Amy Grant

Rest of the Best

Houston's top 5 local music venues.

So This Is 5 Years of Listening to Sunny 99.1's Christmas?

2008: An Hour in Sunny 99.1's Holiday Hell Every year, Sunny starts playing non-stop, 24/7 Christmas tunes by the end of November. You can pretty much bet that by the time you hop in the car after Thanksgiving dinner that Perry Como will be riding shotgun with you up to the gas station for smokes ... More >>

Moving Day: 5 Albums I Just Can't Quit

Reconsidering a lifetime of musical choices is a funny business. My first musical purchase? The Maxi Single for Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now). First proper album purchase? Amy Grant's 1991 classic, Heart In Motion. Before I lose any degree of credibility, let's move on. For the past m ... More >>

Switcharoo: 10 Artists Who Tried Other Genres

Have you ever bought an album of an artist you were familiar with and thought, "wow... that's different?" In fact, many artists try out other genres than the one where they originally became popular as a way for them to grow as artists. But a big question remains: Will the audience grow with them a ... More >>

The 10 Best Guest Appearances On Other People's Songs

Have you ever had one of those moments when, you're listening to a song and hear something familiar, like maybe a familiar voice or wonder, "Okay, who is really playing this particular instrument?" Many times a band or an artist will guest star on a recording. Sometimes it's a well-known fact, such ... More >>

Reader's Poll: What's the Deal With Christian Music?

So you are disgusted, angry, and outright righteously pissed that your beloved 103.7 is gone with the wind, replaced by 24 hours of Christian music. Gone are your usual playlists full of Wilco, Soundgarden, Sheryl Crow and Death Cab For Cutie, not to mention your favorite DJs and personalities. Th ... More >>

Hey Ladies! The 10 Most She-Tastic Artists of All Time

Have you ever noticed this: Men and women have different musical tastes. At times, they do. Why? Because men and women have different interests, for the most part. Think about it, boys: while you may want to play some Metallica, your girlfriend (or mom) may want listen to Sheryl Crow or Madonna. A ... More >>

Start the Revolution! 10 Songs About Historical Events

If you ever look at music throughout time, along with a history book -- they kind of complement each other. Some of the greatest songs in rock, R&B and rap have chronicled history both social, major news events, sports, entertainment and political. In my opinion, many times, the song is about what ... More >>

Friday Night: Stryper At House Of Blues

Stryper House of Blues May 18, 2012 A dedicated legion of Stryper fans cheered on Friday night to bang their heads to the bands greatest hits along with a few excellent covers. Stryper came out in full yellow-and-black attire while lead singer and guitarist Michael Sweet crooned a version of "Bat ... More >>

Stryper's Michael Sweet: "We Stick To Our Guns"

See more with Michael Sweet in this week's issue of the Houston Press. In the 1980s, contemporary Christian music was on the cusp of accepting a nice little jolt of electricity for headbangers everywhere. That jolt of electricity, my friends, was Stryper. They burst onto the scene and have since p ... More >>

7 Songs Produced By Birthday Dude Jerry Harrison

If you know the name Jerry Harrison at all, it's most likely from his work as guitarist/keyboardist for Talking Heads. But he's had just as prolific a career as the owner of Sausalito Sound as he has had creating music with one of my favorite bands. After leaving Talking Heads and releasing a handf ... More >>

Whitney & Me: One Fan's Recollections

Saturday I got a text from a close friend saying that Whitney Houston had passed away. Needless to say, I was a bit shocked. I honestly thought she would be around for years to come so that she could could keep blessing us all with her terrific voice.. I grew up listening to Contemporary Christian ... More >>

Friday Night: Mountain Goats at Fitzgerald's

Let us be clear from the very beginning -- this member of the Rocks Off Aftermath team isn't the most storied fan of The Mountain Goats. Though we'd heard of the legendary John Darnielle before, out first actual exposure to his music was in 2007 with Heretic Pride, and we were so struck by the power ... More >>

Rocks Off's Annual Descent Into Sunny 99.1's Christmas Music K-Hole

Since 2008, I have spent an hour listening to Sunny 99.1 FM's Christmas music for the Rocks Off blog. Right after Thanksgiving, it's the first thing on my checklist, right next to finding new, weird holiday music for you and trying not to gain 20 pounds in merriment by January. Most of the time on ... More >>

Pop Rocks on Sting: "Rock Stars...Is There Anything They Don't Know?"

You rotten flexible bastard.​ Sting. He's the artist we love to hate: Sting, everyone's favorite somnambulant acoustic pop star, has developed a somewhat checkered experience in Central Asia. In 2009, Gulnara Karimova--herself a fledgling pop singer under the name GooGooSha and daughter of ... More >>

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap: Music Fans Love Their A-Holes

You rotten flexible bastard.​Sting. He's the artist we love to hate. From The Atlantic: Sting, everyone's favorite somnambulant acoustic pop star, has developed a somewhat checkered experience in Central Asia. In 2009, Gulnara Karimova - herself a fledgling pop singer under the name GooGooSha ... More >>

Four Comic-Book Characters Inspired By Musicians

​Rocks off just can't seem to get comic books out of our blood. Between being fully immersed in Comicpalooza last weekend and trying to point out to Broadway how many other comic characters would make better and safer musicals than Spider-Man, we've regressed to being 15 with ink-stained figur ... More >>

Pickin' on Nashville

Vince Gill centers himself through bluegrass and digs Miranda Lambert.

Our Annual Hour In Sunny 99.1's Holiday Hell

​The day before Thanksgiving, Sunny 99.1, "Houston's Official At-Work Station" did its yearly change-over to all holiday music. It's now a Houston tradition to turn over the dial at 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving Eve to snort your first line of Burl Ives or Brenda Lee of the season, before you have ev ... More >>

Saturday Night: Chicago & The Doobie Brothers At Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion

Photos by Bob Ruggiero​Chicago/The Doobie Brothers Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion June 26, 2010 At many classic rock shows, there's no phrase more guaranteed to start a run on bathroom and beer lines than "And now here's something from our new record." But you know what? Classic Rock Bob wan ... More >>

Robert Plant Plays The Woodlands - Finally - On July 24

​ Robert Plant remembers Houston. In September 2008, the former Led Zeppelin singer and Allison Krauss were scheduled to play the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion behind their multiple Grammy-winning (and downright spectacular) Raising Sand album, but Hurricane Ike had other ideas, severely dam ... More >>

Can Rocks Off Withstand an Entire Hour of Sunny 99.1's Holiday Programming?

​Since Thanksgiving night, local dentist office-core radio station Sunny 99.1 FM has been pumping out non-stop Christmas tunes as they have been doing now for quite a few years. It's a Houston phenomenon and an ominous bellwether for the coming holiday. You pretty much know when you can hear Vanes ... More >>

Another Rock Mag Bites The Dust: Performing Songwriter Says Goodbye

Print publications focusing on music continue to fall like pine trees in a hurricane. The latest to close its doors is 16-year-old Performing Songwriter. Editor/publisher Lydia Hutchison announced Wednesday that the June issue would be the last. The magazine joins No Depression, Blender and Count ... More >>

Joni Mitchell, Shine

CD Review

Houston's Ten Worst Songs

…and we're still not as bad as Dallas

Musical Food Groups

If singers were cheese, what kind of cheese would they be?

The Reorient Express

Some churches are still trying to "cure" homosexuals. And some people are still lining up to trade in their sex life for eternal life.

An Avril Afternoon at the Mall

Lavigne's top-secret tour comes to Katy

This Week's Day-by-Day Picks

Bah, Humbug!

The glut of holiday CDs kills the Christmas spirit

Tis' The Season For Holiday Events

Events calendar

The Great Escape

Baz Luhrmann makes movies--and audiences--in his own image

Gospel According to Matthew

The Good Lord Willing, Songwriter Matthew Levine Plans to Spread the word of Baha'i

Local Rotation

Local Music Reviewed

The Original Christian Rock

Motley Fools

Rotation

Close Enough

Heaven Sent?

Caedmon's Call strives to be heard above the Christian rock din

Press Picks

She's the Boss

Houston-bred Sara Hickman has never been keen on constraints

Sound Check

Sound Check

Rotation

The Preacher Returns