Gary Allan’s Most Heart-Wrenchingly Sad Songs

Country superstar Gary Allan has been a hit-making machine for damn-near two decades now. The 46-year-old California native has finely walked the line between stadium filler and perpetual critical favorite with little following. Due to the tragedy surrounding the 2004 suicide of his third wife, Angela, he became an even…

Randy Rogers and Wade Bowen at House of Blues, 7/9/14

Randy Rogers and Wade Bowen Hold My Beer and Watch This Tour House of Blues, Dallas Wednesday, July 9, 2014 An unusually functional prop set the stage, both literally and figuratively, for last night’s Randy Rogers’ and Wade Bowen’s show at House of Blues in Dallas. About ten feet behind…

Willie Nelson’s All-Time Biggest Gambles

While Willie Nelson is a legendary artist from Texas (and we certainly love that fact), he’s long since transcended simple regional borders. It’s almost too limiting to even refer to him as an American icon, though he is obviously that without question. The man is a survivor, an activist and…

The Best North Texas Country Shows in July

We’re halfway through the year and for most of the past week we’ve been turning our gazes back at these six months past, taking stock of all the fine music that’s been released in North Texas since the start of the year. It’s been a fun trip, boys and girls,…

The Top Five North Texas Country Albums of 2014, So Far

For a country music fan, living in North Texas is akin to a six-year-old getting locked inside a room over night where the walls are made only of assorted Minecraft games. There’s plenty of variety and more than enough offerings to keep one busy without ever having to look too…

Kris Kristofferson Embraced His Own Mortality at Bass Performance Hall

Authenticity and impeccable simplicity have always been Kris Kristofferson’s stock-in-trade. On Saturday night in Fort Worth it couldn’t have been more apparent, as he performed a couple dozen of his plainly poetic songs in two nearly one hour-long sets at the classically beautiful Bass Performance Hall. It was the evening…

Centro-matic Was “Above Average” at the Kessler

Centro-matic With True Widow and Cliffs of Insanity Kessler Theater, Dallas Saturday, June 14, 2014 Early on in Centro-matic’s Saturday night show at the Kessler Theater in Oak Cliff, a shout from the middle of the comfortably crowded throng provided with a well-timed bit of levity — and a healthy…

George Strait’s 10 Best Texas Songs

On Saturday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, George Strait will ride away into the sunset as he concludes his long-running touring career. Though he will keep recording and will occasionally play the one-off gig, the days of taking another Strait show for granted appear to be over. Before frat boys…

Tom Keifer of Cinderella: “Singing is Very Much a Mental Thing:

Any discussion of hard-rock, or even glam-metal, from the 1980’s is woefully incomplete without Pennsylvania’s Cinderella receiving a good chunk of chatter. In 1988 Tom Keifer and crew began an impressive run of hitting high on the sales charts and video countdowns. Monster ballads such as “Nobody’s Fool” and “Don’t…

Lucinda Williams’ Top Five Most Playful Love Songs

For many years, Lucinda Williams seemed to have some anger inside of her. Much of that anger was directed towards the men she had fallen in and out of love with over the years. The pain and resentment that went into so many of her songs proved quite fruitful for…