Kerim Bey is part of a techno subculture that has been re-emerging in Dallas over the past year. He brings a depth of knowledge about this legacy genre that has not been seen in this region in more than a decade. Bey mostly operates in the darker post-industrial side of…
Six months ago we learned that Daniel Hart and Rachel Ballard of alternative R&B group Dark Rooms, who are a couple, would be leaving Dallas so Hart could pursue a career in Los Angeles. But unlike a lot of dreamers who decide to seek out the bright lights of Hollywood,…
After a hiatus and a lineup shuffle last fall, the future of Denton favorites Pearl Earl seemed to be up in the air. But now the psych rock group is ready to move forward with an expanded lineup and plan to release their first full-length album this spring. The band…
Last month, people from all over the world traveled to Day for Night Fest in Houston to see art installations by Bjork and hear Aphex Twin’s first U.S. performance in 23 years. But there were some homegrown acts on the bill, too. One such Texas act was MNYNMS, who stood…
Mark Griffin pulls himself out of bed at 6 a.m. to make it to his first day job at the Amazon Fulfillment Center in Irving. After his shift stacking boxes in the dusty heat, he heads home, grabs some lunch and starts preparing for his first live show as MC…
The organizers of a new music festival, Band Together Denton, say that a lack of venue options isn’t stopping them from throwing an ambitious music festival this weekend. Denton has been plagued with the closures of some of its venues, particularly the ones that would host an event like this weekend’s…
The next family gathering J. Catalyst attends may be a bit awkward. At Club Dada on Friday he edged out five rappers to become the brand new Master of the Mic, and among them was his own cousin, Dre the Hitman. J. Catalyst, whose real name is Jason Broussard, is…
Bubba Hernandez stood before the congregation of a black gospel church in Little Rock, Arkansas, to thank them for their support of his former Brave Combo bandmate, Joe Cripps. It was Hernandez’s second trip to Little Rock to search for Cripps, a celebrated North Texas drummer who’d gone missing in…
Eric Arnold is part of a new generation of DJs taking up the techno torch and infiltrating dance floors. As a member of the ever busy Disco Initiative, Arnold has been a key player behind some of the most memorable events of 2016. As a DJ he is tapping into…
Chris Lewellyn has worked with bands for almost 20 years, be it selling merch at shows, screenprinting posters, creating T-shirt designs or silk-screening said designs on apparel. But in the past year, he’s used this experience to create a hub for local musicians and artists at the corner of Elm…
Danish pop group Lukas Graham are coming to Dallas at the top of their game. It was announced last month that their earworm of a song, “7 Years,” had earned three Grammy nominations: Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. The song off their…
There’s a lot of bravado in hip-hop. Promoter Callie Dee depends on that to inspire contestants of her American Idol-style competition that crowns the best rapper across Dallas, Denton and Fort Worth. “In hip-hop everybody thinks that they’re the best,” she says. Dee hoped Master of the Mic —…
The new year is rife with beginnings, and after a hard-luck end to 2016 for restaurants around town with many shutting down, Deep Ellum will have a new opening to celebrate this week. The owners of the British-themed eatery Independent Bar and Kitchen — as well as Club Dada, Off…
Two weeks from now, the Dallas-born hard rock band Mothership will perform on an actual ship. Tonight, they’ll kick off their U.S. tour at Dan’s Silver Leaf in Denton before heading off to Miami to play a floating rock show called Shiprocked. They’ll spend four days playing loud and proud on…
Jeff Parrott is a prime example of what can happen when visual art meets its auditory counterpart. Parrott pursues his music in an approach he calls “Psyexpression” where his two artistic outlets feed each other. His contribution to the Dallas Observer Mixtape series strikes a balance between DJ set and…
Since opening in 1988, Fair Park’s Gexa Energy Pavilion has officially changed its name more times than Sean John Combs (also known as P. Diddy, Diddy, Puff Daddy or Puff). News recently broke that the Live Nation-operated concert venue will now go by Starplex Pavilion, a name similar to its…
Every St. Patrick’s Day weekend, we host a concert at the end of the parade route on Greenville Avenue, and in recent years performers from Snoop Dogg to Josh Abbott Band have graced our stage. Those were fun concerts, but last year when we invited Third Eye Blind, we really…
Just trying to talk over the general noise at Opening Bell coffee shop in the Cedars was a struggle for Becky Middleton on Sunday. “I sang for two people last night,” she explained, and then cleared her throat to emphasize the strain. Known for her powerful vocals, she often records…
In April, Pearl Jam will be inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Noticeably absent from the lineup of inductees? Drummer Dave Abbruzzese, who was born in Connecticut but grew up in Mesquite and played with the Seattle band from ’91 to ’94. Since Pearl Jam’s induction was…
Six Shooter is a recurring feature where we highlight six new releases by North Texas-based musicians. Dallas hip-hop reigned supreme in the month of December. End-of-the-year releases represented all corners of the city’s fragmented scene, including Southern hip-hop, trap, alternative, fusion and everything in between. Some well-known, established North Texas…
For Dezman Lehman, who goes by the name Dezi 5, it’s been four solid years of shaking his leather-clad buttocks, shimmying and vogueing with a sweat-drenched brow from stages across North Texas to the forefront of the Dallas music scene. According to Lehman, it’s been a hard-fought battle for recognition from…
If Joshua Kynd had been running just a couple hours early on Monday, he might have caught the burglar in the act. Instead he arrived at his business of seven months, Retroplex Records on Jupiter Road in Garland, after one or multiple thieves had already ransacked the place. The store…
