Who the Hell is Danko Jones?

Who the hell is Danko Jones? “We’re just a hard rock band from Toronto,” he says. Yet, something in his radio friendly voice hints at a deeper meaning behind a man who shares a name with Danko Reproductions, a custom body shop; Emile Danko, a fictional Homeland security agent; and…

Gorilla vs. Bear Fest III in Polaroids

Gorilla Vs. Bear and Polaroids have gone hand-in-hand since the early days of the blog, so it only seemed appropriate to snap a few instant film shots at the festival on Friday night. Sadly, I didn’t plan ahead, and all I had was a few shots of some expired film…

Nine of the Best Live Sound Engineers in Dallas

Here’s a few of the folks who bend over backwards, often for peanuts, to produce live local music. A disclaimer: This is not a complete list — there are plenty of great sound engineers in Dallas, and these are just a few of our favorites. Note also that this doesn’t…

Meet Tyler Tallant, One of DFW’s Most Promising Young Guitarists

Blazing through guitar riffs on stages across Texas isn’t something an average 15-year-old does. But Tyler Tallant of Keller/Fort Worth area isn’t your average teenager. He’s someone whose passion for music causes him to spend most of his waking hours mastering the craft of guitar playing. And his constant practicing…

Lance Lopez on What Dallas Blues Needs Now

Lance Lopez is a blues talent unlike any other working today. He spent much of his childhood here in Dallas before moving to New Orleans, where he launched a career that includes mentorship from Billy Gibbons. You can read more about Lopez in this week’s music feature, but we didn’t…

Ticket Company Prekindle’s New Deep Ellum Headquarters Is Now Open

Dallas’s own locally-run ticketing company, Prekindle, is movin’ on up to the Deep Ellum side. The four-year-old company has officially opened their new headquarters at 2528 Elm St., in arts-and-venue-packed Deep Ellum. Since Prekindle’s founding by co-owners and former band mates Dave Howard and Pete Swulius, the company has started…

The Ten Best Concerts in DFW This Week, August 22-28

This is your official warning Dallas, It’s going to be a rough Monday. This weekend is packed to the brim with great live music and there’s nothing you can do about it. Honestly, you’ll be lucky if you make it to brunch at all (gasp). Friday night will be especially…

Lance Lopez Took His Blues from Elvis, Jimi and Billy

Lopez commands the stage when he steps behind the microphone. His dark sunglasses, black cowboy hat and PRS guitar resting next to his hip make him look more like an outlaw than a Texas bluesman. He can feel the blues as his hands slide across his guitar’s neck. He’s been…

The Best Shoes at the Janelle Monae Listening Party

Earlier this week, Janelle Monae stopped by Luminous Sound in Richardson to preview her upcoming album, The Electric Lady. Monae is famously fashionable (one of her most prominent commercial relationships is with CoverGirl), so it stands to reason that the attendees of the listening party would dig up some of…

Music Photographer Fabien Castro Started Out Shooting Action Figures

It wasn’t long ago that live music shots were, while certainly appreciated by the bands, just a nice nuance for local musicians to get. With online socializing skyrocketing, photography as well as video have become crucial tools for a band at any level. We’re lucky to have a pretty good…

The 10 Best Record Labels in Dallas

Trying to find legitimate record labels in the Dallas/Fort Worth area turned into a quest that crossed the thin barrier of insanity on more than one occasion, as more and more record labels fell off our list. Fifty-four or so for the Dallas area alone were the number of record…

Kurt Vile at Trees, 8/19/13: Review

Kurt Vile | Sonny & the Sunsets Trees August 19, 2013 Sound issues can ruin a good show. The band keeps stopping to fix things, the crowd grumbles because of all the stops, and no one has a good time. So it’s to Kurt Vile, and his copious crowd of…