Email Author William Michael Smith

2006 Stories by William Michael Smith

• Tons o' Tonk

  published February 23, 2006

  Hot rods and honky tonk go together like cold beer and barbeque, all of which will be consumed in copious quantities as gearheads from far and... More >>

• Terry Allen

  published December 28, 2006

  In an amazingly prolific and eclectic career, Terry Allen has written music for the Margaret Jenkins Dance Company in San Francisco (he won... More >>

• Joe Ely and Double Trouble

  published December 28, 2006

  The story goes that when Joe Ely was six years old, he saw Jerry Lee Lewis play on a flatbed trailer in an Amarillo dust storm. The wind kept... More >>

• Suzanna Choffel

  published December 28, 2006

  Singer/songwriter Suzanna Choffel's version of folk -- she calls it urban+folk -- employs pop elements with lots of tiny, percussive, calypso... More >>

• Playbill: Daniel Johnston

  published Dec 26, 2006

  Artistically and theatrically, it's been a monster year for Waller resident and indie music pioneer Daniel Johnston. In March, a dozen Johnston drawings were included in New York's Whitney Museum... More >>

• Snowbyrd

  published December 21, 2006

  Touting oneself as "San Antonio's most innovative new band" seems a bit pretentious, but that's what it says right at the top of Snowbyrd's bio.... More >>

• Playbill: Randy Weeks

  published Dec 07, 2006

  Randy Weeks Despite living in LA, Randy Weeks has determinedly returned to Texas every couple of months since the 2006 SXSW. Bent on creating something like his loyal following at The Cinema Bar i... More >>

• Darden Smith Playbill

  published Dec 06, 2006

  I'd heard of Darden Smith for years but never seen him or given him a fair listen. His reputation preceded him; my impression was of a wan, mopey, earnest, trying-so-hard-to-be-meaningful ballade... More >>

• Larry Cooper

  published December 7, 2006

  Larry Cooper's songs drawl out in that deep-voiced Dave Alvin vein, all roots rock and jangle. Cooper has been in all sorts of bands locally and... More >>

• Macon Greyson

  published Nov 30, 2006

  When Ray Wylie Hubbard was recording young Buddy Huffman in an Austin studio with the cream of pickers that town has to offer, Huffman was already thinking about forming a band to play the song... More >>

• Corb Lund & the Hurtin' Albertans

  published November 30, 2006

  Ever see one of those openers that just blows your hair back? Corb Lund is a bona fide populist country-rock star in Canada, rolling across the... More >>

• Jim Lauderdale

  published November 23, 2006

  Jim Lauderdale has been one of the most prolific artists on the Americana scene during the past decade. The guy puts out records almost on pace... More >>

• Johnny Winter

  published November 16, 2006

  Johnny Winter may live in New England these days, but his musical lineage is purely Texan, going all the way back to his school days in Beaumont... More >>

• Bruce Cockburn

  published November 16, 2006

  If you didn't like what Natalie Maines had to say about President Bush, you probably don't want to buy Bruce Cockburn's Life Short Call Now... More >>

• Meet the Tunesmith

  published Nov 09, 2006

  Jesse Winchester Born in Shreveport and raised in Memphis, Jesse Winchester is an unlikely Canadian. One of the exceptional songwriters of his day, Winchester's records wobbled between folk and ... More >>

• Social Distortion

  published November 2, 2006

  Mainliner; Mommy's Little Monster; Prison Bound; Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell; White Light, White Heat, White... More >>

• The King Khan & BBQ Show

  published October 26, 2006

  If baseline three-chords-and-a-thunderbolt rock and roll needs to be reborn, Mark Sultan and King Khan (aka Blacksnake), both former members of... More >>

• Ian McLagan & the Bump Band

  published October 26, 2006

  Last year when the Rolling Stones played Houston, the Stones guitarist Ron Wood left the after-party and snuck down to the Continental Club to jam... More >>

• Fly Like an Eagle

  published Oct 23, 2006

  Courtesy of Fred Eaglesmith Man of the folk: Eaglesmith Fred Eaglesmith is the poet laureate of the dying breed, and for a southern Canadian he sounds distinctly West Texan on his latest, Millie's... More >>

• Wanda Jackson

  published October 19, 2006

  "I've always liked Houston. It's a rocking town." Wanda Jackson ought to know -- the 69-year-old Oklahoma City grandmother has been to Houston... More >>

• Robbie Fulks and Danny Barnes

  published October 12, 2006

  "Thirteen linear feet of duo" is how Danny Barnes describes his collaboration with alt-country maverick Robbie Fulks. The two have been... More >>

• Looking for a hit

  published October 12, 2006

  Mike Stinson, whose song "The Late Great Golden State" was recorded by Dwight Yoakam, is the kind of act Nashville record execs and publishers... More >>

• Buttercup

  published September 28, 2006

  San Antonio seems like an odd place for an artsy power pop band to call home, but that's where Buttercup is based. The group has been wowing San... More >>

• blacktopGYPSY

  published September 28, 2006

  If you think the new Dixie Chicks record is good (and it is), you'll probably want to take blacktopGYPSY's self-titled release to bed with you.... More >>

• Scott Miller & the Commonwealth

  published September 21, 2006

  Scott Miller's name always comes up in any discussion of the amorphous musical movement that flies under the pirate flag of alternative country.... More >>