Email Author William Michael Smith

2008 Stories by William Michael Smith

• Lonesome Onry and Mean: 2008's Heavy Rotation

  published Dec 30, 2008

  For the second (thirdr) year in a row, LOM didn't vote in either the Nashville Scene's best of country music poll or the Village Voice's Pazz & Jop best of American music poll. I'm just not a goo... More >>

• Tonight: Hayes Carll at Warehouse Live

  published Dec 26, 2008

  Woodlands native turned Austin dweller Hayes Carll had an up-and-down year in 2008. His first Lost Highway release, Trouble In Mind, garnered worldwide attention. As he relaxed in the Oza... More >>

• Tonight: Thunderado and the Handsomes at the Continental Club

  published Dec 25, 2008

  After packaging delays and the usual record-business snafus, we finally got our hands on a copy of the new Thunderado, a project of Paul Beebe and Hunter Perrin. Like Thunderado's live shows, the al... More >>

• Lonesome Onry and Mean: Envy vs. the Service Industry

  published Dec 23, 2008

  Nursing a medicinal Saint Arnold's Elissa draught while casually flipping through Envy, LOM actually saw something that looked interesting: Adam P. Newton's review of the Service Industry's new album... More >>

• Lonesome Onry and Mean: John Paul Keith and the One Four Fives

  published Dec 22, 2008

  A few months back, Music Editor Chris Gray's Noise column bemoaned the fact that the 'roll' has pretty much disappeared from rock and roll. Enter John Paul Keith and the One Four Fives. Keith has... More >>

• Lonesome Onry and Mean: Envy, You're Up

  published Dec 18, 2008

  Best In Texas music magazine can breathe a sigh of relief this month. We've found a new publication of supreme arrogance and ineptitude to ponder and dissect. Other than pedophiles, no group of peop... More >>

• Aftermath: Raul Malo at House of Blues

  published Dec 18, 2008

  Photos by William Michael Smith I've never been a particularly big Raul Malo fan. Sure, he and his Mavericks had a few stellar singles that were pure gold from the first note, most notably (for m... More >>

• Chris Masterson & Eleanor Whitmore

  published December 18, 2008

  Anyone who saw 13-year-old Chris Masterson shredding a Strat at the Fabulous Satellite Lounge or Big Easy in the late '80s probably had a clue... More >>

• Lonesome Onry and Mean: Redd Volkaert's Reddhead

  published Dec 16, 2008

  Redd Volkaert, "Always Late (With Your Kisses)" Redd Volkaert Reddhead (Telehog) www.myspace.com/rvolkaert Another little item that slipped through the cracks this year Lonesome Onry and Mean feels ... More >>

• Lonesome Onry and Mean: Sounds of Texas Music Series Announces 2009 Season

  published Dec 12, 2008

  Guy Clark, "L.A. Freeway," live in Utrecht, The Netherlands, 2006 In response to last week's feature on the Conroe/The Woodlands/Montgomery County Americana scene, we've just received word fro... More >>

• Tonight: Scott Miller and Mike McClure at McGonigel's Mucky Duck

  published Dec 11, 2008

  Scott Miller, "Drunk All Around This Town" Long ago, Scott Miller had a brief essay on his website about playing writers-in-the-round gigs. In his eyes, such shows come down to you, the one... More >>

• MySpaced Out: When Publicists Attack

  published Dec 10, 2008

  It was War of the Worlds author H.G. Wells who famously said, "Advertising is legalized lying." I recently had the unpleasant occasion to have a brief tete-a-tete with a young lady in the music publi... More >>

• Raul Malo

  published December 11, 2008

  Fans of great singing should flock to Raul Malo's first album of new material in seven years, Lucky One (due March 3). The record... More >>

• Lonesome Onry and Mean: Voices of a Grateful Nation

  published Dec 09, 2008

  As has been noted in these pages before, my daughter is in the Air Force. I'm not too happy that right now she is on a six-month assignment in Qatar while her two-year-old daughter is in San Ant... More >>

• Lonesome Onry and Mean: Gwil Owen's Gravy

  published Dec 04, 2008

  Gwil Owen Gravy www.gwilowen.com Here's another good record that fell through my cracks this year but deserves to be mentioned. Gwil Owen lives in Nashville and can write to the country form a... More >>

• Tonight: Tejas Brothers at Greenspoint Mall

  published Dec 04, 2008

  Tejas Brothers, "She's About a Mover/Give Me Back My Wig" If you're looking for a poster band for the Texican thing, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better one than Fort Worth's Tejas... More >>

• In the Pines of Houston

  published December 4, 2008

  Unlikely as it seems, a 100-year-old Kentucky tobacco barn has become the vortex of Montgomery County's bustling country and Americana scene. In... More >>

• Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs: Dirt Don't Hurt

  published December 4, 2008

  Britain's Holly Golightly and her Brokeoffs get "high for Jesus" on this latest bang-and-clang collection of almost-Americana. With percussion... More >>

• Lonesome Onry and Mean: Phil Lee's So Long, It's Been Good to Know You

  published Nov 27, 2008

  Phil Lee & the Sly Dogs, "A Night In the Box" The inimitiable Phil Lee is not one of your grandma's Nashville stars. No, he's one of those barely discovered left-side-of-Nashville writers ... More >>

• Tonight: Thunderado and the Small Sounds at the Continental Club

  published Nov 26, 2008

  Thunderado's Paul Beebe (center) and friends at the Continental, Christmas 2007 Thunderado doesn't play around much. This is not to say it's not one helluva band, but guitarist Hunter... More >>

• Lonesome Onry and Mean: New Records from Nicholas Tremulis and Felix Cavaliere

  published Nov 25, 2008

  Nicholas Tremulis with Robbie Fulks, "Mystery Train" Some killer records have recently fallen through Lonesome Onry and Mean's cracks, either due to a lack of space in the paper or LOM having just f... More >>

• Johnny Falstaff: Honky Tonkin' Daddy, John Evans Band: Lucky 13, Kanude: Kanude

  published November 27, 2008

  In the past month, three local artists have dropped albums either recorded at Sugar Hill Studios or with Sugar Hill connections. The pick of... More >>

• Eric Taylor: Hollywood Pocketknife

  published November 13, 2008

  There's a great story about Eric Taylor being intoxicated at a party a few years back when one of our local folkies was expounding ad infinitum... More >>

• Dave Alvin

  published November 13, 2008

  Dave Alvin has been one of the enduring pillars of American roots music for the past 30 years. One reason the seasoned Californian remains... More >>

• BeauSoleil

  published November 13, 2008

  One of the hottest topics in Americana these days is the sizzling Cajun roots-music scene three hours east in Lafayette. As good as young... More >>