Never let it be said that Ryan Bingham is one to pander. Or one to strike while the iron is hot. In the spring of 2010, Bingham famously won an Oscar for his song “The Weary Kind” from the movie Crazy Heart. As a result, the former vagabond troubadour became…
Fiery-haired Californian Brett Dennen looks like he could be an up-and-coming protégé of Justin Beiber’s — but, at this point in his career, he’s actually rather seasoned veteran. With four studio albums under his belt, including the brand-new Loverboy, Dennen has fully established himself as a troubadour interested in spreading…
California folk-rock act Dawes has had a whirlwind couple of years. Since abandoning the more hard-charging rock vibe they boasted before the departure of former co-songwriter Blake Mills, the SoCal act has gained steam, interestingly enough, by becoming more musically laid-back. And there’s been plenty of steam, too: The quartet,…
It’d be easy to pigeonhole Oklahoma music as solely focused on red dirt country (see: Cross Canadian Ragweed) or dust-bowl folk (see: Woody Guthrie) were it not for the contributions made by the likes of the Flaming Lips, Evangelicals, Starlight Mints and Stardeath & White Dwarfs in recent years. Another…
On an otherwise normal evening at Colin Meloy’s house, the Decemberists were working through tunes for their new album, The King is Dead. But one thing was different about this night: The Portland-based band had a special guest joining them. It was Peter Buck, the guitarist responsible for giving REM—and…
On Orange Peel Sunshine’s recently released self-titled album, the Josh Campbell-led outfit takes post-punk for an enjoyable spin around the American rock block. And though the collection’s production comes with a polish that detracts from the ferocity of certain songs, that slight issue is made up for with scorching numbers…
THe BAcksliders have rightfully garnered a reputation in North Texas as a band that righteously rocks. And on their latest record, the Bonner-intensive group (Kim fronts the band, her husband Chris plays guitar, his brother Jason plays bass) manages to continue rocking, even if they seem to be holding back…
Back in 2009, Hey Dillon (The Last Great DJ), a documentary produced by the McKinney-based The Good Fight Motion Pictures and focused on KHYI-95.3 FM The Range disc jockey Brett Dillon, premiered and made its way around the region. The narrative — independent radio’s David facing off against corporate radio’s…
William FitzsimmonsThe LoftApril 22, 2011Better than: having to stuff used ear plugs in my ears. On Friday night, at The Loft, William Fitzsimmons brought the quiet.Interesting, too, since throughout the entire 90-minute set performed by the Pennsylvania-raised Fitzsimmons performed there seemed to be a tonal tug of war in the…
For about 10 years now, Arkansas native Joe Purdy has steadily released album after album of solid — and at times, spectacular — folk music. Most recently, though, with his two 2010 releases, 4th of July and This American, Purdy has adopted inventive ways to get his music heard.Case in…
It’s an old story in music. A band works hard and earns a loyal, if somewhat diminutive, following. The band works harder and gains an even bigger and still super-loyal fan base. The band gets signed to a major label or imprint, mostly on the strength of their fans’ support,…
The last couple of years have followed an interesting path for British singer-songwriter Bobby Long. Both geographically and musically. After learning cello and guitar by the time he was 18, when he started writing his own songs, the young and dashing Long began to set his sights on open mic…
Ride With Me, the self-produced new album from McKinney’s Zane Williams, a prodigal Texan who returned after writing Jason Michael Carroll’s hit song “Hurry Home” on Nashville’s music row, is a neo-traditional prize, pleasingly rife with the PBR-scented tones of fiddle and pedal steel. Along with those hardwood-tested sounds, Williams…
Back in July of last year in the paper version of DC9, we stated that folk troubadour and musical entrepreneur Joe Pug “devised a strategy for marketing himself that simply wouldn’t have been possible only a few years ago.” We were talking about the Internet, of course — and in…
So-called supergroups are often less than super. But the reality is there’s nothing wrong with an intriguing collection of stars joining forces to be a “really good-group.” Middle Brother, a “really good-group” consisting of Taylor Goldsmith, John McCauley and Matt Vasquez—from promising young bands Dawes, Deer Tick and Delta Spirit,…
A majestic Texas ranch is a fitting backdrop for a country music festival that views itself as a revolution. This all-day affair, held at Southfork Ranch, is packed with a brilliant mixture of national and regional talent, all in an effort to provide attendees with an apt symbolization of what…
After a bumpy start on Thursday, with things then smoothing out a bit on Friday, it shouldn’t have been terribly shocking that Saturday made for some clear sailing. Seemingly everything went off without much trouble. Of course, any night of concerts that starts with a stage full of rap video-style…
As was the case on night one of the 35 Conferette on Thursday night, a palpable sense of something was evident as the main stage headliners took to their respective stages.Whereas on Thursday night, there was an awkward, disjointed feel to the beginning of the affair, Friday night offered a…
Walking toward Denton’s Courthouse-on-the-Square on the first night of this year’s 35 Conferette, there was little way of knowing what surprises were to come over the course of the fun-filled, and, at times, aggravating, opening night.At around 7:15 p.m., which was well after dark, an eerie ambiance enrobed the areas…
Traditional country music champion Marty Stuart hasn’t been a major force on the Billboard country charts for some time now. But don’t confuse that absence as a sign of Stuart having slowed down in the least. In fact, the man’s arguably more relevant today than he was during his wave…
Three years into its existence and, finally, 35 Conferette organizer Chris Flemmons is seeing his dream of a walkable music festival in downtown Denton turn into a reality. We’ve seen shades of the festival shaping up this way for a few years now. The obligatory backstory: After a drunken conversation…
Even well into the new millennium, the term “Christian Rock” is still a practical oxymoron to some folks. But, for the fans of modern Christian music who don’t see it that way, Texarkana native David Crowder’s name is likely a familiar one.For 15 years, the wild-haired and goateed Crowder and…
