The duo of honeyhoney, consisting of Suzanne Santo and Ben Jaffe, is one of those acts that, in recent years, have found themselves just on the cusp of breakthrough stardom. They made some noise in 2008 when their jaunty, edgy single “Little Toy Gun” found its way into the mainstream,…

It’s a rock show reflex: When the curtain goes up and the lights go down, you stand up and prepare to wig out. Fact is, many of the area’s best venues make the choice of whether to sit or to stand during the show an easy one. By typically not…

As we’ve already discussed a bit this week, A Place To Bury Strangers have about as much a problem turning up the volume knob as Rick Perry does seeking hair product. Which makes this recent, surprise announcement all the more awesome: Oliver Ackermann and his strobe-loving, death-obsessed crew will be…

Each year, the lineup announcement for the annual Austin City Limits Music Festival garners some serious discussion, and it all essentially boils down to this: Is this year’s collection of talent a successful one, or will it all amount to a wasted weekend? Truth is, this year’s bill is a…

For a group that specializes in smile-inducing string-band music that organically forces the heart to dance along with the feet, it’s natural that the Carolina Chocolate Drops would choose to face the issue of race by simply being truthful right from the start. Whether it’s their chosen band name —…

While there’s practically an infinite number of ways a band can generate great word of mouth for themselves in this age of social networking, digital distribution and the star-making blogosphere, it seems as though good, old-fashioned touring is as reliable a generator as any. Springfield, Missouri’s Ha Ha Tonka certainly…

It’s probably fair to still call Tyler Bryant a guitar prodigy. Even though he’s currently 20 years old, the Honey Grove, Texas, native has been slinging since before he was the fresh-faced 15-year-old winner of the Robert Johnson Blues Foundation’s New Generation Award. Actually, Bryant’s been in love with the…

When Brooklyn’s so-called folk-metal outfit O’Death performed at this past March’s 35 Conferette, we were mightily impressed. In fact, we claimed that they might be the most definition-appropriate version of a “roots-rock” band. Such a theory was based upon the band’s effortless ability to make the new sound old and…

Earlier this week, when Meric Long of the San Francisco-based band The Dodos told us about some of his earliest concert-going experiences, our Eric Grubbs noted that the band “plays folk, but with a kick to it.” Give their Live from Akropolis, Prague album a listen, as well as their…

There’s little doubt that the area’s country scene is dominated by honky-tonkers of the male persuasion. Dallas’ Madison King is looking to make a dent in that equation. Judging by the sterling results of her debut full-length, Darlin, Here’s To You, it’s clear that she’s got the chops to do…

After leaving Port O’ Brien, for which he formerly served as frontman, Van Pierszalowski traveled to a variety of locales, seeking a bit of sanity as well as for some personal and artistic regrouping. Following the demise of a band that had risen to indie-darling status after releasing three well-received…

In the past few years, music critic Stephen M. Deusner hasn’t exactly made a new gaggle of friends here in the North Texas. Sure, the Chicago-dweller’s reviews for Pitchfork, Paste Magazine, and ABC News are insightful and well-organized, but he just seems largely unimpressed with North Texas music. If nothing…

It’s a big night. One of your favorite bands of all-time is in a venue small enough to where you can be closer to them than you had ever imagined. You’re not up front, but damn it, you’re close enough and you’re ready for the show to begin.Sure, rock shows…

With his latest album, Radio Waves & Telephone Wires, the rather prolific Nicholas Altobelli proves himself an artist evolving. The folkster’s appropriately sleepy vocals that enrobed last year’s solid The Regulator have indeed been provided an effectively sharper tone this time around, but not by much. Such alteration is but…

Mainstream country music is certainly in need of a soulful revival. North Texas’ John David Kent and his backing band, The Dumb Angels, just hope that they’re the ones leading it. They’ve got a chance, actually: Sure, the former Radish drummer’s latest, self-titled album has a reworked, revved-up version of…

As we’ve noted in recent weeks, there are a good bit of things that a live-show patron can do to keep other concert-goers from enjoying a given show. All too often, these things are carried out with an air of obliviousness that’s probably just as offensive as the actual concert…