Vampirism, hard time, booze and stress relief through random gunfire: Unknown Hinson is the most rock 'n' roll cat to ever dismiss the genre as something "a damn 15-year-old punk can do." But thanks to his darkly funny, politically incorrect songs and blazing rockabilly riffs, Hinson is gaining... More >>

Out of a Third Ward blues guitar school that has now graduated to the great beyond Albert Collins, Johnny Clyde Copeland, Johnny Guitar Watson and Joe Guitar Hughes, Little Joe Washington is the last man standing. And he’s hardly standing still: He’s also pedaling his Schwinn from... More >>

Calling a mélange of Gulf Coast musical styles a “gumbo” is a cliché, so we’ll call what Nick Gaitan whips up for his Umbrella Man project a “caldo” instead. It’s a tasty H-Town stew, equal parts blues, Tejano, swamp pop, rockabilly, ska,... More >>

Phil Anselmo is a busy man. Besides remaining one of the most iconic voices in metal, he's running his own imprint, Housecore Records, and working hands-on, one-on-one with Housecore bands such as Haarp and Warbeast. “I like to work with my guys and see their vision through," Anselmo... More >>

On the their recent Snake People LP, Balaclavas front-loaded everything we loved about 2010's Roman Holiday and their two previous releases, Inferno and a self-titled EP, and went straight ahead into a sort of dance-oriented, Angelo Badalamenti-influenced direction they had only hinted at the... More >>

Austin's Dialtone Records has already done right by Houston blues, releasing albums by Little Joe Washington and the late Earl Gilliam as well as the Texas Southside Kings CD, but the pairing of Jewel Brown and Milton Hopkins deserves some attention on more than just a local level. Both Brown... More >>

Atlanta's Gucci Mane is proof that a certain kind of mindlessness—not having much to say about life as people live it, for instance—can free other parts of the brain for genius. In fact, you get the sense from his songs' brightly painted gangster hedonism that anything... More >>

Band of Heathens combines twangy, raspy vocals with authentic harmonies, all set above easy-listening country-rock melodies. Their repertoire is varied, albeit usually straddling the line between blues and Southern rock. A full three members of the band are songwriters, which has led to the... More >>

It's probably just a coincidence that St. Vitus formed the same year Ozzy Osbourne parted ways with Black Sabbath. Nonetheless, this Los Angeles outfit was central to evolving Sabbath's classic sound and dynamics into the kind of metal that was more concerned with genuine heaviness and mood... More >>

In the '90s, Tracy Lawrence was part of the wave of pop-country marked by massive touring dollars and record sales levels not seen since, save for by a few blond girls. Like Alan Jackson and Clint Black, the nasally Lawrence was one of the most normal guys in country, turning in No. 1 singles... More >>

Sturdy nice-guy rockers who came above ground in the post-grunge explosion, Collective Soul never claimed to be tortured artists, unlike the souls in Bush and Live. Albums like 1993 debut Hints, Allegations & Things Left Unsaid, a 1995 eponymous disc and 1997's Disciplined Breakdown made them... More >>

There's no better time for a road trip than early summer, and there just happens to be a car on the cover of Runaway Sun's Let's Run. That makes sense: The Houston four-piece's second album and first in three years is a bit of a musical travelogue itself, the adventures of a confident and... More >>

Although he gained a measure of fame with the proto-Americana band the Blasters, then with the L.A. punk band X, Dave Alvin is a criminally underappreciated guitarist and songwriter who has all too quietly created a distinct and rock-solid body of work. Actually, there's a good bit of country,... More >>

Say what you will about Nickelback, those polarizing Canadians know how to write an infectious radio anthem. The multiplatinum-selling group may be one of the most maligned in recent memory for a loud minority full of anti-Nickelback venom, but they have an even louder majority that hangs on... More >>

If you've ever been to a Jimmy Buffett show, we're just preaching to the choir when we say it's a one-of-a-kind experience. The Parrothead community is one of the great followings in music history, on par with Deadheads. Arriving at the venue, you might be momentarily disoriented by the... More >>

Younger ears may know Bobby Womack from his recent work with Damon Albarn's Gorillaz project, guesting on the supergroup's 2010 album Plastic Beach, lending his magic to the disco-throb of "Stylo" with Mos Def, and the forlorn stunner "Cloud of Unknowing." Older audiences, though, know the R&B... More >>

Addictive, melodic and accessible are just a few of the ways to describe Houston’s Rainchild, a rockin’ four-piece that isn’t afraid to get personal in its lyrics. The band’s bio says its mission is to “create music from the underbelly of ill emotions of vices and... More >>

Gillian Welch seems preserved in amber. Her music is so far out of time it's a little startling to stumble across a photo of her even wearing jeans. Since Welch arrived in the mid-'90s, her songs have belonged to another era, full of laborers and orphans, brushing up against ancient spirituals... More >>

According to free radical theory, radicals (atoms with unpaired electrons) damage cells in an organism, causing aging. But if anything, Nick Cooper’s Free Radicals have become more vital with the passage of time, with prophetic songs about environmental disaster and financial collapse.... More >>

Sorry, Jonas Brothers, but we like our boy bands dancing and sans instruments. Thankfully, the UK is leading the charge on yet another new wave of clean-cut, smiley, and dreamboat groups like One Direction. This show sold so well, they already have another 2013 date planned for Houston. More >>

Ray Price began his musical career in 1949, years upon years before some of the titans of the mainstream country charts you hear today were even glints in their parents' eyes. Hell, maybe even their grandparents' eyes. At the age of 85, the man has outlasted almost everyone from his earliest... More >>

Every last Sunday of every month at The Big Easy, zydeco reigns supreme, meaning you don't have to drive to Louisiana or wait for crawfish season to get your fix of accordions and washboard jams. The mood is always lively, and the company alone is worth making a stop to hear some of the best... More >>

Solo bluesman John Egan sings in a tone that suggests someone is constantly walking over his grave, and his lyrics are loaded with bad mojo like nature gone haywire and apocalyptic visions. All he needs live is his National Resonator, one of those shiny silver guitars that sting and snarl. More >>

DJ Bakka is back at Boondocks spinning the best proto-punk, and classic and modern metal on vinyl with cheap beers and drinks for the lusty, leather-ensconced throngs. Mondays may suck, but at least DJ Bakka has some Motorhead and Sabbath to wash the taste of the day away. More >>

The James Reese Band combines slow-paced bass rhythms and funky guitar riffs with sometimes raspy, sometimes clean female vocals to create an eclectic form of blues that could only be created in the state Lightnin’ Hopkins once called home. More >>