This past Sunday night in Deep Ellum, the folks behind Dada officially opened their side-room space, which had been previously used as the venue’s green room and by the previous owners as “The Listening Room,” as a new dive bar concept called The Red Door. The soft, unannounced opening took…
FYI: The Hard Rock Cafe totally still exists. Believe it or not, we actually have one here in Dallas. And, on Saturday, the chain dedicated to rock ‘n’ roll history, iconic t-shirts and overpriced bar food is celebrating 40 years in the biz. According to the note we just got…
Most musicians who make it big had to start somewhere. For every sold out arena show or big festival slot, there were at least a couple of open mic nights in empty, seedy dives. For many area rock stars and former rockers, those dives were on Elm, Main and Commerce…
For almost two months now, we’ve been waiting patiently for the chance to hear some music out of Preteen Zenith’s camp — you know, it being the new band from Polyphonic Spree and Tripping Daisy mastermind Tim DeLaughter and Secret Machines member Philip Karnats, and also featuring members of The…
Alt-country singer-songwriter Rod Picott writes songs about the working man because, well, the guy is the embodiment of the working man. For over 20 years, Picott held down a day job hanging sheetrock. At night, to perfect his songwriting, he would hit whatever coffee shop would let him play. Such…
Back in January, Stickybits co-founder Billy Chasen registered the domain name turntable.fm. Earlier this month, the previously alpha-tested music-sharing site made its debut as as an invite-only beta site, the only prerequisite being that new users had a Facebook friend with an already registered profile. By last week, the site…
On July 8, actor Michael Rapaport’s directorial debut, a documentary called Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest, will earn its release theaters in New York City and Los Angeles. Later that month, on July 28, the film will begin a run locally at Dallas-area Angelika…
Back in October, Sore Losers was on top of the world. The duo of Vincent Brown and Brandon Blue had capably established themselves as a local force to be reckoned with, a post-Boogie duo worth hyping, a creative source of inventive “New Dallas” hip-hop, a shining example of both what…
When we heard that a fire in Exposition Park had damaged the building that houses Jimmy’s Guitar Repair and Rob’s Chop Shop, we expected the worst. DFW has seen several historic buildings damaged or destroyed by fire in the past few years, including last year’s fire that destroyed an entire…
Portland’s Priory only recently issued its debut effort, but main songwriters Brandon Johnson and Kyle Dieker have been collaborating for several years. It just took getting a couple of other band members in place for the band to finally hit the studio with its plethora of material. It explains a…
Got a whole grab-bag of local music notes to pass along today, but none is bigger than this: Yesterday, Paste announced its list of the year’s best albums so far, and coming in at No. 4 on their list was Denton’s Own Seryn’s album, This Is Where We Are. The…
Confession time, y’all: I’ve been watching The Voice on NBC all season long. Kind of loving it, too. And why not? It’s like the perfect blend of American Idol and Made. (Speaking of Made: I highly recommend trying to catch a re-run of Play-N-Skillz’s recently aired episode of that show,…
Arizona’s Authority Zero has been making music for going on 20 years — but not without some roadblocks. Various battles with record companies and management types have resulted in lineup changes that would have permanently crippled most bands. Somehow, though, singer Jason DeVore has kept some form of Authority Zero…
Pop quiz, hot shot: Name all the artists who’re currently honored with murals depicting their likeness in Deep Ellum.Hmm. Tough one. Off the top of my head, let’s see: Erykah Badu, The Reverend Horton Heat, Rhett Miller, Ronnie Dawson, and, as of 2009, The O’s. Probably forgetting some others. Anyway,…
Deep Ellum is about to get yet another addition to its growing list of restaurants and music venues. The Free Man, which will open as a Cajun style cafe in the space formerly occupied by Sol’s Taco Lounge, will serve as both a restaurant and a venue.The Free Man’s owner,…
One of the better bars in Dallas to feature live music came to a sudden close last night. Well-located in Oak Cliff, just between the Oak Lawn and Kessler Park neighborhoods, Jack’s Back Yard, a re-purposed complex of buildings that formerly housed an auto repair center on West Commerce, Jack’s…
Mike Shea, the founder and publisher of Alternative Press magazine, took to Twitter on Saturday to attempt some 140-character assassinating of this blog’s Warped Tour coverage. Specifically, he had a problem with Darryl Smyers’ “The Five Best and Five Worst Bands at The 2011 Vans Warped Tour” post.Which is fine…
Seattle indie-folk act Motopony just sent our way an interesting press release, in which they detail plans for a coast-to-coast US tour. The whole thing will take place in single day.With the help of the Love Field-based Southwest Airlines, which is currently celebrating its 40th anniversary, the band will turn…
Hundreds of fans who purchased tickets to Adele’s June 15 show at the House of Blues were left disappointed when Adele canceled several tour dates, including the aforementioned Dallas date, due to laryngitis. Well, now we have good and better news on that front. The good news: She’s all better,…
I see what the Granada Theater is doing, and I like it. For the second time this month, after hosting a big draw on a Thursday night, the venue has decided to throw an unofficial after-party the way of DJ Sober and his weekly Big Bang! event at Beauty Bar…
Picked up your fresh-off-the-presses print issue of this week’s Observer yet? No? Well, go do so right now. We’ll wait.Got it? Good! Now, flip the issue open. Not far, just right there after the cover. Yeah, page 3. There, you’ll notice — it’s tough not to — a massive, full-page,…
At 64, Joe Ely is the elder statesman of Texas music. For over three decades, Ely has continuously released some of the most influential country-rock and folk albums around, inspiring and influencing bands as disparate as The Clash and Uncle Tupelo. Beginning his career in Lubbock while playing with Jimmie…
