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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2011 Stories by Chris Gray

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  FEATURED STORY

  What Is A Music Critic's Life Really Liker

  published Jul 27, 2011

  Walter Peck: Because I'm curious. I wanna know more about what you do here! Frankly, I've heard a lot of wild stories in the media and we want to assess any possibility of dangerous and possibly hazar... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Four Artists Who Died Before Playing Houston

  published Jul 26, 2011

  When Amy Winehouse died Saturday, almost everyone noted how the troubled British soul singer had joined the "27 Club," the list of legendary musicians who passed away at that age that also includes Ji... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Purple Rain: How The Songs Look In The Script

  published Jul 26, 2011

  On this day in 1984, the film that elevated Prince in the pop-culture firmament from above-average R&B singer-songwriter to, well, Prince, premiered in Hollywood. Purple Rain was a box-office hit, whi... More >>

• Kelly Rowland

  published July 28, 2011

  In the hyperventilating run-up to the release of Beyoncé's 4 last month, some nervous Sony insiders told the New York Post... More >>

• Music from Big Pink

  published July 28, 2011

  You'd probably have to go back to Jack Ingram and Hayes Carll, both of whom have long since moved away, to find a Houston-area artist who has... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Saturday Night: Sade & John Legend At Toyota Center

  published Jul 25, 2011

  Sade, John Legend Toyota Center July 23, 2011 See more smooth operation from Sade & John Legend in our slideshow. As word of Amy Winehouse's death spread across the Internet Saturday, another Britis... More >>

• Jay-Z & Kanye West Bringing The Throne To Houston October 26 (UPDATED)

  published Jul 25, 2011

  UPDATED at 3:34 p.m. Monday to reflect local on-sale information. This morning Live Nation announced that Jay-Z and Kanye West, two rappers you may have heard of, will bring their brand-new group The... More >>

• 10 Songs For Pissed-Off Travelers

  published Jul 22, 2011

  UPDATE: Squeaky wheel, meet grease: Tiger Airways has refunded Watson's $500 and given the singer an additional $2,000, says London's Daily Mail. This spring, Austin honky-tonker and Pasadena nativ... More >>

• Alex Steinweiss: Remembering the Father of Album Art

  published Jul 21, 2011

  At Art Attack, we love art in all its forms, from dance, to painting, to theater and to music. We especially love combining all of those forms, and so it was with a little sadness that we read of the ... More >>

• RIP Alex Steinweiss: The Album-Art Inventor's Greatest Covers

  published Jul 21, 2011

  Rocks Off likes to think of ourselves as the cultured sort; in other words, it's not all booze and boobs around here. We also enjoy literature, the cinema, sometimes even the theat-ah, but our favorit... More >>

• Psych Legends Fever Tree's Final Show Mysteriously Materializes

  published Jul 20, 2011

  "The past is not dead," William Faulkner once said. "It's not even past." Rob Landes, organist for '60s Houston psych-rockers Fever Tree, found this out a couple of years ago when he discovered some ... More >>

• The Krayolas

  published July 21, 2011

  The Krayolas aren't the official house band for Little Steven's Underground Garage, but they might as well be. Since the San Antonio band... More >>

• Glasnost

  published July 21, 2011

  Thanks to Glasnost, Houston synth-pop fans don't have to wait for the latest Pitchfork fad to leave their Williamsburg loft or another '80s... More >>

• Rock Baby Rock It 11

  published July 21, 2011

  One of Houston's premier rockabilly events since 2000, Rock Baby Rock It takes over the Continental compound this weekend under a cloud of... More >>

• True Blood

  published July 21, 2011

  Jolie Holland's voice, a spectral yet throaty alto, exists in a realm of its own. It floats above the nebulous strains of folk, jazz, alt-country... More >>

• Robust Night Of Roots-Rock Shows Scene's True Grit

  published Jul 18, 2011

  Rocks Off feels like we live in a Western. This is nothing unusual for us, except right now is the part of the movie (every movie) where one cowboy turns to the other one and says, "It's quiet out her... More >>

• Top 10 Texas Movie Soundtracks

  published Jul 15, 2011

  This weekend, as the rest of the world catches Harry Potter mania for (perhaps) the final time, Houston gets a serious dose of Urban Cowboy nostalgia. Theater Under the Stars' production of the Tony-n... More >>

• Police: Thomas Involved In 3 "Altercations" Day Before Death

  published Jul 14, 2011

  Updated to clarify where Thomas' body was found. Since his body was identified Tuesday morning, Austin police have been investigating the final hours of rockabilly singer and bandleader Chadd Thomas,... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Vive La France: 14 French Lessons From English Pop Songs

  published Jul 14, 2011

  Happy Bastille Day, everybody. Today France celebrates the day in 1789 when an angry mob stormed the eponymous (our new favorite word) prison in central Paris, freed all seven prisoners - they were re... More >>

• Fun Fun Fun Fest Leaks Lineup Via Navy Signal Flags

  published Jul 14, 2011

  How up to date on your nautical signaling are your Austin's Fun Fun Fun Fest leaked a few names for its Nov. 4-6 fall brawl at Auditorium Shores this morning. If you know your flags, you can figure ... More >>

• 25 Essential Eponymous Albums

  published Jul 13, 2011

  Eponymous: (of a literary work, film, etc) named after its central character or creator: The Stooges' eponymous debut album. On this day in 1983, a young woman from Michigan who had recently given up... More >>

• Nicki Minaj Not Charged In Poolside Dallas Hotel Fight

  published Jul 12, 2011

  Nicki Minaj, the colorful (in more ways than one) rapper who is never very far from a headline, has apparently not been charged in a poolside Dallas hotel fight Monday evening. According to Rocks Off... More >>

• Ryan Scroggins & the Trenchtown Texans

  published July 14, 2011

  Wear comfortable shoes Saturday, because Ryan Scroggins & the Trenchtown Texans are going to play all night. The Los Skarnales offshoots will have... More >>

• Horseshoe

  published July 14, 2011

  In the olden times, before the days of the Web, a posse of tall-walkin' Texas trash known as Horseshoe rode roughshod over the concrete plains of... More >>

• Centro-matic Scratches A Very Specific Itch At Fitz

  published Jul 11, 2011

  Unless there's no way to avoid it, the one night of the week Rocks Off does not like to review shows is Friday. After five straight 10- to 12-hour days (at least), our brain is usually in tatters and ... More >>