Email Author William Michael Smith

2009 Stories by William Michael Smith

• Tonight: Kevin "Shinyribs" Russell Adds Drummer for Under the Volcano Gig

  published Sep 23, 2009

  In less than two years, Kevin "Shinyribs" Russell has developed one of Houston's most successful residency gigs at Under the Volcano. His monthly appearances at the Bissonnet drinkery have become sta... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Lonesome Onry and Mean: Grizzled Old Dudes Guy Clark and Kris Kristofferson Still Make Damn Good Records

  published Sep 22, 2009

  In line with Lonesome Onry and Mean's recent piece on septuagenarians Ian Hunter and Jesse Winchester, we've been listening to new records from a pair of wizened old Texas treasures: 68-year-old Guy C... More >>

• Long Reach

  published September 24, 2009

  Sonny Landreth's 30-plus year career has taken him from sleeping on pool tables at Houston's legendary Gold Star Studios to flights to London to... More >>

• Corb Lund

  published September 24, 2009

  If Corb Lund hadn't been born a Canadian Viking rancher rodeoing Albertan, he'd probably have been a Texan. His songs have always dealt with... More >>

• Down to Seeds and Stems Again Blues: Eight Great Pot Songs

  published Sep 21, 2009

  John Prine may have set the standard for pot songs in American music with his sardonic "Illegal Smile," but that snowball picked up considerable speed as it rolled downhill. Here are eight more excel... More >>

• Lonesome Onry and Mean: Don't Piss On My Boots

  published Sep 18, 2009

  A couple of important Americana shows have slipped under the radar this week. Whisky Priest Dustin Welch rolls into the Continental with Small Sounds. Welch's debut album Whisky Priest has remained... More >>

• Oh, Great: Nashville Songwriters Name Redneck Doofus Toby Keith Artist of the Decade

  published Sep 16, 2009

  Sadly, it's official: Toby Keith, that big redneck doofus who is always threatening to put his boots up somebody's ass or feuding with the Dixie Chicks, has been declared by Nashville Songwriters Asso... More >>

• Dave Alvin & the Guilty Women

  published September 17, 2009

  Dave Alvin has played Houston in all sorts of configurations for the past 30 years, from his days with the Blasters to his original Dave Alvin... More >>

• Lonesome Onry and Mean: Lying Liars and the Songs Written About Them

  published Sep 10, 2009

  After South Carolina representative Joe Wilson's bush-league grandstander heckling of the President last night - imagine the hue and cry if Nancy Pelosi had done the same thing during one of W's inane... More >>

• Pine Leaf Boys

  published September 10, 2009

  Once a product of the college scene around Lafayette, Louisiana, the Pine Leaf Boys have, in a relatively short time, become world phenoms. They... More >>

• Tonight: Shinyribs at Last Concert Cafe

  published Sep 05, 2009

  Shinyribs, Gourds frontman Kevin Russell's side project, has found a safe haven in his old hometown of Houston. Russell's musical oeuvre mixes a large gospel-based element with dashes of country, blue... More >>

• Attention Brain-Dead Right-Wing Morons: If You Love God, Guns and "Texas Music," Lonesome Onry and Mean Has a Few Choice Words

  published Sep 04, 2009

  It's pandering pretty-boy pinheads like Garland singer-songwriter Austin Cunningham who are the best at appealing shamelessly to Best In Texas Music Magazine's brain-dead audience. His new Texas radio... More >>

• Lonesome Onry and Mean: More Reasons Why Best In Texas Is a Flaming Pile of Crap

  published Sep 03, 2009

  Trilogy (n.): a set of three works of art that are connected and that can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works.rIf euthanasia is ever legalized, one method might be to have the... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Jesse Dayton - Sorry, "Captain Clegg" - on Rob Zombie and His Role In Halloween II

  published Sep 01, 2009

  Jesse Dayton's star just keeps rising. You have to give the former Beaumont lad credit, he works at it steadily, and these days has his finger in writing, performing, producing, and acting as well as... More >>

• Miss Leslie & Her Juke Jointers

  published September 3, 2009

  As Kris Kristofferson so aptly noted years ago, there's just not much that's as miserable as a Sunday morning coming down. Not long ago, Cosmos... More >>

• Lonesome Onry and Mean: Other Uses for Best In Texas Besides, You Know, Reading It

  published Aug 31, 2009

  Lonesome Onry and Mean recently stopped wasting good notebook paper writing drafts of articles about Best in Texas Music Magazine. We were perusing the current issue and thinking about how bad it is w... More >>

• MP3 of the Day: "Omaha ICU," Inspired By Our Own Lonesome Onry and Mean

  published Aug 27, 2009

  Baltimore country songwriter and performer Arty Hill has found Rocks Off to not only be food for thought, but food for songwriting. Readers might recall his previous song "Texas Ganja Man" which was ... More >>

• The Best Roots-Rock Band You Never Heard Of Is In Town... Again

  published Aug 26, 2009

  Cleveland roots-rockers The Magpies pull into Cactus Music today for an instore performance. They were unable to book a Houston gig during the current swing though Texas and Oklahoma, but arranged an ... More >>

• Radney Foster

  published August 27, 2009

  Like Stephen Bruton on his final albums, Radney Foster seems to be hung up on the spiritual side of things as he approaches 50. Foster's new... More >>

• Lonesome Onry and Mean: Macon Greyson Pushes Strings, Strings Push Back

  published Aug 24, 2009

  Macon Greyson, the Dallas band our sister paper up north loved to ignore until it landed a song in The Wrestler, has just emerged from the studio with a four-song EP titled This Machine Kills Hypocri... More >>

• Lonesome Onry and Mean: "OD'd In Denver" and Other Drug-Addled Americana Songs

  published Aug 21, 2009

  A group of us were sitting at our regular table at the bar the other night when one of our number reported that he had to fly to Denver the next day. LOM never hears the word "Denver" that we don't t... More >>

• Lonesome Onry and Mean: The Disturbing Ballad of Bob Woodruff, Part 3

  published Aug 19, 2009

  In the first two installments of LOM's blog about vanished country music performer Bob Woodruff - see them here and here - we learned of his heroin addiction and the help he received in kicking the ha... More >>

• Hot Club of Cowtown

  published August 20, 2009

  It's been over a decade since Hot Club of Cowtown formed and became an instant hit with fans of country and swing. Since forming in 1997, Hot Club... More >>

• Lonesome Onry and Mean: Oscar-Nominated Songwriter Gwil Owen and Toni Price at McGonigel's Mucky Duck

  published Aug 14, 2009

  Toni Price hasn't played in these parts much since her move from Austin to California a couple of years ago. But for Lonesome, Onry and Mean, her show tonight is made all the more interesting by the ... More >>

• Lonesome Onry and Mean: Delbert McClinton Should Go Honky-Tonkin' More Often

  published Aug 13, 2009

  LOM has been listening to Delbert McClinton's new album Acquired Taste (New West), which hits stores next Tuesday, quite a bit lately. We've always been a fan of Delbert's and consider him to be ... More >>