Los Lonely Boys, Willie Nelson, Black Keys, Blonde Redhead, Slayer

This trio of brothers from San Angelo have a unique blend of rock, blues, conjunto and Tejano. The brothers Garza started playing music in the '80s before they were even teens, backing up their father's solo project after the dissolution of his own band of siblings, the Falconers. Los Lonely Boys formed in 1996 and by 2003 they were recording their debut album at Willie Nelson's Pedernales studio in Austin. In 2004, the album was released on Epic Records and the year after that Los Lonely Boys won the "Best Pop Performance" Grammy Award for their single, "Heaven." This decade has been rough on the band so far: JoJo Garza had lesions on his vocal cords in 2010 and Henry Garza suffered a serious spinal injury after falling off a stage last year. But Los Lonely Boys released their latest and most personal album, Revelation, in January and should sound better than ever when they visit Dallas this Saturday. --Jeremy Hallock

No person is more quintessentially Texas than Willie Nelson. After a 50-year career in country, Americana and folk music, Nelson is as much a cultural institution as he is a musician. There has been no bigger influence on any of these genres than Nelson, and it's likely we are still undervaluing his contributions when even saying that much. You'll have to drive all the way to Oklahoma, but if you haven't ever seen the Red Headed Stranger play live, it is absolutely something you must do if you want to call yourself either a Texan or a country music fan. The music is familiar, you'll get to hear him perform all your favorites and maybe if you're lucky he won't be too stoned to remember all the words. If he is, though, you won't care because he's Willie fucking Nelson. --Amy McCarthy

In 2010, Dan Auerbach appeared on The Colbert Report and shocked the world. No, it wasn't necessarily his music; he'd trimmed his mane and gotten a clean-cut shave. For the Black Keys diehards who worshiped the former Garage Rock Jesus, it was clear that the times were a-changing. Since that year's Brothers, the Black Keys have been gradually tightening up their Akron blues into a cleaner and more palatable pop-oriented sound. This story's been all too common, with bands like Kings of Leon and Arctic Monkeys pulling similar moves, but that's not to say that it makes the band any less genuine or original. After so many albums, it's only fitting that they explore different genres, even introducing electronic keyboard elements on this year's Turn Blue. It's the kind of move that'll further polarize the long-time Keys fans from the band-wagoners, but frankly, the Black Keys don't have time for that. In an entirely unpredictable success story, Auerbach and bandmate Patrick Carney made their way from tiny Ohio stages to filling the fucking American Airlines Center, and they've shown no sign of letting up any time soon. --Matt Wood

In their earliest of days, Blonde Redhead were your quintessential New York indie noise rock band, using their instruments and vocals to create something more along the lines of what the downtown cool crowd would consider art. They were most definitely not of the ilk of conventional hook-verse-hook song structures and 4/4 time signatures. That was two whole decades ago now and, well, things change — even if not necessarily all that dramatically. In their later years, Blonde Redhead have matured their sound into something more akin to dream pop, which is a little more palatable than their early days. But, the art-rock sensibilities are still evident; no melodic structure could quite hide those brush strokes. --H. Drew Blackburn

Thrash metal peaked in the '80s. This isn't a jab to the genre so much as it is the fact. The '80s era of thrash gave the world Metallica, Anthrax, Nuclear Assault, Overkill and others. Above all else, it gave us the immortal Slayer, a band whose approach to the taboo has only been matched by their worldwide acclaim. When Metallica was falling apart, Slayer continued to release albums true to form but also, more important, true to their fans. In recent times, the band has suffered an immense tragedy from the death of guitarist Jeff Hanneman, as the result of an apparent spider bite. Rather than disband, Slayer have soldiered on in memorial and tribute to their fallen brother. The band come to Grand Prairie with fellow thrash legends Exodus and Suicidal Tendencies in tow. --James Khubiar