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

• He Said She Said: Songs That Remind Us of Our Exes

  published Nov 19, 2009

  One thing that struck He Said while we were making this list was the lack of metal and/or punk rock associated with the women in our past. It's kind of odd that someone so dirty and haggard never date... More >>

• The Top Rock-Star Death Conspiracies: Elvis, Michael, Kurt, Tupac and More

  published Nov 18, 2009

  It seems that the stranger and weirder our world gets by the day, humanity struggles to find reasons behind all this calamity and tragedy. We try our best to find conclusions to why bad things happen... More >>

• Does Anyone Care About Super Tuesdays Anymorer Besides Usr

  published Nov 17, 2009

  Time was that Tuesdays used to be the best day of the week for your average recorded-music consumer. Since Rocks Off was just a wee music nerd, Tuesdays were his favorite days of the week because it w... More >>

• Distant Early Warning: 30FootFall, Agnostic Front, Dropkick Murphys, George Thorogood, Joe Ely, Slayer, etc.

  published Nov 17, 2009

  30FootFall: Fri., Dec. 25. Fitzgerald's. Agnostic Front, Death By Stereo: Sun., Jan. 24. Walter's on Washington. American Sharks, The Watermarks: Wed., Nov. 25. Boondocks. Band of Heathens: Fri., Dec... More >>

• Aftermath: Conspiracies, Prog-Metal, Gypsy-Folk, Hardcore and Remembering a Fallen Friend Sunday at Westheimer Block Party

  published Nov 16, 2009

  Day 2 of the Westheimer Block Party started with slightly cooler temperatures and an hour-long caffeine-fueled session speaking with the 9/11 conspiracy booth in the parking lot at Numbers. Did you k... More >>

• Aftermath: Puppet Shows, Neo-Rastas, Freddie Gonorrhea, Black Congress and an Impromptu Nap Saturday at Westheimer Block Party

  published Nov 16, 2009

  Saturday's Westheimer Block Party began on a wobbly note, as most music festivals do with fans and staff still trying to find their bearings, aided by alcohol or otherwise. The scene on the ground se... More >>

• Westheimer Block Party News and Notes - It's The Last One (For Now), Y'all

  published Nov 13, 2009

  Update: In a Facebook note Friday afternoon, Free Press Houston editor/publisher Omar Afra announced that this weekend's Block Party will be the last one in its current form due to safety reasons surr... More >>

• He Said She Said: Songs from the Year We Were Born That We Still Listen To, Part 2

  published Nov 13, 2009

  When He Said began researching the music that came out the year we were born, 1983, we were taken aback by how much of this music has warped, shaped and informed our life. Pretty much all of the album... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Aftermath: We Do Not Choke Other People, Even at a Dethklok/ Mastodon/ Converge/ High on Fire Metalocalypse

  published Nov 13, 2009

  r If you were to tell any random music fan on the street that a tour with the four bands on the "Adult Swim Presents" would be happening, they would say "Oh sure, fuck it. Why notr It's all lo... More >>

• Inquiring Minds: Converge's Jacob Bannon on the Metalcore Pioneers' Signature Sound

  published Nov 12, 2009

  Out of the four bands playing tonight's big "Adult Swim Presents" tour, Converge sticks out like a shard of bloody glass embedded in your foot. Opening doomers High On Fire and co-headliner Mastodon ... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Aftermath: Lucero's Iron-Plated Soul and Douchebag Fisticuffs at Meridian

  published Nov 10, 2009

  r As we enter the second-to-last month of what was been an alternately amazing and confounding year for music, Aftermath has been thinking a lot about recurring themes we have encountered over t... More >>

• Distant Early Warning: Better Than Ezra, Cursive, Flogging Molly, Jay-Z, John Mayer, Yo La Tengo, etc.

  published Nov 10, 2009

  40 oz. To Freedom (Sublime Tribute): Fri., Jan. 22. Scout Bar Clear Lake. "4th Annual Rudz Thanksgiving Eve" With Born Liars: Wed., Nov. 25. Rudyard's. Bowling For Soup, Smile Smile: Sat., Dec. 5. Sc... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Aftermath: Fun Fun Fun Fest In Austin Day 2 - Metallagher, Street Dogs, Lucero, Crystal Castles, Gorilla Biscuits, Danzig

  published Nov 09, 2009

  Day two of Fun Fun Fun Fest began with a slow and steady rain shower that turned into an all-day headliner. As we walked the ground and felt the rain soak into our clothes we started getting ACL flas... More >>

• Aftermath: Fun Fun Fun Fest In Austin Day 1 - Death, Young Widows, Melt Banana, The Sword, Jesus Lizard

  published Nov 09, 2009

  This year's Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin was the exact thing Aftermath needed in the midst of his fall concert schedule, even though the last day was marred by mud and constant rain. But after last mont... More >>

• Video from Fun Fun Fun Fest In Austin: Metallagher, Death, Jesus Lizard and More

  published Nov 09, 2009

  This weekend Rocks Off also brought along our littlest member, our Flip camera, to Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin. It proved to be indispensable in tight places where a regular still camera may not be as... More >>

• Rocks Off's Picks for This Weekend's Fun Fun Fun Festival

  published Nov 06, 2009

  You can think of this weekend's Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin as the indie, metal, and hip-hop little brother of the more staid Austin City Limits Music Festival. The fourth edition of the two-day event... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Inquiring Minds: Lucero's Ben Nichols Explains Why Stax Soul + The Replacements' Pleased to Meet Me = His Band

  published Nov 05, 2009

  Lucero "Sixes and Sevens" from Lucero on Vimeo.rA decade and six albums into their career, Memphis country-punks Lucero made the leap late last year from their own indie label, Liberty & Lament, o... More >>

• Documentary About Tattoo Legend Being Shown Tonight At Rocbar

  published Nov 05, 2009

  For the past three years, director Erich Weiss has been piecing together a documentary on the life of legendary tattooing pioneer Sailor Jerry. Tonight, Rocbar (530 Texas) hosts a special screening o... More >>

• He Said She Said: Songs That Remind Us of Our Grandfathers, Part 2

  published Nov 05, 2009

  He Said Grandpa Songs He Said was lucky to have spent twenty-five years on Earth with his Grandpa Hlavaty, who passed away in the summer of 2008 of a brain hemorrhage. The man was arguably one of the ... More >>

• A Few of Music's Biggest Tattoo Enthusiasts - Besides Rocks Off, Of Course

  published Nov 05, 2009

  Don't act so surprised... As we can fatefully attest, rock and roll and tattoos go hand in hand. The first time Rocks Off saw a grizzled punk rocker walk by at Fitzgerald's back in the '90s with two ... More >>

• Aftermath: Surfer Blood, More Than the Poor Man's Vampire Weekend, at Mango's

  published Nov 04, 2009

  One can sit around all day and wax faux intelligent about where a band gleams their influences from. It's armchair quarterbacking for the kind of folks who wake up in the middle of Sunday afternoon a... More >>

• No Rocks Off Movie Night Tonight - We're Saving Ourselves for Urban Cowboy Next Week

  published Nov 03, 2009

  Next Tuesday, Rocks Off Movie Night at the Mink returns with the 1980 "classic" Urban Cowboy. Classic if you're from Houston, anyway. The film kicks off our three-week series on movies filmed in and ... More >>

• Tonight: Florida Indie Beach Boys Surfer Blood Sail Into Mango's

  published Nov 03, 2009

  Florida-based indie kids Surfer Blood pull into Mango's tonight, touring ahead of their upcoming Astro Coast LP. The band was recently anointed by Rolling Stone's online feature "Hype Monitor" as "bri... More >>

• Distant Early Warning: The Wailers, Bob Schneider (Again), Hayes Carll, Peanut Butter Wolf, Queen Latifah & Dashboard Confessional Cancel, etc.

  published Nov 03, 2009

  The Wailers, The Supervillains: Sat., Jan. 9. House of Blues. 30 Seconds To Mars, Cage The Elephant: Thu., Dec. 3. Verizon Wireless Theater. Adam Richman: Wed., Dec. 2. House of Blues. Asleep At The ... More >>

• Google's New Music-Search Engine Will Be the Death of Us All

  published Nov 02, 2009

  This past week, Internet search-engine giant Google introduced a new music-search tool that immediately opens a pop-up window for people searching for a song, where either the entire song or a snippe... More >>