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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2012 Stories by Chris Gray

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  FEATURED STORY

  iFest: Top 5 Argentine-American Musicians

  published Apr 27, 2012

  The Houston International Festival enters its second weekend tomorrow, with featured musical acts WAR, Joe Louis Walker, Seun Kuti & Egypt 80, Texas Tornados, Del Castillo, Steel Pulse and lots more. ... More >>

• 7 Cool & Cheap Things to Do This Weekend: Lee Fields, Quiet Company, Shellee Coley, Etc.

  published Apr 27, 2012

  That guy, Lee Fields (above), is playing the Continental Club with his band the Expressions. Tonight. Some of Fields's songs include "The Bull Is Coming," "She's a Lovemaker" and "The Funky Screw." ... More >>

• Uh-Oh: George Jones Is Sick

  published Apr 26, 2012

  It's never really not old, but since we've already been going through it with Levon Helm and the Bee Gees' Robin Gibb (who, gratefully, is at least out of his coma), this isn't good news at all. Sarat... More >>

• Please RSVP to Our Shot in the Dark Photo Show

  published Apr 25, 2012

  Rocks Off is getting excited about our upcoming concert-photo exhibition Shot In the Dark, which is now less than a month away on Thursday, May 17. You'll see dozens of photos from recent Houston conc... More >>

• The Damn Quails & 10 Other Bird-Brained Bands

  published Apr 25, 2012

  Tonight the Houston Press Concert Series resumes at Pub Fiction with Oklahoma duo the Damn Quails. The Quails' song "Fools Gold," from their 2011 album Down the Hatch, is tearing it up on Texas countr... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Russian Radio: Top 5 Tasty Cold War Synth Jamz

  published Apr 24, 2012

  Hey, remember the Russiansr Before they had a gajillion oil dollars and all those supermodels, they wanted to kill us all. But it wasn't all creeping dread and mutually assured destruction. Until the... More >>

• Joe Louis Walker

  published April 26, 2012

  When the other kids growing up were idolizing Jimi Hendrix — well, Joe Louis Walker did, too, but he was destined for a life in the blues.... More >>

• Seun Kuti & Egypt 80

  published April 26, 2012

  Even for the Houston International Festival, a booking like Seun Kuti & Egypt '80 is an eyebrow-raising, once-in-a-blue-moon event.... More >>

• Florence + the Machine

  published April 26, 2012

  Making her Houston debut, Florence Welch of Florence + the Machine has already emerged as one of the singular voices of her generation. When the... More >>

• Our Friends Puscifer Playing Bayou Music Center June 27

  published Apr 24, 2012

  One of the most memorable shows I've seen in Houston thus far was Puscifer, the band that does for lascivious alternative electro-rock what Maynard James Keenan's other band Tool does for progressive ... More >>

• Last Night: Marshall Crenshaw & The Bottle Rockets At The Continental Club

  published Apr 23, 2012

  Marshall Crenshaw, The Bottle Rockets Continental Club April 22, 2012 Sunday's Marshall Crenshaw/Bottle Rockets show again raised the question of whether Houston fans of intelligent, literate rock an... More >>

• Garbage Postpones Tonight's House of Blues Show to Unspecified Date

  published Apr 20, 2012

  Alt-rockers Garbage have postponed their show scheduled for tonight at House of Blues due to a medical emergency in the family of an unspecified band member, a statement from promoter Live Nation said... More >>

• Record Store Day: 8 Ways to Annoy a Record-Store Worker

  published Apr 20, 2012

  Tomorrow is Record Store Day, which is a little bit like the Super Bowl of music shopping: People who have no interest in the sport the rest of the year will be front and center. Rocks Off would never... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Black Market Syndicate: Punk Believers Rejoice with Peasants

  published Apr 20, 2012

  Black Market Syndicate are true believers. Besides releasing second album And the Peasants Rejoiced at Fitzgerald's Saturday, the Houston punk quartet is streaming it all weekend on their ReverbNation... More >>

• 7 Cool & Cheap Things to Do This Weekend: 4/20, Record Store Day, iFest, Etc.

  published Apr 20, 2012

  Today is 4/20, and you know what that means. (Or do your We always forget.) One thing it means is that Art Inst., Ese, Big Gerb & the Bearded Bandidos and Secret Society are playing a show tonight at ... More >>

• Shot in the Dark Photo Exhibit Returns May 17

  published Apr 20, 2012

  Rocks Off is glad to announce that Shot in the Dark, our exhibition of concert photography that has appeared online and in the pages of the Houston Press, will return Thursday, May 17, at the War'Hous... More >>

• EXCLUSIVE: Presale Offer For Kenny Chesney/Tim McGraw Tickets

  published Apr 19, 2012

  Come Saturday, August 4, Houston country fans will have all the summer bromance they can handle when Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw bring their super giant mega huge "Brothers of the Sun" tour to Relian... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  RIP Levon Helm: The Band Drummer And Americana Icon Dies At 71

  published Apr 19, 2012

  Levon Helm doing what he loved in Woodstock, N.Y., in 2004Levon Helm, the Arkansas-born icon of Americana music, passed away Thursday afternoon after a long battle with throat cancer, his family said ... More >>

• The American Bandstand (Extended) Hot 100

  published Apr 19, 2012

  Somehow it's hard to believe that Dick Clark was only 82 years old when he died after suffering a "massive heart attack" Wednesday morning in Santa Monica, Calif. (Since I managed to survive one mysel... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Last Night: Sleigh Bells At Warehouse Live

  published Apr 19, 2012

  Sleigh Bells Warehouse Live April 18, 2012 Sleigh Bells has to be one of the most polarizing bands in recent memory. To really get a bead on a band these days, you have to go to iTunes. So I looked ... More >>

• Marshall Crenshaw, The Bottle Rockets

  published April 19, 2012

  If Marshall Crenshaw seemed precocious when he first appeared in the early '80s, it's because he had already written about as perfect a pop... More >>

• Shooter Jennings

  published April 19, 2012

  Shooter Jennings must have gotten all the black-helicopter paranoia of 2010's Steven King-narrated, hard-rock-heavy LP Black Ribbons out... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Top 5 Mullet-Rock Bands You Might Not Expect

  published Apr 17, 2012

  Last Sunday, HBO aired the Season 3 finale of Eastbound & Down, the series about down-on-his-luck minor-league relief pitcher and morally bankrupt human being Kenny Powers. Besides a certain unvarnish... More >>

• Houston International Festival

  published April 19, 2012

  Texas and South America share vast size and varied terrain, a rich cattle-ranching history and a flair for musical dramatics that makes the two... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Friday Night: Spoon At House Of Blues

  published Apr 16, 2012

  Spoon House of Blues April 13, 2012 Spoon has two types of songs: Songs that cut and songs that groove. But they all sting. The songs that cut are choppy and a little clenched, like "Small Stakes" o... More >>