“A Day in the Life …” is a series that focuses on the daily routines of prominent figures in the local music scene. Jeff Liles asks me to meet him at the Kessler Theater around 4 p.m. Friday, Nov. 17. As the Oak Cliff theater’s artistic director and talent buyer since 2008,…
Oak Cliff reality rapper C. Struggs has always rapped about his struggles. He now has a big new one: his health. Last week, a video of the 31-year-old rapper being rushed to the hospital went viral on social media after rap blog Say CheeseTV posted it. The video didn’t indicate…
After a brief slowdown in announcements, the concert calendar is quickly filling up in anticipation of the new year. Classic rock icons and a hotshot roots artist team up to play the American Airlines Center, a string of fantastic rap and hip-hop shows are booked at local venues, a pair…
When Kim Noltemy becomes the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s first female CEO in January, she’ll bring with her 21 years of experience vitalizing the Boston Symphony Orchestra — and a brain full of ideas for the one Dallas knows and loves. Noltemy says the city’s growth, excitement and cultural organizations drew her…
Justin Vaughan began deejaying in Dallas in the early aughts at Deep Ellum dance club Sandbar. These days, he’s active with the party promotion group House of Champagne, which throws a popular rooftop party every weekend at Nora on Lower Greenville. Justin brings the House of Champagne vibe to this…
In the new biography Delbert McClinton: One of the Fortunate Few (Dec. 6, Texas A&M University Press), author Diana Finlay Hendricks describes the Texas singer-songwriter as a kind of Forrest Gump character, “bumping into history” throughout his extraordinary life. For example, in 1962, McClinton and fellow Texan musician Bruce Channel…
Six Shooter is a recurring feature in which we highlight six new releases by North Texas-based musicians. The Outfit, TX — “Told That Bih” The Outfit, TX’s video for “Told That Bih,” off its new album, Fuel City, is nothing short of a marvel. The rap trio is known for…
Before guitarist Justin Casey moved to his current home, he had already decided what he was going to do with the one-car garage. He was going to assemble some cheap microphones and basic editing software and use the garage as a home studio. That was in 2009, and in 2011,…
Jimmie Vaughan’s new album, Live at C-Boy’s, is a big step forward and backward for the guitarist and Dallas native. The track listing reads like a hip mid-1960s jukebox. It comprises some straight-up blues covers of Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown and Smokey Smothers, ballads such as “Frame for the Blues,” several soul…
Every November when the Recording Academy releases its list of Grammy nominees, a handful of North Texas musicians are on it. Last year, Maren Morris, Snarky Puppy, Kirk Franklin and Pentatonix were just a few of the musicians with local ties who received nods and ultimately went on to win…
Amy Miller had prepared herself to hear a lot of county music when she moved to Dallas to accept a job as program director at KXT-FM 91.7. Miller is originally from the West Coast, but she’s worked at radio stations in California, Virginia, Pennsylvania and now Texas. When she got…
Sixteen Dallas music industry veterans are milling about on a Deep Ellum patio on an unseasonably warm evening in November. It wouldn’t be odd to see any one of these promoters, radio personalities, musicians or DJs in thriving Deep Ellum on a Thursday, but it’s strange to see them all in…
It was love at first listen. The first time cellist Alisa Weilerstein heard Sergei Prokofiev’s Sinfonia Concertante — on the radio in her parents’ car when she was 13 years old — she knew she needed to learn and perform it. She made her father buy the sheet music. Now,…
It’s less than two weeks until more than 50 bands convene in Deep Ellum for the 2017 Dallas Observer Music Awards Showcase, which means it’s time to get down to the nitty gritty: where and how you can learn the winners. The awards ceremony begins at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Dec…
Deep Ellum has so many events and shows taking place every night that it can be hard to keep track without the help of an insider or a cabal of street orphans who report the latest shows and concerts. But you no longer need to violate child labor laws with a…
Captured! By Robots plays Double Wide Saturday Jay Vance started his one-man metal band Captured! By Robots in San Francisco 20 years ago because he couldn’t deal with people. “It was born out of my frustration with the human condition,” Vance says. “I’m just as bad as everybody else but I…
If Mozart was around, we’d most likely be gushing over his latest film score rather than a new sonata. Composers rarely get their due anymore — the “makers of music” are often called DJs, producers or singer-songwriters. But brilliantly composed orchestral music has never gone completely out of style. Longtime…
Taylor Swift mania will sweep across Dallas next summer. Log in to Ticketmaster and hope for the best when tickets go on sale. Elsewhere, we’ve got a couple of country and Americana legends passing through; and two of hip-hop’s strongest forces join together. All that and a bit more in…
“In Bed With” is a new Dallas Observer series where we delve into the homes and personal lives of Dallas music industry professionals. The door mat outside photographers Cal Quinn and Aly Fae’s place announces “This must be the place.” It’s a necessary hint for visitors. The apartment numbers in…
Local artist Steve Hunter’s latest mural is a kaleidoscope of colors depicting the legendary musician Stevie Ray Vaughan. Even in the abstract block colors, viewers can recognize Vaughan’s iconic hat and see that the mural pays homage to the Dallas-born musician. “While painting the mural, even early on, people recognized…
Athena developed a passion for deejaying as a teenager and has been a mainstay in Dallas’ drum and bass scene ever since. You can find her serving drum and bass platters at Two Tone’s Thursday residency at Wit’s End in Deep Ellum. But her work and experience aren’t limited to…
The chance to see sixty of Dallas’ best music acts perform for $15 is already pretty sweet, but the deal just got sweeter. In honor of National Percussion Month, the Dallas Observer is running a two-day flash sale of Dallas Observer Music Awards tickets. From now until 11:59 p.m. Friday,…
