Email Author William Michael Smith

2005 Stories by William Michael Smith

• Dana Cooper

  published December 1, 2005

  Dana Cooper may live and work in Nashville these days, but to those of us who've been around here a while, he'll always be a Montrose Houstonian,... More >>

• The Shout Out Louds

  published November 24, 2005

  When this Swedish band brought its impressive mix of retro synthpop, new-wave cool and modern indie rock to town back in March, it was relegated... More >>

• Beat Cowboys, with Eric Hisaw

  published November 17, 2005

  Roots music wasn't exactly in style back in the '80s, when future Beat Cowboys singer-songwriter-guitar-slinger Rick Eakens relocated to H-town... More >>

• Carrie Newcomer

  published November 10, 2005

  If you don't follow the folk world, you've probably never heard of Carrie Newcomer; if you do follow it, it's unlikely you haven't. Newcomer... More >>

• Charlie In Charge

  published November 3, 2005

  A winter Sunday night, 1978. A blue norther howls. Snow has been drifting all afternoon and evening. Inside some shithole bar in Odessa, Texas,... More >>

• Los Skarnales, with Dale Peterson

  published October 27, 2005

  Los Skarnales's most recent record, Pachuco Boogie Sound System, was runner-up for our Album of the Year, and musically it covered more... More >>

• The Detroit Cobras

  published October 27, 2005

  The Detroit Cobras may look like another smash 'n' bash Motor City garage band trailing in the wake of the White Stripes or the Dirt Bombs, but... More >>

• South Austin Jug Band, with the Ringers

  published October 20, 2005

  With its clean, earnest, New Age bluegrass sound, the South Austin Jug Band seems more suited to the Sugar Hill label than to Houston-based Blue... More >>

• Heybale

  published October 13, 2005

  Honky-tonk is rarely performed on such a high level as when the Austin supergroup Heybale takes the stage. With Merle Haggard guitarist Redd... More >>

• Ramblin' Jack Elliott

  published October 6, 2005

  Back in my misguided youth when I was discovering the transcendental delights of Blind Willie McTell, Woody Guthrie and Jelly Roll Morton, an... More >>

• Tony Joe White

  published September 29, 2005

  As Ray Wylie Hubbard is with "Redneck Mother," so Tony Joe White will be eternally identified with "Polk Salad Annie." Which is not too shabby,... More >>

• Teresa James and the Rhythm Tramps

  published September 22, 2005

  Since Austin is crawling with Texas blues divas, Houston native Teresa James looked west for audiences and appreciation. Now based in Los Angeles... More >>

• Clay McClinton

  published September 15, 2005

  Check out either his new album, Out of the Blue, or the video of a recent live performance at Nashville's Exit/In, and it is immediately... More >>

• The Knitters

  published August 25, 2005

  It wasn't pretty 20 years ago, and it ain't pretty now. Wasn't supposed to be, and it never will. And yet the Knitters -- this loose side project... More >>

• Darrell Scott

  published August 11, 2005

  Lately I've gotten a lot of Americana records that are mopey, dreamy, sensitive, meaningful and overwrought with heartfelt plaint and artsy-fartsy... More >>

• Terry Allen

  published August 4, 2005

  If Bob Dylan hadn't written the line "Don't ask me nothin' about nothin'/ I just might tell you the truth," it is likely Terry Allen eventually... More >>

• Jesse Dayton

  published July 28, 2005

  To make a long story short, Banjo & Sullivan is a fictional band -- the faded hillbilly hayseed duo that ominously disappears from the Kahiki... More >>

• Macon Greyson

  published July 14, 2005

  We all do it -- have those little what-I-shoulda-said internal conversations where we think up the perfect retort and verbally body-slam some... More >>

• Jimmy Lafave

  published June 23, 2005

  Repeatedly acknowledged as the finest living interpreter of Bob Dylan's work, Jimmy Lafave leads live shows that are never complete without a... More >>

• Two Hoots and a Holler, with Jesse Dayton and Guy Forsyth

  published June 23, 2005

  Back in the late '80s, Rick Broussard's Two Hoots, along with folks like the Leroi Brothers and Joe Ely, set the standard for Lone Star roots... More >>

• Ronny Elliott, with Ken Gaines

  published June 23, 2005

  Ronny Elliott is like a Brillo pad; if he rubs against you, there's gonna be some scrapes. About as far from the alt-country mainstream as you can... More >>

• Austin Collins

  published June 16, 2005

  Houston native Austin Collins has followed his country music jones up the road to the state capital, where his debut, Something Better, has... More >>

• Wideawake

  published June 2, 2005

  Talk about pressure. You win a bunch of Austin Music Awards at 2005's South By Southwest, including Best Rock Band and Best Pop Band, as well as... More >>

• Jeff Black

  published May 26, 2005

  Jeff Black is one of those guys the public is barely cognizant of yet is known to virtually everyone in the Nashville songwriting fraternity.... More >>

• Jimmie Dale Gilmore

  published May 26, 2005

  Lately Jimmie Dale Gilmore albums and appearances have been about as rare as a Thomas Pynchon novel or sighting. It's been five years since the... More >>