Josh Alan Friedman Comes Clean

The pretty awesome-looking cover of Josh Alan Friedman’s book. We haven’t picked up a copy yet, but Dallas writer/musician/renaissance man Josh Alan Friedman’s latest book sounds like a must-read for anyone interested in the forgotten heroes of rock ‘n’ roll, R&B and blues. Tell the Truth Until They Bleed: Coming…

Cross Canadian Ragweed Show Postponed Until May 31

Not coming to town just yet. On the off-chance that my write-up in this week’s paper on Cross Canadian Ragweed got you all riled up for the band’s Fort Worth performance tonight, well, I’ve got some bad news for ya. The show’s been postponed two months or so until May…

Badu Appears in the New Yorker

Erykah Badu…still gettin’ love. “On a Monday evening in August of 1996, I went to see The Roots perform at the Knitting Factory, in downtown Manhattan. The band had come from Philadelphia for a three-night stand in support of their “illadelph halflife” album. At one point during the set, I…

Bonus MP3: Calhoun — “Apocalypse (A Love Story)”

As we mentioned earlier in the week, Calhoun’s awaiting responses from a handful of record labels on its new disc (which is only available for purchase at gigs for the moment). Meanwhile, the guys in the band were nice enough to pass along a copy of the album, Falter.Waver.Cultivate., to…

Holy Diver Fired for Being ‘Too Awesome’

We’ve told you about Holy Diver before, but with its mini instruments and party band attitude, we thought the group might be more of a whimsical fun band instead of actual rock ‘n’ roll rebels. According to a posting the band members put out, they were “fired from a gig…

Good News/Bad News: I Love Math To Release New Disc, Tour

Why doesn’t I Love Math love us? Good news first: The new album from I Love Math–you know, the side-project from John Dufilho of The Deathray Davies and, recently, The Apples in Stereo–is going to be called Getting To The Point Is Beside It. It’s been slated for a May…

Moniker Deathmatch: Local Rapper Pikahsso Has Some Competition…

Hey, look! I’m a P.I.C.A.S.so! Uh-oh. We just got word that there’s a rapper from Newport News, Va., who calls himself P.I.C.A.S.So–which is pronounced exactly the same as the name of local celestial brain phunkmaster Pikahsso. One big difference: Newport News’ P.I.C.A.S.so is a born-again Christian rapper, and Dallas’ Pikahsso…

Win Tickets to See Mars Volta

Anyone else excited to see Mars Volta next Tuesday, April 8? Well, if you’re wanting to go but not drop the $35 for a ticket, we’ve got your back. DC-9 has managed to get its grubby hands on a pair of tickets to the show. We’re making this contest very…

Hear Odis’ ‘Breakin’ Me Down’

Odis at the Ridglea Theater last Friday. (Jonathan Finley)Dallas band Odis released its debut album Feel in February. We heard the rock band play the new tunes live last weekend at the Ridglea (see the pictures), so when we heard the band posted the song “Breakin’ Me Down” to its…

The Secret Handshake, The Vanished to Play Grapevine Mills

Dallas pop-rockers The Vanished will play the Journeys Backyard BBQ with The Secret Handshake and Aiden.With upcoming tours with Cobra Starship and Cartel (at home and abroad) on tap for The Secret Handshake, the band is still up for doing a local mall show every now and then. OK, so…

Pantera’s “Walk” Has the No. 12 Riff Of All Time

Cowboys from Hell? More like angels! I don’t even think the superfans on the Pantera message boards have seen this yet–then again, I might’ve just missed it among all the talk about the best Pantera songs to make love to–but here’s some sweet news for all you Pantera lovers out…

Bonus MP3: Zane Lewis — “Southland”

Zane Lewis’ “Southland”: Hot or Not? I know that Zane Lewis’ modern country sound isn’t exactly up most most of our readers’ alley. Hell, it’s not really up our alley, either (although I was, admittedly, a modern country apologist for a time in college…it’s how I started to get into…

And So It Begins: Centro-matic’s Dual Hawks Starts Leaking…

We’ve been talking a lot lately in the office about the upcoming Centro-matic/South San Gabriel double-disc release Dual Hawks (which you can buy in June, or, well, now, as an import on Amazon.com). Seems like we’re not the only ones excited, either. The folks at the mp3 blog Captains Dead…

Good Records Announces Official Eighth Birthday Party Lineup

To celebrate the eighth birthday of their record store, the folks at Good Records are throwing another annual bash for themselves on Saturday, April 19. This time around you can expect: “special goodies” from a number of labels, limited edition merchandise, free food and beverage (even stuff for vegans!) and,…

Young Buck ‘Got Money’ with S1

Symbolic One. According to a post on Symbolic One’s blog, Young Buck raps over one of his beats on a track called “I Got Money,” which just leaked to HipHopGame.com. If you don’t recognize the name, Symbolic One (S1) is one of the area’s most respected producers and part of…

Old Hollywood Fashion at Home in Neiman Marcus

The curtain dress. Oh, the curtain dress.In celebration of the AFI Dallas International Film Festival, Texas fashion institution Neiman Marcus has collaborated with The Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas to present the unique AFI event Through the Lens Clearly: Icons & Images from The Harry Ransom Center…

The First Stage

Wait, let me get this straight: You just went ahead and blew all your hard-earned cash on musical instruments and computer software? You want to start a band? Well, good luck. You’re gonna need it. Because—just so you know—today’s musical climate is somewhere south of overcast with a chance of…

Plano Skatepark is Becoming a Live Music Venue

A wide-eyed, panting inline skater—no more than 12 years old—whizzes through a narrow concrete passageway past a fenced complex of quarter-pipes and launch ramps. “Guys! Guys!” he yells to his buddies. “There’s a band about to play! There’s a band about to play!” It looks like Vicki Eisenberg’s prediction is…

Black Joe Lewis Bringing His Blues and Soul Sound to Dallas

Punk blues/soul musician Black Joe Lewis is apparently a man of few words, but then again, songs like his own “Bitch, I Love You” pretty much speak for themselves. The track, from his self-titled 2006 debut, marries Lewis’ foul-mouthed man-done-wrong verses (“Come home late at night/Bitch, you know it just…

The Decemberists’ Colin Meloy Tries His Hand at American Soul

Colin Meloy, the Anglophile frontman for indie rock darlings The Decemberists, hardly tops the list of the people you’d expect to hear singing Sam Cooke. After all, the wordy, bespectacled and talented songwriter is known more for his affected accent and stylistic wardrobe than for his soulfulness. Basically, you can…