Bill Monroe

The Old 97's Rhett Miller: "Then the Stage Gets a Lot Bigger"

Music Feature: Streets of Where I'm From This is an exciting time to be an Old 97's fan. Out of nowhere, almost, the Dallas quartet is now one of the longest-tenured and most successful Texas bands of its generation. All four original members are intact, they never "took a break," and they've never ... More >>

Rest Of The Best: Houston's Top 8 Jukeboxes

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 or DJs, jukeboxes require love, care and maintenance, as well as -- among the truly great ones -- som ... More >>

Acoustic Devils Go Flogging On The Road With Molly

When Pete Bernard received a package postmarked from Lynchburg, Tenn., he may have felt his mouth watering. That particular point of origin is the well-known home of the Jack Daniels distillery and indeed, inside the singer/guitarist for The Devil Makes Three found inside a little "thank you" from t ... More >>

The Roots Of Jimbo Mathus: From Charley Patton To Charlie Parker

Jimbo Mathus's latest work, Confederate Buddha, was easily one of the most overlooked roots albums of 2011. Don't worry, we sort of slept through it too, but that just means you can make up for that with us by checking him out Saturday night at the Continental Club, with opening act Shinyribs. You ... More >>

Del McCoury Band Decends on Conroe

​Conroe's Sounds of Texas Music Series has pulled a major coup that should have local bluegrass fans' hearts palpitating with their booking of the Del McCoury Band for February 4, 2012. McCoury and his band, which includes his sons Rob and Ronnie, both of whom are monster instrumentalists and ... More >>

Last Night: Brennen Leigh at Under the Volcano

Austin singer-songwriter Brennen Leigh broke country hard on an initially smallish, talkative crowd at Under the Volcano last night. Opening with "Paint Myself Blue" as a teaser/warmup, she immediately jumped straight into "I Only Drink On Special Occasions" and the crowd was hers. It's one of thos ... More >>

Five Can't-Miss Acts At ACL Fest This Year

Craig HlavatyWe're running this picture of My Morning Jacket's Jim James now because this will be the last we see of him all weekend.​For weeks after we skipped last year's Austin City Limits Music Festival to man the controls in Houston, Rocks Off found ourselves thinking, "Man, I wish I woul ... More >>

Summer Fest Saturday: A Sizzler With Beirut, Big Boi, Black Joe, Fucked Up, Sharon Jones, Ween & More

Ed. Note: We're not done yet... Chris GrayRusted Shut​Chris Gray: I think the quickest way to sum up Summer Fest, environmentally, is in fact biologically: In eight hours at the festival Saturday, hydrating continuously with mostly water, I made my own water once, shortly before Beirut. Sunda ... More >>

Delivery Man

Danny Barnes's Pizza Box unclassifiable but cohesive.

Rev. Peyton's Big Damn Band

Lonesome Onry and Mean: The Sickest, Most Twisted Musical Genre Isn't Gangsta Rap - It's Bluegrass

Not really sure whether it's our alcohol mixture, some pharmacological imbalance our sex life or just male menopausal phenomena, but lately Lonesome, Onry and Mean has been on an evil bluegrass jag. Nothing like playing our Stanley Brothers 45-rpm of "If I Lose" - "If I lose, let me lose/ I don't c ... More >>

"La La La -- I Was On Drugs": Hair Balls's Seven Favorite Memories Of The Houston Zoo

We recently stumbled on this video made by the Houston Zoo, wherein people recall their favorite memories of the place. With the long Labor Day Weekend coming up, Hair Balls has a few memories of its own...

Happy Thanksgiving: "Turkey in the Straw," Donald Duck and Some Messed-Up Minstrel Shit

Surely the same as thousands - millions? - of other American children, this 1935 Walt Disney cartoon was Rocks Off's first exposure to the spirited American folk melody "Turkey in the Straw." And probably to Donald Duck, making one of his first onscreen appearances ever - note the elongated bill ... More >>

Music to Shuffle Off This Mortal Coil

Tom Petty Week, Part 5: Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers Cover "Blue Moon of Kentucky"

Self-Hating Mexican Americans, and Rednecks of All Colors

The Houston International Festival Is Upon Us

Yonder Mountain String Band

ZZ Top, David Allan Coe, Hank Williams III, Old 97's

ZZ Top, David Allan Coe, Hank Williams III and Old 97's perform Saturday, July 14, at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, 2005 Lake Robbins Dr., The Woodlands, 281-363-3300.

Hot Buttered Rum

Hot Buttered Rum performs Sunday, February 25, at the Last Concert Café, 1403 Nance Street, 713-226-8563.

The Houston Slide

The Medicine Show rocks the ephemeral city with eternal music

Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen

Saturday, March 4, McGonigel's Mucky Duck, 2425 Norfolk, 713-528-5999.

Hurricane Mixtape

Music to drown by

Playbill

Boxing the Rock

Six of the year's best multi-disc sets (and one of the worst)

Nashville Star

The voice that wooed George Clooney comes to town

Missouri Whirlwinds

The Domino Kings have trumped Texas on their bid for alt-country success

Computer Error

When it comes to local facts, don't rely on Allmusic.com

Coal Miner's Brother

Chris Knight extracts songs from the same ravaged west Kentucky earth he once rehabilitated

Split Lip Rayfield, with the Meat Purveyors

Saturday, September 13

Ratt Steaks

Austin's Meat Purveyors beef up their songbook with unlikely grade-A covers

Banjos on the Bayou

Ralph Stanley and company come down from the mountain

Deke Dickerson & His Ecco-Fonics

Saturday, April 6

Traffic Jam

The folks at Tapir Productions are trying to keep jam bands from skipping over Houston

Hick Hop

Trent Summar puts the booze and bad attitude back in country music

Better Days

Former Houstonian Jerry Lightfoot goes deep inside the blues to save himself

Playbill

Coming This Week

Playbill

Coming This Week

Go Tell It on the Mountain

The Dukes of Earle

Steve Earle has beaten the country-music establishment by staying true to his muse

New Year's Eve Blastoff

World of Their Own

Carolina retronauts the Squirrel Nut Zippers swing clear of camp

Night & Day

June 4- 10, 1998

Rotation

Rotation

Louvin It Up

The high, lonesome hardships of country's best duo are getting easier to hear

Gracious Angel

A box set doesn't mean Emmylou Harris's career is done; it may mean it's just beginning

Saxy Stuff

Critic's Choice

All Bottled Up

The Country of Rock and Roll

From the ashes of Uncle Tupelo springs Wilco, genreless and great