Many bands start out with big dreams and big plans. But very few of them even make it to studio, much less get a recording contract. Most bands go at it a few years, play a few bars and then the members go on to other bands or go back…
Back in late June, you may recall, we shared with you an interview with actor Michael Rapaport, who has made his directorial debut with Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest, his ode to the influential hip-hop group and an interesting look into the surprisingly chaotic…
No, we weren’t exactly floored back in June when the news came down that the Granada Theater had booked ’80s new wavers The Fixx to play their annual anniversary party celebrating Mike Schoder’s ownership and management of the restored venue. Turns out, though, any sentiment at all was for naught:…
Dallas has always had a collective soft spot for cable-access weirdos. The Big D is, after all, the home base for the Church of the Subgenius, that irascible ’80s collective of local weirdos based out of a ramshackle house in East Dallas, who put out books, videos, and ‘zines (and…
Denver’s Breathe Carolina is definitely a love ’em or hate ’em type of band. Blending pop friendly electronica, dance beats and screamo metal, the duo of Kyle Even and David Schmitt makes music that practically defines the phrase “acquired taste.” Yet in spite of some backlash from critics, Breathe…
Our pal Preston Jones of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram broke the news yesterday: After eight years of operation under the Jazz by the Boulevard banner, the annual jazz-centric, Fort Worth-based fall music festival now has a new name. The festival, which will still carry a heavy jazz bent, will now…
Singer-songwriter Gary P. Nunn has been making music for nearly half a century. In that time, Nunn has played with a Who’s Who of Texas country musicians. Best known for writing “London Homesick Blues,” the theme song for Austin City Limits, Nunn has worked with, among others, Jerry Jeff Walker,…
Ronald La Tour very clearly remembers the first time he met Wiz Khalifa. It was a few years back at this point, when Khalifa was just starting to make a name for himself, releasing mixtapes at an impressive clip and earning endless praise for each. After some fruitful back-and-forth communications…
We’re kind of pot-committed to writing about Sarah Jaffe’s upcoming The Way Sound Leaves a Room EP at this point: We broke the news that it was eventually coming and that it would be called The Way Sound Leaves a Room; we told you that it would see Jaffe experimenting…
Jessica Lea Mayfield is only 21 years old, but her songs feel like they’ve been around much longer than that. Dark and heartbreaking, Mayfield’s songs have a weight missing from many performers in her age group. Tell Me, Mayfield’s sophomore full-length effort, came out this past February and features a…
Tim DeLaughter and his new band Preteen Zenith made their live performance debut on Saturday night at the Granada Theater, where over 1,000 music fans converged for the first ever Gorilla Vs. Bear Festival. But it didn’t go off without a hitch: A long delay before the band’s start cut…
Boston’s Mission of Burma is one of those legendary post-punk outfits that seemingly pop into just about every up-and-coming band’s list of influences. The bands two main songwriters, guitarist Roger Miller and bassist Clint Conley, originally got together in the early ’80s and developed a very unique sound that has…
The brain trust behind Violitionist Sessions have a good thing going. As seen on their most recent session with Fair To Midland, this grassroots Denton-based organization recruits artists coming through Denton to sit in their living room (from the looks of the video, it’s indeed a living room in someone’s…
For those DC9 readers who don’t have young children, Gustafer Yellowgold is the main character in a children’s DVD series created by Morgan Taylor, an artist who has performed Gustafer’s live show at Polyphonic Spree and Wilco concerts.Gustafer is a yellow cartoon sun dweller who landed on earth in Minnesota,…
Just a few days ago, we heard news that St. Vincent’s forthcoming, Oak Cliff-recorded album Strange Mercy would see its release on September 13. That announcement, followed by a handful of Tom Waits covers, has put the St. Vincent new album buzz full speed ahead.But the biggest news yet comes…
This year’s Electric Daisy Carnival, which packed over 20,000 people into Fair Park, proved that electronic dance music hasn’t waned in popularity over the years. Dallas is rife with performers who are breaking new ground in the EDM world. One prime example of innovation in EDM is the Silent Disco…
For the four-year period between 2005 and 2009 Mark Oliver Everett didn’t release any new material with his alt-rock outfit Eels. But it didn’t mean he was resting on his laurels. Quite the opposite, actually, as the privilege of hindsight reveals it as one of the truly prolific periods of…
Speaking from a McDonalds in Independence, Kansas, Galib Singh, guitarist for New York’s Cattle Drums, is as polite is he is laid back. “I’m inside so I better be careful about what I say.” Thankfully, his band doesn’t follow suit. Brash and irreverent, the music of Cattle Drums is a…
While we’re waiting for a story to come in, here’s yet another hilarious collaboration from Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon. It’s no “Barry Gibb Talk Show,” but it’s still pretty brilliant. And there are some local ties. The two roll over a few seconds of Vanilla Ice’s “Ice Ice Baby,”…
San Diego’s alternative metal band In Fear and Faith take their name from a song by Circa Survive. That being said, many folks hear the name and think these guys belong in the Christian rock genre. Far from it, claims guitarist and founding member Ramin Niroomand. Speaking from the road…
Current Portland-dweller Sallie Ford has come on strong to quite strong this year. While her and her band had built up steam before the end of 2010, the group’s New Years Eve show in front of a packed house of almost 8,000 while supporting the Avett Brothers in Asheville, NC…
Just last month, DC9 reported that Dallas’ own (Westlake, to be exact) Joe Jonas would be branching out on his own solo project. Seems the middle JoBro was feeling pigeon-holed in the Disney set, so he has taken a sort of bad boy approach with his new stuff. His people,…
