Email Author Craig Hlavaty

Awards

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

  "Getting Past the Bouncer"

• 2009 - Lone Star Awards

  "Metallica at Toyota"

More

2009 Stories by Craig Hlavaty

• KISS Online Takes the Pruning Shears to Rocks Off's Already-Favorable Review

  published Dec 08, 2009

  Rocks Off welcomes any artists' opinion of our critiques of their work, be it one of our more shining reviews or the instances where we pull up out the six-shooters and make them dance for their musi... More >>

• Inquiring Minds: Garage-Rock Fireman and Kiwi-Punk Buff Jay Reatard

  published Dec 08, 2009

  Tonight Jay Reatard plugs in at Walter's On Washington, playing the first of three Texas dates before ending his fall tour behind August's Watch Me Fall release. On New Year's Eve, he opens up for Aus... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  9 Musicians Tiger Woods Should Have Cheated With Instead of the Women He Did

  published Dec 08, 2009

  When initial word of millionaire golfer Tiger Woods' car accident in front of his home hit the news wires and Twitter the morning of November 27, the world waited with bated breath. None of us quite k... More >>

• Distant Early Warning: Al Di Meola, David Gray, Los Lonely Boys, Mike Doughty, Theory of a Deadman, Willie Nelson, etc.

  published Dec 08, 2009

  Al Di Meola: Sat., Feb. 13. Dosey Doe Coffee Company. Celtic Woman: Fri., April 30. Toyota Center. Citizen Cope: Sat., March 13. House of Blues. Cowboy Mouth: Tue., Feb. 16. House of Blues. David Gra... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Aftermath: KISS, Hotter Than Hell and Strutting Like Dinosaurs In Houston Rock City

  published Dec 07, 2009

  KISS is a depleting natural and cultural resource. One day there will be no KISS left, and all the world will have is four garish black and silver suits sitting in some futuristic Smithsonian display... More >>

• Eyeballin: Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! - the Rolling Stones In All Their Late-'60s Satanic Majesty

  published Dec 07, 2009

  In late 1969, the Rolling Stones were at a musical crossroads. They were two years away from the deep blues of Sticky Fingers and its follow-up, the majestically scuzzy Exile On Main Street. Mick Jag... More >>

• Listology: War Master's Dream Metal Festival

  published Dec 04, 2009

  rThis weekend, Houston becomes the grindcore and death-metal capitol of the country for two days with Houston Noisefest 2009, starting tonight at the Atomic Cafe and concluding tomorrow night at the ... More >>

• Can Rocks Off Withstand an Entire Hour of Sunny 99.1's Holiday Programmingr

  published Dec 04, 2009

  Since Thanksgiving night, local dentist office-core radio station Sunny 99.1 FM has been pumping out non-stop Christmas tunes as they have been doing now for quite a few years. It's a Houston phenomen... More >>

• He Said She Said: Our Favorite Fictional Performers, Part 2

  published Dec 03, 2009

  Why is that sometimes the fictional bands in movie and television are cooler than real bandsr Sadly, some of He Said's favorite bands don't even have albums or videos to speak of, because they don't e... More >>

• Uptight, Something to Remember Houston's Teenage Kicks By

  published Dec 02, 2009

  Last week, Houston's own Team Science released the final posthumous release by late local mod-punks Teenage Kicks. Sadly, the band broke up in late March and the band members have gone on to other ba... More >>

• Aftermath: Aging Industrialists Skinny Puppy at Warehouse Live

  published Dec 02, 2009

  rAftermath never thought that the day would come when he would leave a Skinny Puppy totally blank and content. He's either completely burned out on shock over this past year of seeing Yanni and ... More >>

• The Gnarly Musical Ingredients That Make Up Skinny Puppy

  published Dec 01, 2009

  Tonight Canadian industrial legends Skinny Puppy take the stage at Warehouse Live, and Rocks Off will be there to cover every single corpse-paint and blood-spotted inch of the show. We snagged a few ... More >>

• Distant Early Warning: The Appleseed Cast, Cut Chemist, Norah Jones, Sondre Lerche, Torche, etc.

  published Dec 01, 2009

  Abacabb, Upon A Burning Body, Molotov Solution, Dr. Acula: Fri., Jan. 29. Meridian. Al Di Meola: Sat., Feb. 13. Dosey Doe Coffee Company. Alpha Rev, The Fox Derby, Tyagaraja, The Language Room: Fri.,... More >>

• A Report from the Lee Powers Memorial: That's Enough Death for A While, Everyone

  published Nov 30, 2009

  Houston's most fervent cyclists, skaters, musicians and artists converged on The Silo on Saturday afternoon to commemorate the life of fallen Free Press Houston staffer Lee Powers. The arty ruins in t... More >>

• Aftermath: Basses Loaded's Second Last Show Ever at Mango's

  published Nov 30, 2009

  There are lots of awesome things about the beginning of the holiday season. Reconnecting with far-flung relatives, old friends coming home to visit their parents and intermittingly sneaking off with ... More >>

• Buyer Beware: Bands With Different Lead Singers Are Almost Never Up to the Original Standards

  published Nov 27, 2009

  A few Saturdays ago, Rocks Off was in the grocery store a few blocks from our house, slumming around Oak Forest wearing sandals and an old Misfits T-shirt when a group of junior-high punk rockers app... More >>

• Rocks Off's YouTube Video Explosion 2009: U2, Steve Earle, 10th Grade Cutie and Everything In Between

  published Nov 27, 2009

  This year Rocks Off added a few Flip cameras to our devastatingly amazing blogatory weapons. We have been taking as many live videos at shows as we possibly can, and what better way to show our thank... More >>

• Information on Tomorrow's Lee Powers Benefit Featuring Devin the Dude and Lots More

  published Nov 27, 2009

  rTomorrow afternoon, the friends of late Free Press Houston staff member Lee Powers will be holding a benefit for his family to cover their bills. The event is sure to bring in plenty of money, and e... More >>

• He Said She Said: Songs We Are Least Thankful For, Part 2

  published Nov 26, 2009

  This was the first year that He Said made a conscious effort to listen to what was going on outside his self-imposed protective bubble of metal and proto-punk. We sort of took it as one of the facets ... More >>

• SXSW Announces First 2010 Music Festival Artists

  published Nov 24, 2009

  You guys ever wish for something, and then regret the outcome when the Good Lord answers your prayersr Well, the initial list for next year's South By Southwest music festival came out and that's sort... More >>

• Distant Early Warning: Akron/Family, Beach Boys, Dark Star Orchestra, Jonathan Richman, Noah & the Whale, Xiu Xiu, etc.

  published Nov 24, 2009

  Akron/Family, Warpaint: Tue., Feb. 23. Walter's on Washington. The Beach Boys: Fri., March 19. Jones Hall. Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys: Fri., Feb. 26. Continental Club. The Boxmasters: Fri., De... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Aftermath: Deer Tick Remembers Lightnin' Hopkins - Do Your - at Warehouse Live

  published Nov 23, 2009

  Deer Tick's set Sunday night at Warehouse Live, opening for the lovely and photo-shy Neko Case, was the perfect capper to a weekend that saw us become sleep-challenged conspiracy hounds and road-wear... More >>

• Aftermath: AFI, Looking Slightly Dated But Still Bringing the Goth-Rock at Verizon

  published Nov 23, 2009

  Aftermath isn't one so much for biblical allegories generally, but damn if AFI's Davey Havok didn't remind us of Samson on Saturday night at Verizon Wireless Theater. He proved to us exactly what happ... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Coma White: A Sampling of Songs About the JFK Assassination

  published Nov 20, 2009

  Warning: Some of these videos contain very graphic images. Anyone who knows Rocks Off, even in passing, knows of his fierce JFK assassination obsession. The theories, the scientific data, the literat... More >>

• Inquiring Minds: Deer Tick's Front Man Goes for That Chased-by-Alligators Sound

  published Nov 20, 2009

  Providence, R.I., band Deer Tick may hail from "Up North" but their sound is purely steeped in grungey folk and rockabilly yelp. They, in fact, hear this description so much that the band has started... More >>