All too often in the world of indie-rock, pretense dominates the conversation. Thanks perhaps to the bombast that goes into the music of the Brooklyn-based noise-pop duo Sleigh Bells, that’s not a problem you’ll find while listening to any of the group’s three studio albums, including their brand new release,…
As he nears 60 years of age, Steve Earle is a bearded musical buddha. He’s also most certainly one of the greatest living songwriters. His career hasn’t been as lengthy as that of Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen or Merle Haggard, but since he hit the scene in the mid-1980s with…
“Hello! Here we have calf-fries with a touch of Tabasco, would you like one?” asks an attractive female server wearing tighter-than-tight jeans and boots. For the first time in this Texan’s life, the answer was yes, and it’s a good thing it was (spicy wild boar meatballs and juicy shards…
If the title of Charlie Robison’s brand-new album, High Life, is to be taken literally, it would make a great deal of sense. The Bandera-raised Robison continues to do things on his own terms. With a dedicated fan base and a stellar album yet again reminding people why he’s one…
The Randy Rogers Band has now been around long enough to serve as an influence to a new generation of Texas country artists. Since their breakthrough album, 2004’s Radney Foster-produced (and darn-near perfect), Rollercoaster, Rogers, Brady Black, Less Lawless, Jon Richardson, and Geoffrey Hill have been on a roll, indeed…
Kylie Rae Harris, a native of Wylie, has chosen a deliberate path to this week’s release for her new EP, the country-folk-pop gem Taking it Back. For those who frequent shows at Love and War in Texas, The Capital Bar, Hat Tricks, and venues like them, the supremely gifted Harris…
Gimmicks and insipid meme-generating fare can rockets a video into viral heaven, but it can also pigeonhole the video’s creator. Austin’s The Possum Posse are a crack band of roots musicians that, thanks to an ingenious mix of comedy, musicianship and pure silliness, have millions upon millions of YouTube views…
Fort Worth resident and Texas-country flag-bearer Pat Green has spent the last 18 years creating some of this region’s most popular and polarizing music. Green has more than a dozen national top 40 singles to his name, making him arguably the state’s greatest musical success story of the past two…
While nationally acclaimed acts such as Denton’s Sarah Jaffe went from folkie to dance-party host and Midlake went from Fleetwood Mac revivalists to flute-piping British balladeers, True Widow have remained inside their gloomy, pounding world of ominous reverb since 2007. Reinvention of one’s sound can be admirable, risky and, in…
While Dallas-Ft. Worth is a massive media market, and we certainly have our share of beloved faces and voices that we’ve welcomed for many years. For fans of Texas Country / Red Dirt Music, there might not be a personality in North Texas more revered than Justin Frazell. What makes…
In the past decade, the Randy Rogers Band has rocketed from the smallest stages in Texas to headlining the biggest festivals and causing the biggest lines at Will Call than pretty much any other band currently performing under the massive Texas Country umbrella. Sure, Rogers’ superb songwriting and signature rasp…
Earlier this year, we could barely contain our excitement over the news that Dallas’ favorite Stone-gazing trio, True Widow, had signed to the well-regarded label Relapse Records. Sure, it was cool that DH Phillips, Nicole Estill and drummer Slim TX landed on yet another legit label (they had previously recorded…
Overnight Success, the title of McKinney’s Zane Williams’ new album, is meant to be ironic — he spent years getting to this point. But the time has been worth it. Success is one of the year’s strongest statements from a masterful country songwriter hitting his stride. His music career almost…
Earlier this week, Texas country singer-songwriter Josh Abbott wasn’t feeling as well as he wanted to be during an interview. To be fair, the Texas Tech graduate-turned-festival headliner underwent a root canal the day before we spoke, a pain that many other artists would gladly accept before being subjected to…
Walking into Plano’s Courtyard Theater on Thursday night felt a bit like walking into Addison’s WaterTower Theatre or perhaps Dallas’ Kalita Humphreys Theater. Among the well-dressed crowd, there were some older folks milling about, chatting in the modern-designed foyer as an air of formality wafted through the space. There were…
Last week, on Wednesday, May 29, Steve Knopper of Rolling Stone.com detailed Daft Punk’s domination of the Billboard album chart with the release of their eagerly-awaited Random Access Memories. The article moves into territory deeper than simple retail numbers, though. Knopper even dug into the number of Spotify spins for…
We’ve made no bones about the fact we’re not completely sure what an artist or a song has to be or consist of in order to be lumped under the massive “Texas Country” umbrella, aside from simply having some sort of connection to the Lone Star State — even if…
Late last month, indie-loving fans of the globe, and especially here in Texas, finally received a single, but major, piece of news regarding the project that’s surely to be slapped with the ubiquitous “supergroup” label. Overseas, consisting of David Bazan (Pedro the Lion), and former Dallasites Bubba and Matthew Kadane…
On a recent allergen-filled spring day in Austin, Black Angels lead singer Alex Maas chuckled as he struggled through a sinus infection before this Saturday’s show at Granada Theater. Speaking over the phone, Maas tried his best to give an answer as to whether the organ was more psychedelic than…
Home By Hovercraft aren’t afraid of going for the big finish. Led by husband-and-wife combo Seth (lead vocals, tuba) and Shawn Magill (piano, vocals, xylophone), the band also comprises Abbey Magill (percussion), Max Hartman (drums) and Johnny Sequenzia (mandolin, banjolin, harmonica). They rightfully draw comparisons to The National and even…
On Wednesday night, 16 tornadoes devastated much of Cleburne and Granbury, south of Fort Worth, leaving six people dead and millions of dollars worth of damage to the two normally sleepy towns. As Wednesday night rolled into Thursday morning, it took but only a few text messages between a couple…
Sons of Fathers from Austin, who performed at the Granada this past Friday night for the Homegrown Fest’s “Pre-Party” with Telegraph Canyon, got into town early enough to do a bit of video-shooting, it seems. The group is shown in the well-made clip singing their harmony-rich tune “Roots and Vine.”…
