How far would you go for $5 million? For the thousands of singing hopefuls who crowded the Dallas Convention Center to audition for Simon Cowell’s new show X Factor this week, it seems that the answer is a resounding “Uh, pretty damn far, actually.” These people waited spent two whole…
Back in March, The Paper Chase’s mastermind and frontman, John Congleton, gave us the scoop: His old band was all but dead. But a new one, called The Nighty Nite, was coming up to replace it. As for what people could expect: “I don’t think anybody’s going to be super…
Last we heard from two-time Grammy-winning, Dallas-based sibling production duo Play-N-Skillz, they were taking over the world with their David Guetta collaboration, “Where Dem Girls At?” and prepping the release of an upcoming EP called Alter Egos. Turns out they had something else to do first — release a new…
Home by Hovercraft is piano-driven indie-pop outfit that, apparently, was once from Dallas, then moved away to Austin (duh) and then Brooklyn (of course) and is now back with a new EP called Seams to promote. They’re OK, I guess. But this poster? This poster is pretty freaking awesome…
Once-in-a-lifetime events sometimes happen more than once, turns out. Next Tuesday night, when My Morning Jacket performs in its hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, to celebrate the release of their new album, Circuital, they will be joined on stage by one Erykah Badu, just as they so memorably were two years…
It’s not that hard to be a member of The Polyphonic Spree. With 26 or so members in the band at any given time, about one in every 46,069 Dallasites can stake that claim. Hey, it takes a lot to write and produce the world’s happiest music. And, clearly, being…
Last night, within 15 minutes of Your Dallas Mavericks putting the final nail in the coffin of Game Five of the Western Conference Finals and clinching their trip to the NBA Finals, not one, but two, local hip-hop artists had posted new pro-Mavs tracks to Twitter. Technically, B-Hamp (remember him?)…
For the past few years, Cage the Elephant has been on a classic music industry roller coaster ride. Formed in Bowling Green five years ago, the band was signed in 2007 by the UK-based Relentless Records on the strength of an existing catalog of unreleased songs and wild live performances…
Quite the busy Thursday evening of music we have here. From classic singer-songwriter fare to a trio of quality alt-country acts, there’s a little something for everyone on display tonight…
I’ll be perfectly honest with you guys: I kind of hated the debut full-length from Fergus & Geronimo. Unlearn, in my eyes, was far too jokey, far too hokey and far too wannabe Zappa-esque. Live, it fared better, but, on record, it was like former Dentonites Andrew Savage and Jason…
So. Lady Gaga’s anticipated Born This Way came out earlier this week. After giving it a listen, I’d say its like a roller coaster — one that has Gaga’s roaring head from the cover on the bumper. It’s thrilling in some turns, nauseating in others and it gives listeners a…
Manchester Orchestra have always possessed the balls, beauty and ambition to create a great album. Their first two albums, 2006’s I’m Like a Virgin Losing a Child and 2009’s Mean Everything to Nothing, had the right elements and fine songs, but overall they struggled to balance the bombast, extravagance and…
Although it’s been more than a decade since former Afghan Whigs frontman Greg Dulli was hospitalized in Austin after an altercation with a bouncer, the current leader of The Twilight Singers insists he hasn’t mellowed with age. “Mellowing out is relative,” he says over the phone from his home in…
They may boast a name that suggests a death metal band that just can’t spell, but California’s Dredg are actually an experimental rock quartet out of California that play music of a rather singular variety. For more than 15 years, the band defied easy description by playing an intriguing amalgam…
Since their inception in 2006, Fort. Worth’s Tejas Brothers have stood as one of the best live acts in Texas. And with the release of their second album, Rich Man, the Dave Perez-led quartet is once again proving itself one of the best bands in the state. Not only does…
The new, self-titled album from Darryl Lee Rush is the portrait of a storyteller finding a new way to say things. It’s not that Rush has reinvented himself with his new album; it’s just that he’s tweaked a few things to appropriately highlight the strengths of his music. While the…
Nathan Allen and Trenton Wheeler were on the way back from the grocery store one day in March of 2009 when they got an idea. “Let’s start a band,” said Wheeler. “I can sing, and you can play the guitar.” Allen was a little hesitant. “We can do it on…
For anyone wondering if Eleven Hundred Springs will ever record a bad album: Maybe, but you’ll have to wait until at least the next album. Indeed, the beloved, Matt Hillyer-fronted group’s latest record, Eight the Hard Way, is yet another shiny rhinestone gem in their already sparkling catalog. Sure, Eleven…
Don Cento could easily be described as the thinking man’s musician. Throughout the years, he’s been involved with some of the smartest pop acts in town: He provided keys for the highly regarded alt-pop outfit Chomsky; he played guitar in the instrumental surf rock-inspired Shibboleth. He’s also produced records for…
Denton’s Bad Design understand the role artistic influences should play in an individual’s own creation. The post-punk trio consisting of Steve Altuna, John Hossley and Clint Sawyer has obviously enjoyed the works of Fugazi and the Pixies, yet they’ve managed to produce a raw-boned album that merely draws from those…
Over the course of thousands of years, music hasn’t really changed all that much. It still consists of sound shaped by rhythm, melody and perhaps a groove, same as ever. But the tools and manner with which it’s made has very much changed—exponentially so in recent years—and, with each leap…
You can draw a couple of conclusions upon hearing the band name Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. Firstly, that they are probably punk rockers, as punk bands like Abe Vigoda, Burgess Meredith, Ronald Raygun and The Fabulous St. Knicholas Cage have been re-purposing celebrity monikers for years. Also, that their music…
