. But musicians are finding that it pays better to be someone else. Local guitarist Mike Mroz will be the first to tell you there’s no question that performing in a tribute band is more financially rewarding than performing original songs. “Even…
Ten years ago, voters in Irving agreed to finance a 16-acre, mixed-use entertainment complex off State Highway 114. It would have more than two dozen restaurants, an Alamo Drafthouse, and indoor and outdoor concert venues, along with retail and office space. That complex, originally called the Irving Music Factory, was…
Late Friday afternoon, word came down that Jason Isbell has postponed tour dates between Sept. 23 and Sept. 27, which includes his show with 400 Unit and Frank Turner scheduled for the Bomb Factory Saturday. Other cities affected are Oklahoma City, Baton Rouge and Mobile. The reason is a death…
Andrew W.K. plays House of Blues Wednesday, Oct. 4. If you’ve been to a party where doing a keg stand counted as the price of admission or sat through the loading screen of a Madden NFL video game, then you’ve heard Andrew W.K.’s music. The California-born Michigan native has been…
This week brings another round of exciting new concert announcements as a trio of Texans bands together for Harvey Relief, a bearded indie-rock sage announces a local show and The Rustic gets intimate after hours. Elsewhere, we find veteran rockers hitting various stages, a pair of anticipated reunions and several…
Joe Castillo is a seasoned vet who cut his teeth when disco was a new thing and Radio Shack existed. Although Castillo is best known for house music, his knowledge reaches into a multitude of niche genres, from country to drum and bass. These days, he can be seen playing…
Jared Thomas, a Denton musician, planned to go to Nashville to spend the week writing and schmoozing with music industry people when Hurricane Harvey made landfall in late August. Instead, he loaded up his backyard grills, his family and two friends and headed toward Houston. “I just told my wife…
Josh Abbott, William Clark Green, Wade Bowen and more have all played Blue Light, a country venue in Lubbock. Now the small music venue is expanding to Deep Ellum. Marc Torres, owner of the new Dallas location, says the venue will be between Stirr and Harlowe, at 2811 Main Street…
Mecca had to swallow a bit of her pride when she moved to Denton after a brief tenure at Southern University and A&M College in Louisiana. She transferred to the University of North Texas after some cajoling from her godsister. But the move was antithetical to one of the 23-year-old…
Against Me! plays the Granada Theater on Saturday, Sept. 23. In 2010, Against Me! encountered a potentially band-ending hurdle when it parted ways with its label, Sire Records, because the two records the group had recorded hadn’t met the label’s expectations. Instead, this change has catalyzed some of Against Me’s…
Four years ago, local musician Barry Huebner had an idea to have Dallasites wield guitars in public. In a tongue-in-cheek protest of Texas’ open-carry gun laws, he called it an Open Carry Guitar Rally. Four years later, the event is still drawing support. The next Open Carry Guitar Rally takes…
Theresa “T” Barksdale considers herself a diehard Stevie Ray Vaughan fan. Her back is decorated with a mural to the late Texas guitarist. The ink has personal significance: She and her older brother, who died last year, designed it. She still remembers him sharing the recordings of Vaughan igniting his…
Frank Turner opens for Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit at the Bomb Factory on Saturday, Sept. 23. Fort Worth recording studio Niles City Sound, founded in 2014, is best known for launching local talent Leon Bridges into the celebrity stratosphere when it recorded his debut LP, Coming Home. But…
Texas Theatre and the Wild Detectives are bosom buddies. Which is why it could have been awkward when the Oak Cliff venues found out they were both planning concerts on the same night and vying for the same opener, local psych pop band Midnight Opera. Instead of hosting competing events,…
Harvey relief efforts continue with a statewide benefit event that makes a couple of local appearances. A November event will discuss and celebrate Texas innovators as local musicians provide the tunes. The Grateful Dead machine rolls through town right before the holidays, and club venues lock in some nice additions…
September is a busy month for the Toadies. The Dallas-based band kicked off a 47-date, 29-state tour Sept. 6 that has them crisscrossing the U.S. until early November. Two days later, they released their new album, The Lower Side of Uptown, via Kirtland Records. It’s the follow up to 2015’s…
Jason Isbell plays Bomb Factory on Saturday, Sept. 23 Jason Isbell lived in the blood-red South for all of his 38 years and has no plans to leave, even though he’s a Democrat and the father of a mixed-race daughter in a “white man’s world,” to borrow the title from the…
Yung Cloud is part of a new generation of DJs and promoters who have been making waves in Dallas. He’s affiliated with Prime, a local club promoter, and frequently appears at residencies showcasing local artists Sugar Free and Lolo. He’s an admitted bass music junkie always searching for the latest…
The life and legacy of Bill Ellison will be honored tonight at the Granada Theater, where Ellison spent many nights capturing performances with his camera. Ellison died last month after a lengthy battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 64. He left a vast collection of his photographs on his Flickr…
After taking a few years off from recording, Dallas native Annie Clark announced last week that she will release her fifth solo album as St. Vincent, Masseduction, on Oct. 13. It will be her second pop-rock album for label Loma Vista, also home to icons Iggy Pop and Marilyn Manson, and…
Mable Peabody’s Beauty Parlor and Chainsaw Repair, Denton’s only LGBTQ+ bar, shuttered its doors and windows after a final night of drinks and music Sept. 4. The bar owners made no official announcement before closing. Rumors that the small bar with a big personality would cease operations appeared on Mable…
Skate or Die Fest is from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 22, at Gas Monkey Live. With all of the local music festivals — Homegrown, IndexFest, Spillover, Fortress Fest, Oaktopia and JMBLYA, to name just a few — it’s possible that North Texans have too many to choose from. Organizers…
