Randy Travis is Out of the Hospital

At 6 p.m. last night, The Heart Hospital Baylor announced it had discharged Randy Travis. He’s been there since July 7, first with complications from a heart condition, which lead to a stroke about a week later. In a statement on his web site, his fiancée Mary Davis says, “Thanks…

InternetTrapGod is Here to Make You Move: The DC9 at Night Mix

The plethora of beatmakers, producers and DJs in Dallas are bussin’ the local music scene wide open. We here at the Observer wanted to showcase that talent through bi-weekly mix’s made by the best in the business, and made especially for DC9 at Night. So stream, download and share this…

The Nine Best DFW Metal Guitarists

Ever since Mike Scaccia and Dimebag Darrell broke on through to the other side, many Dallas metal fans have been longing for someone to step into the limelight and accept the legendary guitarslingers’ mantels and inspire a whole new generation of headbangers. Never fear true believers (hey, didn’t someone else…

DC9 Presents a Very Special Tribute to The Nervebreakers

Nowadays, the chance to see The Nervebreakers live is shrinking smaller than a diaper pin on a denim jacket. So, to help all fans of Dallas punk who might not have been around when the band was making local music history, DC-9 asked a few prominent figures about their memories…

Full ACL Schedule Released, Dreams Everywhere Crushed

Austin City Limits shattered dreams this morning, as every festival eventually must, when it released its schedule for the two-weekend bash. Whereas before excited festival-goers could look at the line-up and think “I’d love to see that one! And that one! Wow, and them!,” now they must look at the…

Local Music News Bits, Lassoed Together Like Texas Cattle

It’s Monday, so it’s as good a time as any for you to peruse this quick grab-bag of local music news hastily cobbled together with no agenda or real thought. Do you have a few minutes to care about your local music scene? Good, because it just so happens that…

How to Play Guitar: The 10 Essential YouTube Videos

In the late ’80s/early ’90s, if you wanted to become a guitarslinger but couldn’t afford lessons, your options were limited to guitar tab in a magazine like Guitar World or Guitar One, your old man or some other drunken family member willing to show you a chord or two before…

Why Patrick Ryan Clark Made the Switch to Christian Music

Dallas is home to one of the richest religious music scenes in the country. Over the summer, we’ll be attending services, both big and small, of many denominations, as well talking to musicians, directors and pastors. “Today is a celebration,” Patrick Ryan Clark tells the audience. “So let’s celebrate.” Dressed…

The 18 Most Entertaining Musical Performances by Politicians

In America, politics and music have been tied together since the very beginning. Benjamin Franklin played multiple instruments, including the violin, harp and guitar, and he even invented one: the glass harmonica. Thomas Jefferson, who played the violin, used music to woo his wife, Martha, who played the piano. To…

Marcia Ball Knows the Blues, Loves the Blues and Lives the Blues

At 64, Marcia Ball could well be considered the queen of Texas blues. No other female performer has captured the transcendent mixture of swampy, New Orleans style piano blues and the more acoustic form exemplified by the likes of Lightnin’ Hopkins better than Ball. Over a career that has spanned…

True Widow’s New Album Is Now Streaming at Pitchfork Advance

The latest sign of local “stonegaze” (their word, not mine) band True Widow breaking through into the big time is the fact that their forthcoming album, Circumambulation, appeared this morning on Pitchfork Advance, the all-encompassing music website’s album preview listening section. It’s slated for release on July 23, but you…