Email Author Bob Ruggiero

2012 Stories by Bob Ruggiero

• Pasadena Strawberry Festival

  published May 17, 2012

  Strawberries aren’t really berries. It’s counterintuitive, but it’s true. They are actually flowering plants from the rose... More >>

• 6th Annual Palestine Film Festival

  published May 10, 2012

  The films coming out of the Middle East today are impressive. That’s readily apparent in the 2012 Palestine Film Festival. With... More >>

• New Beach Boys Book Digs Deep Under the Sand

  published May 15, 2012

  The Beach Boys FAQ: All That's Left to Know About America's Band By Jon Stebbins Backbeat Books, 400 pp., $19.99. Backbeat's FAQ series of books are the perfect addendum for those who are already fa... More >>

• The Bassman Cometh: Jerry Scheff on Working with Elvis, Dylan & The Doors

  published May 11, 2012

  Way Down: Playing Bass with Elvis, Dylan, The Doors & More By Jerry Scheff Backbeat Books, 240 pp., $19.95 Bassist Jerry Scheff had a bird's-eye view of a lot of musical greats in the '60s through th... More >>

• Jo Koy

  published May 3, 2012

  Comedian Jo Koy got his start in stand-up through his hairdresser. After an offhand comment about his comic aspirations, the stylist... More >>

• Gregg Allman's Cross to Bear: Not Gonna Catch the Midnight Writer

  published May 09, 2012

  My Cross to Bear By Gregg Allman with Alan Light William Morrow, 400 pp., $27.99 If there were a classic-rocker version of the TV show Survivor, Gregg Allman would surely be one of the last contestan... More >>

• Damn Right He's Got the Blues: Buddy Guy's Life Story

  published May 08, 2012

  When I Left Home: My Story Buddy Guy with David Ritz Da Capo Press, 320 pp, $26 Once the young kid in a stable of blues giants, Buddy Guy is now an elder statesman of the genre. And in this memoir, t... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Rockin' Bluesman Joe Louis Walker Ignites Hellfire

  published Apr 27, 2012

  While many young'uns spent their years 'twixt 12 and 20 just listening to music and attending concerts, Joe Louis Walker was a bit more proactive. At age 16, he became the house guitarist for the lege... More >>

• Nicky Hopkins: Classic Rock's Go-To Piano Man

  published Apr 24, 2012

  ...and on piano... Nicky Hopkins: The Extraordinary Life of Rock's Greatest Session Man By Julian Dawson Though his name is known mostly to classic-rock liner note readers, even the casual fan has he... More >>

• Five Fabulous Authors for Kids

  published April 12, 2012

  When the Texas Library Association meets this week at the George R. Brown Convention Center, the whole city of Houston will get a bit more... More >>

• The Dead Come Back Alive, On Big Screen, For One Night Only

  published Apr 18, 2012

  Grateful Dead concerts were always something of a time machine that took both casual fans and hardcore Deadheads back to another era. And for one night only, the machine goes back more than 20 years -... More >>

• Pin Oak Charity Horse Show

  published March 22, 2012

  The hooves will be clip-clopping rapidly as smartly-dressed humans and their equine counterparts compete at the 67th Annual Pin Oak Charity... More >>

• Kevin Nealon

  published March 29, 2012

  He’ll always be best known for the decade he spent on Saturday Night Live, creating such characters as Mr. Subliminal, Franz and Mr.... More >>

• Sinbad

  published March 29, 2012

  He was one of the most ubiquitous comedians on stage, screen and television during the 1990s, a newer version of Bill Cosby with a clean act... More >>

• Ed Crawford & Co. Rekindle Their fIREHOSE

  published Apr 03, 2012

  It seemed like someone's idea of a joke at Harlow's in Sacramento in late December 2011 when this announcement was made: fIREHOSE would be playing the club next April. Whaaatr fIREHOSEr The hugely in... More >>

• Joan Jett's Bad Reputation Gets Her Booked

  published Mar 30, 2012

  Bad Reputation: The Unauthorized Biography of Joan Jett By Dave Thompson Backbeat Books, 300 pp., $19.99. From her days as a Runaway (the band, not the teen social problem), to massive MTV stardom, ... More >>

• Pauly Shore

  published March 22, 2012

  Early in his career, comedian Pauly Shore developed an alter-ego, a stoner named Weasel, whose catchphrase was the slow “Hey,... More >>

• Rob Landes Trio

  published March 22, 2012

  Please don’t call what Houston pianist Rob Landes does smooth jazz. Yes, it’s jazz, and yes, it’s smooth, but not that kind of... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Nils Lofgren Goes Old School, Talks E Street Tour

  published Mar 29, 2012

  In a list of phrases that most music journalists would probably like to see banned, hearing that an artist's latest record "is their most personal yet" would rank near the top. But in the case of sing... More >>

• Last Night: Experience Hendrix Tour At Arena Theatre

  published Mar 23, 2012

  Experience Hendrix Tour Arena Theatre March 22, 2012 It was a guitar-gasm of monstrous proportions at the Arena Theatre when string shredders, bass thumpers, keyboard squealers, and one very, very ha... More >>

• OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies

  published March 22, 2012

  Years before he was rocking the pencil-thin, silent-era ’stache and picking up an Oscar for Best Actor in The Artist, Gallic... More >>

• St. Patrick’s Day Parade

  published March 22, 2012

  It may not get all the hype that other local parades do, but the annual St. Patrick’s Parade is in many ways the most fun. “I... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Dweezil Zappa: Jimi Hendrix "Rings True To Every Generation"

  published Mar 21, 2012

  As far as the estates of deceased classic-rock artists go, few can hold a lighter to the efforts of Jimi Hendrix's in terms of keeping the artist and their music alive. In recent years, Experience He... More >>

• Janis Joplin And Her "Big Brothers" Come Back Live And Raw

  published Mar 13, 2012

  A boon for classic-rock fans in recent years has been an increased activity in vault-mining, as record labels are discovering, polishing up, and releasing a lot of unearthed "new" material from favori... More >>

• 2012 Houston Modern Home Tour

  published March 1, 2012

  Get a peek into some of the city’s most impressive homes during today’s 2012 Houston Modern Home Tour. The peeking party... More >>