Email Author Chris Gray

Awards

• 2012 - Best of the West/First Amendment Funding, Inc., published February 10, 2011

  "Getting Past the Bouncer"

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2007 Stories by Chris Gray

• Rilo Kiley

  published September 6, 2007

  Jenny Lewis, honey-voiced Rilo Kiley lead singer and the closest thing indie rock has to a Maxim cover girl, never claimed to be... More >>

• Lebanon, Snake Trap

  published September 6, 2007

  If anywhere on Earth ought to produce turbulent, conflicted music, it's that arid region known in the Bible as Canaan and Judea, by most people... More >>

• Slayer, Marilyn Manson, Bleeding Through

  published August 30, 2007

  God may hate us all, but He's got a soft spot for Slayer. Just don't tell them that. Blessed with longevity, intelligence and fortitude, the... More >>

• Smoked Out

  published August 30, 2007

  "What are you going to do, charge me with smoking?" — Catherine Tramell (Sharon Stone),... More >>

• Rough Justice

  published August 23, 2007

  Last week, a Seattle-based Austin native's latest album marked the resurrection of one of Houston's few non-rap record labels to ever truly get... More >>

• Broken Teeth

  published August 23, 2007

  Although bed-headed, somewhat fey indie-rock and alt-country currently dominate the Austin music scene, underneath is a foundation of pure hard... More >>

• Tony Bennett

  published August 23, 2007

  Tony Bennett's current tour is sponsored by AARP, about the only time the crooner's name should ever be invoked anywhere near the word... More >>

• Frankie Beverly and Maze, Johnny Gill, En Vogue

  published August 23, 2007

  After the last custom ride at DUB magazine's car show bounces out of Reliant Arena, Sean Kingston, Lil Scrappy and the rest make way for... More >>

• The Wiggles

  published August 23, 2007

  Though their core audiences lie a considerable distance apart on the age spectrum, children's-music superstars the Wiggles have a lot in common... More >>

• Rad Rich's 5th Annual Backyard B-Day/Back to School Bash and Benefit

  published August 16, 2007

  Sadly, this annual party hosted by KPFT "Rock and Roll Revue" DJ Rad Rich sounds more like a wake this year. It's one of recent Houston... More >>

• Bluerunners, Two Hoots & a Holler

  published August 16, 2007

  "Workingman's Zydeco" is the opening track off the Bluerunners' most recent studio album, 2005's Honey Slides (Bayou Vista), but it... More >>

• The Gourds

  published August 9, 2007

  Hard to believe it's been more than a decade since the Gourds crawled out of a squalid rehearsal shack in North Austin dubbed the Steamy Bowl, "a... More >>

• Skyblue 72

  published August 9, 2007

  2007 Houston Press Music Award winners for Best Pop Act, Skyblue72 also freely dabble — actually more than dabble — in reggae,... More >>

• Against Me!

  published August 9, 2007

  Jacksonville's Against Me! shares a hometown with Lynyrd Skynyrd and, discounting the redneck caricature Skynyrd became after frontman/spiritual... More >>

• Suspicious Minds

  published August 9, 2007

  Next Thursday will be 30 years since the King of rock and roll, Elvis Aron Presley to his mama and daddy, keeled over on his Graceland throne,... More >>

• Calvin Owens Orchestra, Barbara Lynn, Evelyn Rubio, Pete Mayes, Rue Davis, Tweed Smith

  published August 2, 2007

  Even a full generation, maybe more, removed from Houston's heyday as a top-tier blues town, loads of people still consider it the place to be, and... More >>

• Lovemakers, Riff Tiffs

  published August 2, 2007

  Like with Spoon, being dropped from a major label might be the best thing that ever happened to the Lovemakers. The Bay Area group, anchored... More >>

• They Fought the Law

  published August 2, 2007

  It's been a cruel summer for Lil' Flip. New album I Need Mine is, on the real, a stiff. Worse, he turned himself in and appeared in court... More >>

• Exile on Main Street

  published August 2, 2007

  Screw the haters — Million Year Dance is awesome. A stripped-down, acoustic version of the mystical Montrosian rocker band closed out Music... More >>

• Tokyo Police Club, Ra Ra Riot

  published July 26, 2007

  The latest tousle-headed guitar band to be the toast of SXSW and the blogosphere before they're old enough to shave, Tokyo Police Club are... More >>

• Spoon

  published July 26, 2007

  Britt Daniel wants us to know a thing or two. One, he's not a particularly good speller; Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga titles include "You Got Yr Cherry... More >>

• 2007 Houston Press Music Awards Showcase

  published July 26, 2007

  "Show, don't tell." Writers don't need to know much more than that to become masters of their craft. Let the story tell itself through dialogue... More >>

• Death From Above 1979

  published July 26, 2007

  This year has been unusually blessed with significant pop anniversaries: 50 years since "Jailhouse Rock," 40 since Sergeant Pepper's, 20... More >>

• Big Mac Boogie

  published July 26, 2007

  If you're free September 25, head over to Austin for the final stop of the "McDonald's Live" tour, where artists TBA will play a free parking-lot... More >>

• Been a Long Time

  published July 19, 2007

  Few things send rock fans scrambling for the skip button (and the Maalox) faster than the sound of a symphony orchestra on top of electric... More >>