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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2013 Stories by Chris Gray

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  FEATURED STORY

  Five Essential Willie Nelson Albums

  published Apr 24, 2013

  This week and into next, the State of Texas and the rest of the world will join together in saluting American hero Willie Nelson on his 80th birthday. Rocks Off would certainly like to add our congrat... More >>

• Tough Times at Rich's

  published April 25, 2013

  Night Life No doubt this is not the way Rich's wanted to celebrate its 30th anniversary this year. The most recent tenants of... More >>

• RIP Richie Havens: Bearded Folksinger Icon Dies Suddenly at 72

  published Apr 22, 2013

  Richie Havens, the gentle-giant bearded folksinger who became a fiery voice of protest in the 1960s and christened the 1969 Woodstock Festival with a three-hour set that was later highlighted in the 1... More >>

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  Officials Promise iFest's Security Needs Will Be Met

  published Apr 18, 2013

  With nerves on edge after Monday's Boston Marathon explosions, officials at the Houston International Festival and City of Houston say they are up to the challenge of meeting the security needs of an ... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  UPDATED: Rich's Abruptly Shuts Down Again, Under Another Cloud of Mystery

  published Apr 15, 2013

  UPDATE (Monday, 5:45 p.m.) Cade Michals is a spokesman for Rich's Sacred Ground, not a partner. No doubt this is not the way Rich's wanted to celebrate its 30th anniversary this year. The most recent... More >>

• Tonight's Rihanna Show Postponed

  published Apr 15, 2013

  Pop star Rihanna's concert scheduled for tonight at Toyota Center has been postponed due to "illness," according to an announcement Rocks Off recived moments ago from promoter Live Nation. "Unfortuna... More >>

• Friday Night: Rain, Beatles Tribute Band, at Bayou Music Center

  published Apr 15, 2013

  Rain: A Tribute to the Beatles Bayou Music Center April 12, 2013 Apparently the Beatles began when they appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964 -- four fully formed lads from Liverpool in m... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Free Press Summer Fest Adds More Performers, Unique "White Noise" Beer

  published Apr 12, 2013

  Free Press Summer Fest has added about a dozen artists, many of them local, to the lineup of this year's festival taking place June 1 and 2 in Eleanor Tinsley Park near downtown. For the first time, i... More >>

• Wild Moccasins Tapped to Open Of Montreal's Spring U.S. Tour

  published Apr 12, 2013

  Houston's Wild Moccasins have been hand-picked by Of Montreal to be the main support act on their Athens-based friends' three-week spring U.S. theater tour, New West Records announced Thursday. The t... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Last Night: Sigur Ros at Bayou Music Center

  published Apr 10, 2013

  Sigur Ros Bayou Music Center April 9, 2013 If you ever want to feel like you've completely taken leave of Planet Earth for a couple of hours, might I recommend a ticket to a Sigur Ros showr The Icel... More >>

• Jazz Great Bill Evans Working at University of Houston Residency

  published Apr 10, 2013

  Bill Evans, the saxophonist who worked with Miles Davis and the Mahavishnu Orchestra in the '80s and has explored the intersection of jazz and hip-hop on solo albums like Escape, will be working with ... More >>

• The Rocks Off 100: Jason Puffer, Your Psychedelic Sex Panther

  published Apr 09, 2013

  Welcome to the Rocks Off 100, our portrait gallery of the most compelling profiles and personalities in the far-flung Houston music community -- a lot more than just musicians, but of course they're i... More >>

• How Roger Ebert Made Me a Better Writer

  published Apr 05, 2013

  When I had a heart attack in October 2011, an event brought on mostly by my unfortunate lifestyle decisions, my brain was deprived of oxygen for about 15 minutes. All I wanted to do when I came to, se... More >>

• Blues Scene Mourns Loss of Keyboardist Marie English

  published Apr 05, 2013

  The Houston blues community is mourning longtime local musician Marie English, who friends say passed away earlier this week after complications from knee surgery. English, a keyboardist and singer, ... More >>

• Last Night: Mike Stinson at Under the Volcano

  published Apr 04, 2013

  Mike Stinson Under the Volcano April 3, 2013 The motivations people have for going into music are many, and most of them are mundane. People want to be famous, see the world, or prove something to a ... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  New Rolling Stones Tour Bypasses Houston For Now

  published Apr 03, 2013

  The Rolling Stones announced the dates of their 2013 North American tour Wednesday morning, and Houstonians who were hoping to see the band on the North American edition of their 50th anniversary cele... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Surely Galveston Can Do Better Than "Galveston"

  published Apr 03, 2013

  Notwithstanding the recent Galveston-based Carnival cruise liner whose faulty engines landed its passengers in a world of hurt (and national headlines), the island is again throwing its arms open for ... More >>

• Moving Sidewalks Dust Off Their '60s Brooms In NYC

  published Apr 01, 2013

  This weekend the Moving Sidewalks, best known as the band Billy Gibbons was in before ZZ Top formed, were once again a living, breathing, kaleidoscoping musical being. Gibbons and the other Sidewalks ... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  The Best Concerts In Houston This Week: All Local Edition (No Foolin')

  published Apr 01, 2013

  DJ Sun The Flat, April 1 Now that some of the well-deserved publicity surrounding DJ Sun's first-ever full-length release, One Hundred, has subsided a little, his true accomplishment on the disc seem... More >>

• UPDATED: Kirko Bangz Hits Cover of XXL's "Freshman 10" Issue

  published Mar 27, 2013

  UPDATE (5:15 p.m.): Turns out Travi$ Scott is from Houston too. See this piece Shea Serrano wrote for Rocks Off in January 2012. Congrats to him too. Congratulations to Houston rapper Kirko Bangz for... More >>

• Canned Acoustica Compiles Cornucopia of Local Clips

  published Mar 26, 2013

  Canned Acoustica, the popular "unplugged"-style local concerts that over six installations have raised both money and food for a variety of charities, has put the final touches (for now) on its YouTub... More >>

• Mumford & Sons Strum Into Woodlands Pavilion June 12

  published Mar 25, 2013

  This afternoon Live Nation announced that Mumford & Sons, the UK acoustic-rock quartet that has already, um, borrowed more than one page from U2's playbook -- the anthemic songs, Old Testament imagery... More >>

• People Are Sure Excited About That New Daft Punk Album, Huhr

  published Mar 25, 2013

  Daft Punk, the mysterious French EDM duo that doesn't tour, dresses like robots, has not performed live since 2007 and is more influential on pop music than at any point in its 20-year history, is cur... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Seven Spring Music Festivals In Texas That Beat Staying Home

  published Mar 25, 2013

  SXSW is officially over, thank the sweet baby Jesus. Now music fans have already begun to fan out to the four winds, seeking sunshine, swimsuits, alcohol, easy hookups and all the tunes they can handl... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  One Last SXSW 2013 Flashback: Justin Timberlake

  published Mar 22, 2013

  SXSW is rapidly fading in the rearview mirror, but this was too good to pass up. Emerald McLaughlin, daughter of Houston Press Publisher Stuart Folb, happened to be down front at Justin Timberlake's n... More >>