This has been a banner year for DJ Santa Claus. During his off time from his day job (really more of a night job), Santa dug his heels into his craft and toured relentlessly on the underground circuit. He released a string of 12-inches as anonymous, candy-cane coated white labels…
Production for Rigor Mortis’ documentary, Welcome to Your Funeral, started in 2007. The original idea was to make a film about the birth of the DFW metal underground. But after Rigor Mortis guitarist Mike Scaccia died in 2012, the focus shifted solely to the band, which was mixing metal with…
Paul Quigg never saw himself working at a concert venue. He’d spent 40 years in the music business, playing in bands and doing sound engineering for recording studios, theaters and television productions. So when his old friend and bandmate Jeffrey Liles approached him about joining him at The Kessler Theater,…
Brent Nuro transplanted to Dallas after cutting his teeth in the Kansas City scene. Nuro can now be found playing at the Nothing But Techno residency at Crown & Harp. For this week’s mixtape drops deep in to the vortex of deep techno vibes more common with Berlin’s Panorama Bar…
It’s been an interesting year for music festivals in North Texas. “Interesting” as in a year of transition, although to the most part essentially a year of growth. While Spune put its Index Fest on hiatus until 2016, it rolled out the first-ever Reunion Fest and moved its marquee Untapped…
Jazz in the Atrium, the longtime weekly source of live jazz music at the Dallas Museum of Art, is calling it quits after this Thursday, December 17, with a performance by the Freddie Jones Jazz Group. The series is a local tradition, a place where up-and-comers from Booker T. Washington…
Add another supergroup to the books. Banquet, the band formed earlier this year by Midlake that includes members of Band of Horses and Franz Ferdinand, are busy recording their first album, Volume I, at none other than Denton’s Redwood Studios. The record is due out early in 2016, a fact…
Is it better to burn out or fade away? It might seem like we were dwelling on that question a little too much as the Dallas music community gathered last night for our 27 Club-themed party for the Dallas Observer Music Awards at The Bomb Factory, where we had nominated…
We gon’ be alright? Maybe, maybe not. For one Dallas music fan it’s probably the latter, because Whitney Larkins is suing Dave Free, Kendrick Lamar’s manager and president of Top Dawg Entertainment, for $1 million. As TMZ reported Tuesday, the lawsuit alleges that Free trying scamming her out of $10,000…
Jen Littlz has traveled far and wide to witness many of the finest talents in underground house and techno. She has been a fixture on Dallas dance floors since the ’90s. In recent years she has taken that extensive dance floor knowledge behind the decks with her feet firmly planted in…
When Moody Fuqua took over as general manager and talent buyer at Crown & Harp, the Lower Greenville dive bar quickly became one of the most important club venues and cultural melting pots in Dallas. On any given night, you can hear a band making sounds you’ve never heard before…
This is it, folks. Tomorrow is the big day for the Dallas Observer Music Awards, our 27th annual celebration of the Dallas music scene. Having rolled out the band showcase in Deep Ellum last Saturday, we’ll be setting up at The Bomb Factory on Wednesday night for the awards ceremony,…
Now it’s official. Speculation has been rife for weeks about the possibility of Leon Bridges being up for Grammy nominations, to the degree that it’s almost felt like more a question of where he’ll be nominated rather than if. With a busy (and impressive) year that saw him make his…
Now before we jump into breathless praise over the star turn Leon Bridges made on Saturday Night Live over the weekend, let’s put something in perspective. The Fort Worth singer has already played some seriously big gigs this year, including ones on national TV like The Tonight Show With Jimmy…
Scott Tucker was on the verge of having a dream come true. On Saturday, December 12, he and his band the Orange were scheduled to play a show at Gas Monkey Live!, opening for one his heroes, Scott Weiland. The Orange have spent a decade playing together, and after a…
Checkered Past Winery isn’t for fancy wine snobs. And it doesn’t want to be. The winery and wine pub quietly opened in early November and features a menu focused on local Texas wines, beers and ciders. Located inside South Side on Lamar, Checkered Past took over the 2,500-square-foot spot at…
This was supposed to be a special weekend for Dallas metal fans. King Diamond, the Danish legend and one-time front man for Merciful Fate, was scheduled to be playing a “hometown” gig Saturday night at House of Blues, performing his breakout solo album Abigail in its entirety. But those plans…
What a difference a year makes. Twelve months ago, we were getting ready to host the first-ever December version of our Dallas Observer Music Awards. Perennial DOMA nominees Sarah Jaffe and Old 97’s were squaring off for best album honors, with an upstart rapper, Blue, the Misfit, looking to score…
James Kelley is a true techno journeyman. Kelley is based in Dallas, but has taken advantage of the mobility and flexibility that comes from being a solo electronic artist to travel and play all over the country, as well as some gigs on the other side of the pond. As…
Erykah Badu has been mighty busy lately. So busy, she’s almost given Leon Bridges a run for. Mostly the news has revolved around her new mixtape, BUT YOU CAIN’T USE MY PHONE — which dropped on Apple Music back on Black Friday — including her remix of “Hotline Bling.” But…
For the past eight years, Keith P was best known for his goth and dark wave nights, but before that stint in the dark realm Keith was one of the most cutting edge bass DJ’s in the city. He used to be a regular at Dub Assembly where he was…
Two for the price of one. Well, maybe not for the price of, but in the space of, one. Two weeks ago, we reported that one of Denton’s most beloved music venues, Hailey’s Club, will be closing its doors on December 31. “But to become what?” was the unanswered question…
