The Randy Rogers Band has now been around long enough to serve as an influence to a new generation of Texas country artists. Since their breakthrough album, 2004’s Radney Foster-produced (and darn-near perfect), Rollercoaster, Rogers, Brady Black, Less Lawless, Jon Richardson, and Geoffrey Hill have been on a roll, indeed…
About four years ago, some flyers started circulating around the Dallas-area rehearsal facilities for White Cane Studios. They’d shoot a music video for you, complete start-to-finish job, for (I believe) $250. Fast forward to present, and Johny Cane and his partners have shot videos for Here Holy Spain, The Virgin…
Welcome to Alice Column, in which Alice Laussade writes stories about things on (roughly) the same day of (roughly) every week, making it (roughly) a column. Got an idea for a column? Start your own blog and write it up, you lazy shit. Dear Sleeping-Through-the-Night Jesus: You were a baby…
So today the daily newspaper tells me my cell phone is the portal through which Texas is being subjected to a massive text-message spam and phone-call phishing attack. You think? Because that would explain the endless text messages I have received in recent weeks informing me that my pay-day loan…
Those 9 p.m. sunsets are creeping closer and closer to a reasonable hour. The heat stays but something about the sticky September afternoons reminds us of summer’s conclusion. Whatever magic it brings is dwindling. The school zones have lit up, those of us with summer vacations have bid them adieu…
Are you a musician? Is your group having issues? Ask Fan Landers! Critic Jessica Hopper has played in and managed bands, toured internationally, booked shows, produced records, worked as a publicist and is the author of The Girls’ Guide to Rocking, a how-to for teen ladies. She is here to…
The pressure to spit out news stories as fast as they happen, a disinclination to provide linkages that might look too subjective, a simple failure in our own ability to see: for whatever reason, we in the news business seldom show you how the stories we present to you are…
There’s a reason you associate our accent with fashionable music of the last fifty years. We’ve produced some great bands. The thing is, there’s a whole undercurrent you’re missing out on over there. You know you have favorite obscure American bands, who you’d go and see whenever they come through…
Late last night the Dallas school board carried out an hours-long closed-door session where they listened to an investigative report into alleged policy violations by school Superintendent Mike Miles. The report by attorney Paul Coggins cleared Miles of all of the legal and policy violations of which he was accused…
We all know that the flashy types like Eddie Van Halen, Joe Satriani and Yngwie Malmsteen get (or got) kudos simply for playing super fast. But being a great guitarist is more than just burning up a fret board. Here are the five folks who best know that nuance is…
Saturday at 10 a.m. at the City Performance Hall on Flora Street, Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings, City Council member Dwaine Caraway and Dallas County Commissioner Elba Garcia will host an event called “Conversations About Race,” in which I was not invited to participate. Well how do you like that? I…
MECC’s elementary school computer lab classic The Oregon Trail probably taught its users relatively little about American History. The lasting impression the game did leave was the idea that choices have consequences and that, sometimes, bad things just happen, regardless of how well you plan for them. When you lost…
Dear Mexican: Can I “Ask a Mexican” why El Tri sucks so much? And why a little stadium in Columbus, Ohio, was louder and more passionate than Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, which seats more than 100,000? Can I also ask why a country that lives and breathes soccer/fútbol always…
Channel 8 WFAA TV investigative reporter Brett Shipp had a big piece on last night’s 10 p.m. News Update newscast about Dallas school Superintendent Mike Miles facing “new allegations of policy violations.” I disagree with the piece, especially as it painted media relations consultant Lisa LeMaster, but that doesn’t make…
This week, LM’M turns to “most interesting name” award recipient, Moody Fuqua. Fuqua has logged plenty of time as a local musician, and talent buyer, most recently for the stage at Crown and Harp, who are getting ready to host a benefit Saturday night for one of Fuqua’s inspirations in…
As I sit here in work my mind drifts from matters such as job responsibilities to more jovial pursuits such as murder, car theft, and the endless slaughter of pedestrians. Yesterday saw the release day of the biggest game of the year. Aping the inanities and cliches of radio DJs…
Are you a musician? Is your group having issues? Ask Fan Landers! Critic Jessica Hopper has played in and managed bands, toured internationally, booked shows, produced records, worked as a publicist and is the author of The Girls’ Guide to Rocking, a how-to for teen ladies. She is here to…
On Sunday The Dallas Morning News printed an essay on its op-page by Austin writer John Savage about teaching in what he calls “the worst school in Texas.” It’s a piece that has been making the rounds from Salon to the blog of Diane Ravitch, a former champion of school…
Wouldn’t want you to miss a very interesting letter to the editor in today’s Dallas Morning News from architect/civic activist Bill Booziotis about a recent review by Mark Lamster of the star-crossed arts district condo building called “Museum Tower.” (Hey, do me a favor. Get a sandwich, a cold drink,…
Last night, one of the most renowned post-punk bassists of all time sat in with The Roots on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. I can’t think of a more random gathering of talents under one roof, though admittedly this sort of thing does seem to happen on Fallon. When the…
Love of children, compassion for children, the instincts that propel us to shelter and nurture our young: These are profound and innate. But that doesn’t mean they can’t be tricky. Back in the ’90s I was on the board of directors of Head Start of Greater Dallas. Briefly. African-American leaders…
It was pretty tight in the front standing section at the Granada Theater this past Saturday. My mother, an avid live music fan, usually prefers to stand further back at shows, but I grabbed her hand and led her up to the stage anyway. Behind the stage curtain, we could…
