Email Author John Nova Lomax

2004 Stories by John Nova Lomax

• Mystery Bopping

  published September 16, 2004

  Music and food-gathering have always gone together. Cavemen sang and hammered bones off skulls on the eve of big mammoth hunts. In the Middle Ages... More >>

• A Star Is Reborn

  published September 9, 2004

  Lower Westheimer on a warm Tuesday night. A burly, bearded Hispanic tough guy in a red checked shirt with the sleeves cut off is ambling east,... More >>

• Clouseaux

  published September 2, 2004

  Houston's very own Tahitian treat continues with, ahem, "Samoa" of its patented "tiki-lounge-exotica" sounds. Clouseaux remains the most... More >>

• Maya Bond

  published September 2, 2004

  Tired of chirpy kids' music that sounds like it was composed by Christian youth group leaders on four hits of ecstasy? Here's the antidote. I... More >>

• Horrific Haikus

  published September 2, 2004

  The naming of rock bands has taken some strange turns of late. You've got that whole emo phrase/non sequitur/Mad-lib thing that's so easy to... More >>

• Classics Rock

  published September 2, 2004

  Back at Strake Jesuit High School, freshman English was about two things: grammar and Greek mythology. Lorded over by the cranky, cynical,... More >>

• Drive By Truckers

  published August 26, 2004

  Over the past three years, the Alabama-bred, Athens, Georgia-based Drive By Truckers have become something like the Atlanta Braves of roots rock.... More >>

• Bingo Was Its Name-O

  published August 26, 2004

  Seven years ago, back when he still cashed checks from the Fabulous Satellite Lounge, David Beebe hit on a simple idea that would eventually... More >>

• Pop-Up Pop Stars

  published August 19, 2004

  Are you a Houston-area female singer-dancer between the ages of 16 and 21? Do you want to be a mega-star like Beyoncé? If so, Music... More >>

• Blackbird Fly

  published August 19, 2004

  Though these days it's become pretty much synonymous with alt-country, and all too often bad alt-country at that, the term Americana should be... More >>

• Midtown Getdown

  published August 12, 2004

  Well, the Music Awards season is finally at an end, so that means you can expect two things from Racket: One, faster response time on e-mails and... More >>

• The Real Deal

  published August 5, 2004

  Authenticity. Certain musicians have it and others don't, and for others it just doesn't matter. It's imperative that rap, country and blues... More >>

• ¡Viva H-town!

  published August 5, 2004

  In the annals of Houston Press Music Awards, 2004 will go down as the year of the Latino. First off, there were a half-dozen or so new... More >>

• Los Mocosos

  published July 29, 2004

  San Francisco's Mission District is a diverse-ass place -- Mexican taquerias sit cheek-by-jowl with Senegalese restaurants; indie rock bars abut... More >>

• Pride of Place

  published July 29, 2004

  For me, the Houston Press Music Awards Showcase opened and closed with odd juxtapositions of cultures. It began with the Lady D firing up... More >>

• Follow Your Nose

  published July 22, 2004

  Houston nightlife has characteristic smells. Sure, there's that mingled fragrance of beer, cigarettes, body odor and perfume, but you get that... More >>

• Music Awards Survey

  published July 22, 2004

  Well, folks, it's gotten hot. After a June that felt more like an April, this summer's finally stopped underachieving and is now hammering us with... More >>

• On Da Lingo

  published July 15, 2004

  "Come on everybody get on up," sang Mary J. Blige over a driving beat in the 2001 hit "Family Affair." "'Cause you know we gots to get it... More >>

• Various Artists

  published July 8, 2004

  This record reminds me of one of those mix tapes you discover you made one drunken night. You know what I'm talking about: It starts out as a... More >>

• Cruel Summer

  published July 8, 2004

  A couple of weeks ago, the entire Lollapalooza Tour was canceled. Earlier this summer, Christina Aguilera likewise pulled the plug on a whole... More >>

• Strikes and Spares

  published July 1, 2004

  What ever happened to festivals in this town? A few years ago, they were going great guns. The iFest was drawing record crowds downtown, as the... More >>

• Jewels on the Box

  published June 24, 2004

  I was talking to an English acquaintance of mine recently, an Oxford-educated geologist, and he said that Houston radio was "bloody awful," or... More >>

• Rock and Roll High School

  published June 24, 2004

  The Vans Warped Tour is big. How big is it? Huuuuge. There are seven stages and 50 bands, for chrissakes, and then you've got all their... More >>

• Fringe Characters

  published June 17, 2004

  The PC Cowboys -- the pride of Bridge City and planet Earth's only politically correct country band -- have been busy lately. There have been a... More >>

• Hallelujah, I Just Loved Him So

  published June 17, 2004

  Ray Charles may have been blind, but he could see through more bullshit than any American musician who ever lived. Early on in his career, there... More >>