Email Author John Nova Lomax

2005 Stories by John Nova Lomax

• Downtown H-town Throwdown

  published July 28, 2005

  On stage at the Copa Cabana, the Linus Pauling Quartet's Ramon Medina is in a frenzy. His eyes are tightly shut, he's white-knuckling the mike in... More >>

• One More for the Road

  published July 21, 2005

  This time every year, we ask all the bands on our Music Awards ballot about their best, worst and most unusual gig tales. Last year, the inquiry... More >>

• Christmas in July

  published July 21, 2005

  Seventy-three bands for seven bucks. I'm far from being a math major, but even I can tell you that works out to 9.589 cents a band. All... More >>

• Hellish Houston

  published July 14, 2005

  There can be few worse places to be on this earth than Houston in a July drought/ heat wave. Chicago in a January blizzard can't hold a candle to... More >>

• Thug Life

  published July 14, 2005

  Right now, it seems like the world is Slim Thug's oyster to shuck. The towering (six foot six) Northside rapper has been one of Texas's and the... More >>

• Road Signs

  published July 14, 2005

  Despite the fact that my wife, Jacqueline, and I had been on vacation for five days with four children -- two of our own, our nine-year-old son... More >>

• Mary Gauthier

  published July 7, 2005

  It's records like this that justify Nashville's existence as a music town. Baton Rouge-bred Mary Gauthier (pronounced "Go-shay") is often... More >>

• The Golden Boy

  published July 7, 2005

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• Last of the Hard-Core Troubadours

  published June 30, 2005

  Montrose legend Randal Calcote has been many things in his life: child country musician, poet, actor, hemp activist, pirate radio impresario, folk... More >>

• Soul Rebels Brass Band

  published June 23, 2005

  Here's the 1,094th thing I love about New Orleans: You'll be driving through the ghetto and a car will pull up alongside you blaring music out of... More >>

• Lise Liddell

  published June 23, 2005

  Houstonian Lise Liddell went all the way down under -- to Brisbane, to be exact -- to record this album, and it sounds like some of the songs were... More >>

• How Low Can You Go?

  published June 23, 2005

  Last fall, we started asking musicians, music critics and other folks in the biz about their favorite guilty pleasures, and this is the third... More >>

• Dubble Trubble

  published June 23, 2005

  The trouble with most indie rock is that it tries too hard to be indie, bending over backward to be stylish. Too often, things like melody, hooks... More >>

• Dubtex

  published June 16, 2005

  At long last comes a full-length CD from Houston's socially conscious dancehall/ hip-hop/drum 'n' bass collective Dubtex. Sort of. The band is... More >>

• The Return of the Last DJ

  published June 16, 2005

  If you're a regular reader of this column, you know that this writer is of the (widely shared) opinion that Houston radio sucks. But, brothers and... More >>

• Angular Acid-Glam Gorecore?

  published June 9, 2005

  So I'm looking through the 288 local bands in the virtual community of Myspace.com, and a couple of things hit... More >>

• When Wild Musicians Attack!

  published June 9, 2005

  Look out, Houston! Ryan Adams is on his way to town. The troubled troubadour is slated to play the Verizon Wireless Theater on June 15, and early... More >>

• Color Me Impressed

  published June 2, 2005

  Spain Colored Orange's "Persistent Intermission" starts with some fast, warm electric piano chords. Then the rhythm section and the guitars come... More >>

• Dreamfest 2

  published May 26, 2005

  Musically speaking, are you something of an Anglophile? Do you demand some dream in your pop? Do you like to gaze at your shoes? Or do you just... More >>

• Z-Ro

  published May 26, 2005

  Z-Ro (born Joseph McVey) has long had the Southwestern streets on lock. People around here regard the gruff baritone-voiced ex-con and retired... More >>

• Play It Pretty for Cabaret Voltaire

  published May 26, 2005

  The first time you hear it, it's pretty damn funny. You're at a show by a hip band, say Bright Eyes or something, and there's a break in the... More >>

• Addicted to Fluff

  published May 19, 2005

  Hi, my name's Racket, and I'm an American Idol addict. (Hi, Racket!) I would like to tell you that I have been clean and sober for a while,... More >>

• Mellow, Chilled-Out Fellow

  published May 19, 2005

  Here are some of the superlatives you read from scribes far and wide about Rap-A-Lot recording artist Devin the Dude: "Your favorite rapper's... More >>

• W.C. Clark

  published May 12, 2005

  Quite simply, guys like guitarist-singer W.C. Clark exemplify Texas music. In Clark's case, it's hard-charging, mesquite-smoked soul, blues, jazz,... More >>

• Bizzy Bone, Phone Home

  published May 12, 2005

  Remember Bone Thugs-N-Harmony? Back in '95, they were one of the freshest things to come along in mainstream rap for years. Eazy-E's... More >>