Email Author William Michael Smith

2012 Stories by William Michael Smith

• Grady Gaines, the Upsetter

  published May 17, 2012

  Grady Gaines, who in a few years would be playing in the most important rock and roll band on the planet, was 12 years old throwing newspapers... More >>

• Darrell Scott: Loving Life Way Outside the Nashville Mainstream

  published May 10, 2012

  Since moving to Nashville in 1995, 52-year-old Darrell Scott has had a career most who take that Hillbilly Highway to Music City USA would envy. A triple-threat talent, Scott was for years a session... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Renowned Printmaker Dennis McNett Builds His First Art Car, Will Give Lecture

  published May 09, 2012

  Dennis McNett, one of the nation's renowned printmakers, practices the tedious, time-consuming art of carving. Most of his works are huge and have a graphic basis in '80s skateboard and punk rock cult... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Last Night: Nick Lowe at the Continental Club

  published May 08, 2012

  Nick Lowe Continental Club May 7, 2012 Nick Lowe learned a lesson Monday night: Houston rocks, and Houston will shut up and listen. Lowe and his band seemed slightly flummoxed by the Continental Clu... More >>

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  COVER STORY

  Houston's Cryptic New Noise Ordinance

  published May 10, 2012

  Tensions had been building between Boondocks' owner Shawn Bermudez and the newly... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Rest of the Best: Houston's Top 8 Jukeboxes

  published May 02, 2012

  Along with pickled pig's feet and a steady supply of Slim Jims, a good jukebox is a prime element for any great bar. But, like dinosaurs, jukeboxes are a vanishing breed. Unlike digital jukes, iPods o... More >>

• Nick Lowe Tries to Recapture That Old Magic

  published May 3, 2012

  Nick Lowe sounds energized on the phone and laughs heartily when the Houston Press suggests that lately he hasn't been letting things... More >>

• Local Artist Pen Morrison Celebrates Guitar Pickers and Their Guitars

  published Apr 27, 2012

  One of the most pleasant discoveries at last weekend's iFest was the guitar sculpture of local graphic designer and political junkie Pen Morrison. A Yankee who came south to college and fell in love w... More >>

• Charley Pride, Major League Legend

  published April 26, 2012

  Charley Pride is tired of being asked about how tough it was. The three-time Grammy winner, who broke Montgomery County's color line by dining at... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Sunday: iFest in Downtown Houston -- Galactic, Jason Isbell, Etc.

  published Apr 23, 2012

  Houston International Festival Downtown Houston April 22, 2012 With a slight north breeze keeping festival-goers from broiling under a cloudless sky, Sunday's iFest turned into a perfect laid-back Ho... More >>

• Texas Guitar Great David Grissom Digs Way Down Deep

  published Apr 20, 2012

  David Grissom has a resume that most guitarists can only dream of. From his early days with Hank III in Killbilly, Grissom went on to playing, along with Jimmy Pettit and Davis McLarty, for Joe Ely fr... More >>

• iFest's Jesse Dayton: "I'm Ready to Throw Down"

  published Apr 20, 2012

  The last time Rocks Off caught up with Jesse Dayton, he was up to his eyeballs in alligators with his film project Zombex, working on an album of Kinky Friedman cover songs and playing Kinky for a bun... More >>

• Tango Master Hector Del Curto Plays iFest

  published Apr 20, 2012

  Voted the best bandoneonist (player of a type of small accordion) under 25 in Argentina when he was only 17 years old, Hector del Curto is today a world-class musician. He has played with most of the ... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Paul Thorn Wonders What The Hell Is Going Onr

  published Apr 16, 2012

  Paul Thorn is in Nettleton, Miss., standing in his front yard watching his 8-year old daughter bounce on the trampoline while he takes yet another interview call. Asked if another time would be better... More >>

• Houston Scores Big-Time In Latest Edition Of Encyclopedia Of Country Music: Part 5

  published Apr 10, 2012

  While Houston played a huge part in the early history of country music, by the end of the 1950s a new breed of artist was coming on the scene. Western Swing, for all purposes, was a relic, and althoug... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  The Rest Of The Best: Houston's Top 8 Blues Clubs

  published Apr 05, 2012

  Like our neighbors over at Eating Our Words, Rocks Off would like to tell you about some places that didn't quite make the cut in our few most recent Best of Houston issues (categories change every ye... More >>

• Devil in the Woodpile

  published April 5, 2012

  Multitalented Mississippi-born Marty Stuart is one of the last true hillbillies in Nashville. Picked by Clarence White to be in Lester Flatt's... More >>

• Houston Scores Big-Time In Latest Edition Of Encyclopedia Of Country Music: Part 4

  published Apr 03, 2012

  Our fourth installment of Houston-area country-music pioneers honored with inclusion in the second edition of The Encyclopedia of Country Music details the last of an amazing group of local musicians ... More >>

• Still Treating Em Right

  published March 29, 2012

  Forty-seven years after his breakout hit, "Treat Her Right," 69-year old wildman Roy Head is still fighting the entertainment wars, continuing... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Houston Scores Big-Time In Latest Editon Of Encyclopedia Of Country Music: Part 3

  published Mar 27, 2012

  The further one digs into the second edition of The Encyclopedia of Country Music, the deeper one's appreciation of the contributions of Houston's country-music pioneers becomes. Yeah, just check out ... More >>

• After American Idol And Bad Record Deal, Sundance Head Starts Over

  published Mar 23, 2012

  Rocks Off hadn't thought much about Sundance Head since his 13th-place American Idol finish in 2007 and the momentary ballyhoo that followed. Head, the son of legendary Houston blue-eyed soul man Roy... More >>

• Houston Scores Big Time In Latest Editon Of Encyclopedia Of Country Music: Part 2

  published Mar 20, 2012

  Our second installment of Houston connections in the recently published second edition of The Encyclopedia of Country Music is a truly monumental list of writers, performers and performances that show... More >>

• Blue Monday

  published March 15, 2012

  Blue Monday is a Houston tradition that has virtually died out in the last few years. Once important social and musical events at such storied... More >>

• Tennessee Time

  published March 15, 2012

  Valerie June was all set to make her first appearance in Houston a few months ago when her schedule suddenly got a little crazy and she had to... More >>

• Houston Scores Big-Time In Latest Encyclopedia Of Country Music

  published Mar 08, 2012

  With 53 related entries, Houston fared well in the second edition of The Encyclopedia of Country Music (Oxford University Press, $65), released last month, the first revision of the 600-page volume si... More >>