Email Author John Nova Lomax

2003 Stories by John Nova Lomax

• Robert Randolph and the Family Band

  published March 27, 2003

  If the first image your mind conjures when you think of a steel guitar player is a pudgy old white guy in western duds helping a bar full of... More >>

• Battle Cries

  published March 20, 2003

  The tall, grizzled Austin cop peered through his mirrored shades down Congress Street from his position across the street from the state capitol... More >>

• Screw SXSW

  published March 13, 2003

  The proverbial two roads are diverging in that yellow wood for Earthwire.net. For close to two years, M.... More >>

• The Fringes of Twang

  published March 13, 2003

  Way out on the fringes of this nebulous thing called alt-country are Calexico and Clem Snide, two opposite yet equal bands. Clem Snide is as East... More >>

• Apocalypse Cow

  published March 6, 2003

  I was going to the worst place in the world and I didn't even know it yet. -- Captain Benjamin Willard, Apocalypse Now By the... More >>

• Simon Bruce

  published February 27, 2003

  Phenoms aren't so rare on the instrumental side of the music business, but it's downright astonishing to find a songwriting talent this developed... More >>

• Last Frights

  published February 27, 2003

  A funeral is supposed to comfort the living. It's a time when friends and family can bond together in their pain and sadness, and resolve anew to... More >>

• We Are Houston, Hear Us Snore

  published February 20, 2003

  Back in October, Racket wrote up a South By Southwest how-to in the hopes of improving our woeful representation at the biggest yearly event in... More >>

• Wham, Bam, Thank You MAMH

  published February 13, 2003

  Houston's been hard at work on its image ever since we dug the Ship Channel. Mostly we've tackled the problem by importing culture from afar. Thus... More >>

• Letter from Uzbekistan

  published February 6, 2003

  By now, the musicians' path out of Houston to what many see as the greener pastures of Austin, Nashville, New York and Los Angeles is well worn.... More >>

• Bayou Riddims

  published February 6, 2003

  If you drive down Hillcroft, you can see storefronts housing businesses from five continents in one strip center. For a long time, you couldn't... More >>

• Spiraling, with Ice-9 and James Catholic

  published January 30, 2003

  Once known as You Were Spiraling, this Jersey quartet is driven by keyboard whiz Tom Brislin. Other feathers in Brislin's cap include touring with... More >>

• Jorma Kaukonen and Blue Country

  published January 30, 2003

  Conventional American pop music history has it that the tunes of rural Southern blacks and whites never converged until Elvis came along.... More >>

• Phantom of the Opry

  published January 30, 2003

  If you have more than a passing fancy for college football, it's likely you are all too familiar with that wretched two-year-old Garth Brooks Dr... More >>

• Musical Chairs

  published January 23, 2003

  The Houston Astros used to be infamous for their multiplayer trades. Remember in 1994, when the 'Stros shipped Ken Caminiti, Steve Finley and... More >>

• The Queen Bee

  published January 16, 2003

  For Houston's modern rock community, 2003 opened with some great news. At long last, after years of slamming the door on local acts, Clear Channel... More >>

• Sidecar Sideshow

  published January 9, 2003

  "We can't forget why we're here today," said the lead singer of Katy emocore band Soul Harbour from the stage at the Sidecar Pub. "It's about... More >>

• "These Shoes Are Made for Walking" Benefit

  published January 2, 2003

  Nothing can give you a blistering case of the blues like a pair of ill-fitting shoes. For most of us, taking care of the problem is as simple as... More >>

• The Whole Package

  published January 2, 2003

  At first glance, Medicine Show seems like a traditional bluegrass band. Their basic setup is the usual assortment of string instruments: mandolin,... More >>