As the first month of 2020 comes to a close and some of us begin to bail on our resolutions, we should all be happy that we’re still just in the early days of another badass year for live local music. There are plenty of places you can spend your…
Chris Carrabba may have a new look, but the song remains the same. When we last saw the Dashboard Confessional singer, he was still sporting a clean-shaven face and his signature pompadour. Now, with a beard and long hair parted to the side, he is ready to bring new life…
This week’s dreary weather might have gotten you down. It’s the doldrums of winter that are settling in and making life a bit more challenging to conquer. If this feels like the case, then dive on in and look ahead to some concerts on the horizon. There’s K-Pop at the…
This week, K-Pop phenomenon BTS announced they will be making a stop in Dallas with a performance at the Cotton Bowl on May 5. It’s time to give the world of Korean pop, known as K-Pop, the recognition it deserves. Whether or not you’re a fan of the genre, there’s…
Remember those nights when you stayed up with your friends watching music videos on MTV? Kids today will never know the frustration of the pre-internet days, when we had to wait for our favorite songs to come alive on the big screen (well, a screen bigger than the one on…
Over the span of a three-decade career, progressive metal juggernaut Tool has, from a commercial and artistic standpoint, become the envy of almost every contender in the genre. In a 13-year stretch, Tool belted out four entries in a timeless discography that serve as metal benchmarks: Undertow, Ænima, Lateralus and…
One would imagine that looking out into the audience from the stage inside the Meyerson Symphony Center must be daunting, even for the most self-assured performer. The concert hall seats over 2,000 people who, on a sold-out night, would be spread out across four levels, all the way up to…
Robert Ellis — a singer-songwriter born in Houston, briefly situated in Nashville, now calling Austin home — is deeply fond of Fort Worth. Appreciative of the city’s relaxed pace and its cultural fixtures, like the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Ellis also cites Niles City Sound and his longstanding…
The sound of trap music is not going anywhere soon, but do you remember what hip-hop used to sound like with the mix of drums and soul samples? Dallas recording artist Samsonyte is here to flip the script on the “Hip-Hop Is Dead” era. The underground hip-hop and rap scene…
“Oh, my God! Thank you, Jesus! God is so good! I love God!” This is Taylor Morgan, recounting the jubilation she felt after planning a successful event. Morgan, who’s 30, plans jam sessions. She plans benefit concerts. Sometimes she sings. And she prays. She prays in her car. She prays…
It’s an unseasonably warm night in January when the guys in Creeping Death meet up at the Storage Depot in Denton. They’ll be leaving for a weeklong tour early the next morning. With generous clouds and no breeze, it could rain any moment, but not even a sudden downpour could…
In 2018, when Mac Miller (born Malcolm McCormick) passed away from an accidental drug overdose, I had been immersed in his fifth studio album, Swimming. I was teaching at the time, chasing around my own kids and, generally, carrying on in a mom-ish way, despite what my playlist might suggest. I…
For the last four years, Levi Weaver has been a name that fans of the Texas Rangers have become keenly familiar with. As the Rangers beat writer for The Athletic, the 40-year-old Weaver has been praised for his ability to offer insightful columns on even the most mundane games over…
Last year, Nathan Brown of Dead Media Tapes was contracted to make 40 eight-track copies of U.K. artist Mark Ronson’s album Late Night Feelings. As a gift, Brown made two reel-to-reels of the record for Ronson and whoever else the labels, Sony Music Entertainment and Columbia Records, wanted to give…
This week brings many different live music experiences to North Texas. The progressive alt-rock gods of Tool will melt some faces at American Airlines Center on Wednesday. Just when you think you’re recovering, punk-country acts The Yawpers and The Ghost Wolves might knock you into another universe at their Thursday Three Links…
In case you’ve been detached from the music industry gossip of late, Justin Bieber tried to get his new single, “Yummy,” to the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100, but unbeknownst to the Biebs and his team, a California rapper by the name of Roddy Ricch took the…
It’s a banner week for concert announcements as nostalgia reigns supreme. Some of the past couple of decades’ biggest hitmakers have booked local gigs, a happening that should lead to many happy singalongs and love fests over the next couple of months. Elsewhere, there are some nice additions to the club…
The Monks are the best band you’ve never heard of. These trailblazers were serving up a visionary, singular sound back in the 1960s, but the world wasn’t ready for them yet. Sadly, three-fifths of the group have moved on to rock out in heaven, with this Friday marking the 12th…
For a couple of decades now, Eleven Hundred Springs has been one of greatest country bands in North Texas, if not the absolute best, that is. Winners of a fair share of Dallas Observer Music Awards through the years, the Matt Hillyer-led honky-tonk crew has yet another album, its ninth…
For two years, Dallas native Kitti Jones says she was subject to physical abuse, sexual coercion and emotional manipulation at the hands of R&B singer R. Kelly. Last January, Lifetime premiered Surviving R. Kelly, a six-part docuseries in which several of the disgraced star’s alleged victims came forward, detailing the…
You may not have heard of Jean Caffeine before, but you’d be a lot cooler if you had. Caffeine is a true punk rock original who earned her moniker slamming down cappuccinos in the office of San Francisco’s legendary fanzine Search & Destroy as she glued together its iconic layouts…
Tony Ferraro never stops. The prolific Denton-based musician delivers art at a dizzying pace, with a self-set goal to release between one and three records a year — either solo or as a contributor. And not even two weeks into 2020, he’s already announced the latest record to land in…
