Perhaps more than anywhere else, the world of music loves a good comeback story, and after a surprise appearance last week, we are hopefully witnessing the beginning of another dramatic resurrection. Randy Travis, arguably the most distinctive voice of country music in the 1980s, was on hand February 3 for…
In boxing and mixed martial arts, it’s common to hear the term “best pound-for-pound fighter” when someone is discussing the merits of a dominant fighter who is in one of the smaller weight classes. Such a clarifying term is necessary because it’s doubtful that Manny Pacquiao, as lethal as he…
In the middle of Pleasant Grove’s new album, The Heart Contortionist, a titular three-song suite details the beautiful highs and the dramatic lows of relationships. It’s not a stretch to suggest the three songs represent the three stages of Pleasant Grove’s life as a band: birth, death and resurrection. A…
Later this year, The Colony — of all places — will welcome arguably the most ambitious music venue opening in North Texas. Lava Cantina, a 28,000-square-foot restaurant and live music depot, will become the brightest star in the promising Grandscape development. If all goes according to plan, The Colony could…
On April 19, 2014, the Old 97’s were celebrating the release of the band’s stellar album, Most Messed Up, with a show that also featured a number of other acts the group had toured with before. With a sold-out crowd enjoying the gorgeous weather on the lawn of the Annette…
About a year ago, we took a look ahead into the immediate future of local country music and pointed you in the direction of a few fine North Texas talents we thought would be worth keeping an eye on in 2015. Those artists indeed made their fair share of noise,…
Dave Rawlings Machine Majestic Theatre Friday, January 8, 2016 For the most part, the eighth day of the year is far too early to crown anything as the best of the year. But Friday night’s Dave Rawlings Machine show at the Majestic Theatre made it feel like the best Americana…
Texas country has always been hard to define, but at the end of 2015, the task seems harder than ever. As Texas artists start to see more success in Nashville, other music scenes are bleeding into the genre. The lines between Americana, Texas country and Nashville country aren’t as neatly…
A few months ago, I was strolling through my Facebook feed. Unlike the past couple of weeks where my feed has been overrun with mentions of coffee cups, Trump jokes and Adele think pieces — you know, the usual — I came across a posted link to a profile covering a…
With the 27th annual Dallas Observer Music Awards just around the corner — in fact, voting is open right now at 2015musicawardspoll.dallasobserver.com — we will spend the next several weeks highlighting some of the nominees for this year’s awards. And when we say these artists are the “Best,” don’t just…
John Pedigo and Taylor Young make up the O’s, perhaps Dallas’ best — and best-known — roots group. Both of them are veterans of the North Texas music scene, as they’ve both been in a number of bands over the years and continue to be active with non-O’s projects. And for…
Last Wednesday night, the uber-talented and mightily bearded Chris Stapleton sent shockwaves through the country music world when he collected three CMA Awards. By taking home the trophies for Best New Artist, Album of the Year and, perhaps most surprisingly, Male Vocalist of the Year — an award dominated in…
Untapped Festival With Flaming Lips, Dr. Dog, Pharcyde and more Fair Park, Dallas Saturday, November 7, 2015 As the Flaming Lips began its headlining set during Saturday night’s Untapped Festival in front of several thousand beer and/or music lovers at Fair Park, it seemed as though the most ambitious annual…
Pretty much any festival of note in North Texas has undergone serious changes in the past couple years. Some have returned after being gone for a bit (35 Denton), while some are taking a break this year (Index Festival), and others have simply gone away (Suburbia). As for Untapped Festival and…
The Foxymorons are barely a local band. Only one of the two members live in North Texas. In fact, what Fort Worth’s Jerry James and San Diego’s (by way of Nashville and Dallas) David Dewese have together may not even be an actual band. Depending on how one defines a…
My Morning Jacket Verizon Theatre, Grand Prairie Saturday, October 24, 2015 On Saturday night in Grand Prairie, Kentucky’s My Morning Jacket served up a show designed for the most hardcore of their famously loyal fan base. If there were any in the barely half-full Verizon Theatre who arrived as either…
Once he starts singing, it doesn’t take long for Dallas-based country singer-songwriter Troy Cartwright to sink his artistic simplicity into the listener’s consciousness. In his excellently galloping country noir tune “Next Flight Home,” the Berklee College of Music grad offers a simple, heartfelt image of longing. When Cartwright sings “I’ll…
It was 25 years ago, almost exactly to this week, that Garth Brooks’ “Friends in Low Places” reached the No. 1 spot on the Billboard country charts. With it, the Oklahoma native shot into a realm of popularity and success that country music hadn’t seen before — or since, for…
Jake Paleschic doesn’t go anywhere without his bike. He rides it to and from work, to band practice, even to the shows he plays on the odd occasion that he has the luxury. So when it came time to release his new EP, Cowboys Songs, last month he had a…
There’s simply no argument to be made: When it comes to Texas country and Americana radio, North Texas has it better than anywhere else in the state. The Range (KHYI 95.3 FM) is primarily heard to the eastern end of our region, while The Ranch (KFWR 95.9) mainly airs for those…
The title of the new record from the Hundred Inevitables, Decade of Downtime, is beyond misleading. Even if My Bloody Valentine’s brain-crushingly loud Loveless had been named Super Quiet, it wouldn’t have been has as misleading a title as Downtime. Over the course of the past decade plus, in fact,…
After an absence of over six years, a proper new record from Texas country kingpin Pat Green hit the streets this past Friday. Called simply Home, it marks a return to form from the last we of heard Green, but it’s not the rootsy, “Screw Nashville,” prodigal son-style record many have…
