Although they may look like rejects from the casting call for a sequel to The Craft, Nashville’s The Black Belles are actually more original than their look suggests. The band was “discovered” by Jack White, but the four Belles see him more as mentor than Svengali. Speaking from Laredo and…
As Rio Room’s ’83 Series comes to a close, you may have thought Thursday night would free up. Sorry, shaking your groove thing is just going to become a year-round habit, but at least you know there are international and regional tastemakers set to underscore your weekly dance party. We…
Although Britain’s Band of Skulls has been around since 2004, the power trio has managed to release just two full length efforts. And the recently issued Sweet Sour is good enough to make one wish the band were a bit more prolific. Featuring a diverse collection of blues based garage…
Back in the drunken glory days of the Replacements, not many people would have described bassist Tommy Stinson as hardworking. But hell, he was still in his teens. Now 45, Stinson has developed a work ethic that is damn near impossible to fathom. Besides being the full-time bassist in Guns…
Philadelphia’s folk-pop trio Good Old War just released their third album, Come Back as Rain, and stop in Dallas tonight before heading off to Austin. Guitarist Dan Schwartz took a few minutes to chat with us about sing-alongs, SXSW and other bands from Philly. Given how many shows you’ve played…
35 Denton just announced the opening act for Wednesday’s rescheduled Jesus and Mary Chain show will be San Francisco shredder Ty Segall, whose 2011 Goodbye Bread LP contained the perfect right brain/left brain of pop and distortion. It’s actually the perfect match. Damn, 35 Denton, y’all playin’ cupid. Again, the…
Word has been circulating all over Facebook and Twitter today that Dallas blues legend Bugs Henderson passed away last night. A call to close friend and former bandmate Jimmy Wallace confirms that Henderson did indeed die at age 69 from complications of liver cancer. “A blood clot showed up in…
Even though country singer Wayne “The Train” Hancock was born in the ’60s, he comes across like a man from an entirely different generation. His look, mannerisms and style of music are much more akin to someone raised in the Roaring Twenties, though Hancock’s first album was released in 1995…
For the last six months or so, the Fort Worth music scene has been under construction, with a long list of new venues set to open in 2012. A lot of the action has taken place in the New Southside district, where the Live Oak Music Hall and Brewed Coffee…
Austin’s Heartless Bastards recently released their latest LP, Arrow, solidifying their reputation as a damn fine band. For those who didn’t hop on the bandwagon after 2009’s The Mountain, there aren’t very many seats left. The four-piece makes a stop at Lola’s on Friday night. Wennerstrom talked a bit about…
When guitarist Ana da Silva met bassist Gina Birch in art school and started going to gigs in London in the late ’70s, their fate was already sealed. The Raincoats’ 1979 self-titled debut and 1981’s Odyshape, both on Rough Trade, were products of that creatively and politically off-center time, and…
Despite all Built to Spill’s success, it’s impossible to deny how down to Earth frontman Doug Martsch is. He remains modest to a fault, going as far to say he wouldn’t be a fan of his own band if he wasn’t in it. I talked with him over the phone…
Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s 2011 Fat Possum debut is one of those albums that sort of blindsides: Every song is a different texture, soul, hip-hop, funk and psych layered for maximum gonzo appeal. The vocals on every song are different too, to the point that the album almost plays out like…
Girls Rock Dallas is gearing up for their inaugural summer session, but in the meantime, they’re looking for submissions for a local comp they’re putting together. “We have received a few submissions, but we would love some more,” says camp director Rachel Michaud. “We are looking for all different genres…
Denton’s Doug Burr is continuing with his fixation on very sad-looking veiled brides. The cover of his Trembling Lips and Pale Fingertips 7-inch record, out today on Spune/Velvet Blue Music/Tree Fall Sounds, shows an alternative shot of the same bride featured on the cover of his 2010 album O Ye…
From his home in Stillwater, Oklahoma, Jesse Tabish sounded a bit nervous. The leader of Other Lives certainly had every right to be anxious. His band was just about to begin a tour with Radiohead. Well, that tour makes a stop in Dallas this evening at the AAC and Tabish…
After leaving Megadeth in 2002 and bringing a lawsuit against Dave Mustaine in 2004, very few people thought original bassist Dave Ellefson would ever appear with the band again. Yet, behind the scenes, over a period of six years, Mustaine and Ellefson were both rediscovering Christianity and having conversations about…
On “Circumambient,” a track from 23-year-old Claire Boucher’s latest album, Visions, she sings, “Oh baby I can’t say/That everything is OK/Cause I have problems/And I don’t know how to solve them.” The Montreal musician’s third full length and first for 4AD navigates body and mind in order to solve those…
After scrolling through Erykah Badu’s Twitter feed last night, it seems the concert scheduled for today has been canceled after all. She held a press conference in Kuala Lampur earlier to address the issues that lead up to the cancellation, and beyond the bigger issue of art, religion and where…
Yung Nation, the Dallas duo of 19-year-old emcees Lil Faime and B. Reed, is seemingly primed for some national hype. The pair tirelessly records and plays shows, their YouTube channel has well over a million views, and backing from Dorrough Music has allowed Yung Nation and Nation Gang, the dance-centric…
A special Leap Day concert Erykah Badu was scheduled to perform in Kuala Lampur tomorrow was temporarily canceled, after a local paper ran this promo photo of her, which shows one of her (temporary) tattoos spelling out the Arabic word for “Allah.” It apparently violated the Central Agency for the…
Possessing one of rock’s most recognizable voices, former Yes lead singer Jon Anderson sounds as good today as he did when he helped form the legendary progressive rock band over four decades ago. From his home studio in California and in anticipation of tonight’s gig at the Kessler Theater with…
