It is hard to overlook what The New Yorker once called “The Perplexing Whiteness of Country Music.” It’s nothing less than a phenomenon. Sometimes called “the white man’s blues,” country music has been influenced by many cultures. But, like most of history, its past seems whitewashed, keeping major influences hidden…
Things are about to get extremely trippy in Denton. The second annual Acid Koolaid Fest begins today. Organizers of this psychedelic rock extravaganza decided to expand the production this year to intensify the experience. Last year’s inaugural event took place over two days with two stages at Backyard On Bell…
Defying any expectations created by his low-key albums, King Krule unleashed a raucous, ballistic show Wednesday night in front of a sellout crowd at the Granada Theater. In support of his latest work, 2017’s critically acclaimed album The OOZ, King Krule played 19 songs divided between tracks from the current…
Pedro Gonzalez Jr. has been fighting the good fight behind the decks for over two decades under his alias, DJ PriestTD. Although his roots are deepest in hip-hop, he is versatile in a variety of genres, like any veteran DJ. Much of that versatility came from digging for the source…
During the past four years, Gavin Mulloy has been synonymous with Trees and The Bomb Factory. Doing marketing for two of the best venues in Deep Ellum, he seemed to be staying put, given the quality of the shows and their turnouts. But he dropped some big news Monday: He…
April 21 might be best known as Record Store Day this year, but year after year, a byproduct called Vinylthon keeps growing. Now in its third year, Vinylthon will take place across the United States on more than 80 terrestrial and online radio stations. Arlington-based UTA Radio participated last year…
Everything seems to be falling into place for smooth-singing local country singer Jessica McVey. In the next month, you might see her playing her debut single, “John Deere in the Headlights,” at places like End Zone Bar in Deep Ellum or Z Grill in Flower Mound. Just a few years…
It was strange to see people standing still during a Titus Andronicus show. Even lead singer Patrick Stickles implored the audience. “If I was at a show such as this, I would definitely be taking a seat at the table,” he said pointing to the dozen or so tables the…
It’s been 15 years since Opening Bell Coffee, originally known as Standard & Pours Coffee & Stocks, opened its doors to the public. Pascale Hall, founder of the coffee shop and music destination, says the shop has made an impact on local artists and has given the community a place…
Good music is in bloom this spring. Catch the French pioneer of experimental and ambient music, Jean-Michel Jarre, on Monday night; indie rock duo Matt and Kim on Saturday; several of the best in local talent at The Wild Detectives’ fourth anniversary all day Saturday and several others this week. Jean-Michel…
After eight years together, the great local band Oil Boom is calling it quits in May. “We have five excellent shows coming up in the next month,” the band wrote Thursday in an announcement on its Facebook page. “And that’s going to be it for us as an area band…
The DJ life is a tough haul for anyone. But as in most male-dominated professions, female DJs have to walk an extra mile that their male counterparts rarely — if ever — have to worry about. Despite the different standards, the industry is filled with powerful female DJs like Nina…
The nostalgic air of the ’90s hangs heavy over Dallas with this week’s batch of concert announcements. Counting Crows, Live, Dandy Warhols, Backstreet Boys, Guided By Voices and Alison Krauss all made names for themselves two decades ago. Over the next few months, they’ll appear at various venues around town…
We’re not here to harp on someone’s age, but it can be sobering when a musician younger than 21 is kicking ass while we sit in our cubicles wondering where we went wrong in life. Here are some of the best. Caleb Lewis is the 20-year-old wunderkind guitar virtuoso and…
Alex Kidd is a globe-trotting DJ who recently moved to Dallas from South Africa. Kidd was lured to the area at a time when the international club scene is taking interested in Dallas. With a string of releases and a three-decade career, Kidd looks to make Dallas his new home…
Anyway you cut it, Clint Black is country music royally. If you’re looking at numbers, he has 57 charted singles, 31 top 10 hits and 22 No. 1 smashes, and he’s sold more than 22 million albums worldwide. As for awards, he has a bevy of American Country Awards, American…
The Dallas Observer is proud to premiere the video for Salim Nourallah’s “The Bullies Are Back.” His double-album, Somewhere South of Sane, will be released this fall on Palo Santo Records. Nourallah will also DJ the Palo Santo Showcase at the Armoury D.E. on April 28. As gun violence, political…
It takes a lot to make it in the music business. Sure, you need musical ability and stage presence and, you know, talent. But you also need to know how to self-promote. You need an image. That’s were Phantom City Records comes in. The Dallas-based record company wants to help…
Sunday night’s Ho99o9 show saw metal fans learning to love the ever-expanding world of hip-hop. In the musical neighborhood of Geto Boys at the intersection of Bad Brains and Death Grips lives Ho99o9 (pronounced “horror”) — a hip-hop duo, TheOGM and Eaddy, from New Jersey by way of Los Angeles…
Last week, XXL launched its Vote for the 10th Spot campaign, allowing fans to make the decision on who receives the 10th and final spot on the 2018 Freshman Class — the publication’s annual much-talked-about list of 10 up-and-coming rappers that XXL believes are the next big stars in hip-hop…
Latinos Unidos was canceled at the Bomb Factory, but we’ve still got some great shows lined up this week. Catch plenty of up-and-coming singer-songwriters, let lose with some heavy metal, or check out plenty of hip-hop and EDM acts at this year’s Breakaway Music Festival. Lindi Ortega 8 p.m. Wednesday,…
Walking up and down the streets of Deep Ellum, one might pass by 10 to 15 music venues, which can be said for a lot of cities. So why is it so hard to book your own shows? The truth is, it isn’t. Before a band hits the big time…
