Email Author William Michael Smith

2010 Stories by William Michael Smith

• Mavis Staples Will Take You There - Conroe - Friday Night

  published May 13, 2010

  Apparently there are still plenty of tickets for Mavis Staples in Conroe Friday night. Part of the Sounds of Texas Music Series at the Crighton Theater, the show also includes gospel-rocker Mike Farri... More >>

• Otis Redding, Jayhawks Help Us Overcome The Mailbox Cringe

  published May 12, 2010

  Sometimes we cringe when we go to the mailbox, but the past few days have brought Lonesome, Onry and Mean an eclectic trove of cool stuff. New Mystery Girl is Austinite Chrissy Flatt's new project wit... More >>

• Love, Shelby

  published May 13, 2010

  Shelby Lynne has always had a reputation as one of those "problem" talents. Like Kelly Willis, she's had major-label record deals and, at... More >>

• Shelby Lynne, Unlikely Honky-Tonk Heroine

  published May 10, 2010

  Until the advent of the Internet and blogs and all that, Lonesome Onry and Mean seldom had the time/space to go back and rethink what we'd written, to tweak it more into what we came to think than wh... More >>

• Willie Nelson Camp Confirms Drummer's Stroke

  published May 06, 2010

  Willie Nelson's camp has finally confirmed what Rocks Off first reported here last Friday, that longtime Nelson drummer Paul English did in fact suffer a "mild stroke." About an hour ago, Nelson twee... More >>

• Shelby Lynne Needs No Alibis On Excellent New Album

  published May 05, 2010

  Anyone who went to see Shelby Lynne at Warehouse Live two years ago and didn't come away with a case of drop-jaw respect for both her talent and her presence just isn't dialed into the right human fre... More >>

• The Blasters

  published May 6, 2010

  It's surprising that, after 30 years of incendiary shows, The Blasters haven't gone to heaven in a glorious blaze of self-combustion. Since... More >>

• Toots & The Maytals Boogie On At House Of Blues

  published May 03, 2010

  For more photos from the show, see our slideshow here. Almost 50 years on from his earliest historic recordings, Toots Hibbert and the Maytals have the reggae thing down to a massively fun science. A... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Willie Nelson's Drummer Said To Have Suffered Stroke

  published Apr 30, 2010

  Word reached Rocks Off earlier this afternoon from a usually reliable source that Willie Nelson's longtime drummer, Paul English, has suffered a stroke. English, who now lives in Dallas with his wife ... More >>

• The Happen-Ins, Mark May And More Weekend Happenings

  published Apr 30, 2010

  Rocks Off is always looking for a cheapo weekend filled with wine, song, art and, well, debauchery if possible. The cheaper the better. So in that spirit... Rockers the Happen-Ins have been getting c... More >>

• Win A Pair Of Toots & The Maytals Tickets

  published Apr 30, 2010

  Ed. Note: Rocks Off is giving away a pair of tickets to Toots & the Maytals at high noon on our Facebook page. Please add us here. rIf Toots Hibbert didn't actually give birth to reggae, he certai... More >>

• Beyond His Years

  published April 29, 2010

  Second-generation bluesman Bernard Allison may have been born in Chicago, reared in Peoria, Illinois, and Florida, and reside these days in... More >>

• Will Kimbrough

  published April 29, 2010

  Along with Kenny Vaughan, Will Kimbrough has long been one of Nashville's go-to guitar-plunker sidemen for years. A key part of Todd Snider's... More >>

• Rebirth Brass Band Lights A Fire At iFest

  published Apr 26, 2010

  Weather - usually the bad, wet, turbulent kind - has often been the story at iFest. But the story this year is that in spite of the threat of rain in the forecast, both weekends turned out to be ever... More >>

• Kelly Willis Happy To Leave Kids At Home For Miller Outdoor Show

  published Apr 23, 2010

  Kelly Willis, who plays Miller Outdoor Theatre Saturday night with Ray Wylie Hubbard, has four kids and is known to be a doting mother. She and husband Bruce Robison could probably both have much more... More >>

• Kelly Willis

  published April 22, 2010

  If Texas ever needs a First Lady of Country Music, Kelly Willis would fill the job nicely. No doubt she could be in Nashville singing whatever... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  A New Peggy Sue To Make Buddy Holly Proud

  published Apr 20, 2010

  Only weeks after being blown away by British power folkies Mumford and Sons, Lonesome, Onry and Mean got another pleasant shock from Yep Roc Records' latest artist, Peggy Sue. Their new album Fossils ... More >>

• iFest Aftermath: Joe Ely Band Almost Pulls A Michael Jackson

  published Apr 19, 2010

  rTerry Allen once told Aftermath that Joe Ely was his favorite performer. Allen related that Ely would come over to his house in Lubbock and sit on his couch and try out new songs. According t... More >>

• A Rock & Roll Time Capsule From Friday Night Lights Country

  published Apr 16, 2010

  As Lonesome, Onry and Mean noted yesterday, even in an age when no one supposedly buys, listens to or reviews albums anymore - three words: Record Store Day - too many albums pour into our mailbox. O... More >>

• New, Hidden Americana Gems From Philly, Nashville And The Ozarks

  published Apr 15, 2010

  Too many records, too many records, too many records. Sometimes Lonesome, Onry and Mean just has to take a deep breath, swallow hard and admit we can never give a fair listen to all the stuff that sh... More >>

• Before the Flood

  published April 15, 2010

  Historian, musicologist, songwriter, performer and Cuban-music label owner Ned Sublette is in town from New York City to promote his new book... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Vanished Honky-Tonk Heavyweight Damon Bramblett Reappears Tuesday

  published Apr 12, 2010

  Jesse Dayton recently wrote to us that he's cutting two of Damon Bramblett's songs on his next album. Dayton compared Bramblett to Mike Stinson as one of the cream of Texas' current songwriter crop. I... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  SugarHill In The '90s: Jazz, Jazz, Jazz... And A Little Group Called Destiny's Child

  published Apr 09, 2010

  Ed Note: All this week, to celebrate the release of Dr. Roger Wood and Andy Bradley's new book House of Hits: The Story of Houston's Gold Star/SugarHill Recording Studios and preview this weekend's re... More >>

• Freddy Fender And Huey Meaux Reel Off A String Of SugarHill Hits In The '70s

  published Apr 08, 2010

  Ed Note: All this week, to celebrate the release of Dr. Roger Wood and Andy Bradley's new book House of Hits: The Story of Houston's Gold Star/SugarHill Recording Studios and preview this weekend's re... More >>

• Roy Head, Sir Douglas Quintet Help SugarHill Swing Into The Psychedelic '60s

  published Apr 07, 2010

  Ed Note: All this week, to celebrate the release of Dr. Roger Wood and Andy Bradley's new book House of Hits: The Story of Houston's Gold Star/SugarHill Recording Studios and preview this weekend's re... More >>