Carrie Underwood

The "Ag-Gag" War: Big Ag Declares War on Whistleblowers

Behind the scenes of the death match between Big Ag and undercover animal-rights activists.

Last Night: Carrie Underwood at Toyota Center

Carrie Underwood Toyota Center April 23, 2013 It's different at the top of the world. Because critics are the spoiled little creatures that we are, we are traditionally given seats that cost most fans quite a bit of coin. Hell, Alicia Keys' people put me on the third row. Get told Carrie Underwood ... More >>

The Best Concerts In Houston This Week: Carrie Underwood, Filter, Paramore, etc.

Carrie Underwood Toyota Center, April 23 Seemingly shoved off the queen-of-country throne by Taylor Swift's ascendancy, Carrie Underwood may have taken the title right back now that Swift has crossed over completely into the pop realm. No one will ever mistake Underwood for Loretta Lynn, of course, ... More >>

Red, White, and Rehab: Country Music's 10 Douchiest Moments

It might be hard to believe, but the same musicians responsible for singing lyrics about big green tractors and diggin' up bones are also responsible for a lot of my Internet entertainment. You see, when famous people do douchey things, it makes me giggle. When those acts are committed by people t ... More >>

American Idol Returns, Selling More Drama Than Music

If you can believe it, American Idol kicks off its twelfth season tonight on Fox. But not just on Fox. Here is how One India Entertainment, "India's No. 1 Language Portal," announced the news at 18:03 IST (India Standard Time) today: MUMBAI: After the successful run of The X Factor USA while cashin ... More >>

First Taylor Swift, Now Carrie Underwood

It's going to be a blonde spring, when it comes to wholesome country-pop role models touring through Houston. Days after Taylor Swift announced Houston will be part of her upcoming "Red" tour on May 16 (venue TBD), Carrie Underwood's Web site unveiled the dates of her 40-city spring 2013 outing beh ... More >>

Turning 10, American Idol Struggles to Make New Stars -- But Mostly Misses

It's hard to imagine it now, just a shade less than a decade later, but at one time American Idol was able to crank out star after star in a succession of seasons. Most people couldn't name at least one of the last five winners of Fox's cash-cow pop show, even as ratings have remained healthy (if no ... More >>

CMA Nominations Don't Forget Texans Miranda Lambert, Eli Young Band

Nothing says country music like Times Square. Or is that the other way around? Regardless, the 2012 nominees for the Country Music Association were announced by stars (and nominees) Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean earlier this morning. It helps that Times Square is the home of Good Morning America's st ... More >>

Skits: This Week In Music-Biz WTFery -- Katy Perry, B.o.B., Etc.

The music business fuckery continues. A game so destructive it only benefits the top dogs (and even so, temporarily), while the actual players continue to eat sand out of peanuts. Who's winning? Who's losing? Dig in for this week's music-bidness shenanigans.

Going The Distance: The Hot 100's 10 Longest-Charting Songs

Let us hop in our time machine and head back to a magical place in the past known as Dec. 23, 2010. Here is a snapshot of things going on at the time: Rocks Off was making wishes for the year 2011; Kanye West was knee deep in Album of the Year wins for My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy; Eddie Vedder ... More >>

15 Things Rocks Off Learned Watching The ACM Awards

Sunday nights, I usually like to watch The Amazing Race after 60 Minutes. I don't usually watch much reality television at all, but something about the combination of total incompetence, vicious backstabbing and exotic locales as several, two-person teams race around the globe is completely intoxica ... More >>

Sugarland Says It Will Play New BBVA Compass Stadium

Updated with comments from BBVA Compass Stadium Director of Marketing, PR & Booking Gina Rotolo -- 12:24 p.m. Pop-country duo Sugarland will be playing the Houston Dynamo's new stadium, BBVA Compass Stadium, the band announced in a set of tour dates on its Web site. The show, scheduled for Aug. 26, ... More >>

Jason Cassidy's 10 Country Songs You Should Hear Before You Die

Tonight traditional country upstart Jason Cassidy headlines Big Texas Dance Hall & Saloon out in Clear Lake. The strip-center venue, known for it's pretty girls with painted-on jeans and copious amounts of trucks in the parking lot and a Bud Light in every hand, has been host to Cassidy many times b ... More >>

The Beats Go On As Grammys Take Care Of Their Own

Hands up, everyone who is surprised.​The Grammy Awards on CBS Sunday night could have easily turned into a wake - or worse, a funeral. After Whitney Houston's death Saturday, the mood was appropriately somber until a dance party broke out, or perhaps a coming-out party for dance music. Foreve ... More >>

Lyrical Life Lessons: Hell Hath No Fury Like A Woman Scorned

straightpinkie.com​Blame it on the humidity, but there's something about Houston that makes women go off the deep end. In fact, the Bayou City is home to three of the past decade's most notorious female-perpetrated crimes. There was Dr. Clara Harris (2002), who responded to the news of her hu ... More >>

Top 5 Country Music Feuds

The great mullet smackdown of 1992, starring Travis Tritt and Billy Ray Cyrus​Country music singers, Hank Williams Jr. once sang, are a real close family. And like most families, sometimes they don't get along. But unlike rap or British rock, where there are so many feuds it can be hard to ke ... More >>

Fifteen Of Our Favorite Cheating Songs

zazzle.com​Songwriters find inspiration many of life's varied realms: Joy, grief, sex, drugs, anger and, evidently, two-timing. Some are sad, some cheeky, some violent and revengeful, but we've collected a sad-sack grab-bag of cheating-related songs. Here is our Top 15, along with their lyric ... More >>

Idol Beat: American Idiots

Spoiler alert: the smug one wins.​Thanks to Shea Serrano for taking the bullet yesterday. After what felt like eons, the 10th season of American Idol lurched to its inevitable anticlimax last night. It was as especially torturous affair, stretching well over two hours and mixing performances ... More >>

Out Today: Other Things Besides Born This Way... Seriously

​This past weekend was magical, what with Rocks Off finally getting to see Foo Fighters play songs from Wasting Light and all. You may remember that we have been wanking over Light since it came out in April, but it's really good. Best rock album of the year? Maybe, unless Jack White or Josh H ... More >>

Idol Beat: Not So Fast, Five

Winter is coming... Wait, wrong show.​Dear American Idol: I don't like you - I think that's been pretty well established at this point - and I know you don't like me, otherwise you wouldn't still be dragging along for 90 minutes on Wednesday even though there are only five contestants left, a ... More >>

Jesus Is On the Mainline: The Son Of God In Rock & Roll

​With Easter Sunday coming up, we delved into all the instances of Jesus Christ in rock and roll. He's been a popular lyrical subject since he was born over 2,000 years ago, and his family enterprise runs neck and neck with sex when it comes to the entire lyrical history of music. Hymns or lov ... More >>

Idol Beat: Some Girls

​I missed most of last night's introduction because I was still trying to get my head around how they're going to milk tonight's selection show for two freaking hours. American Idol is just another example of domestic ineffeciency: take what should be -- at best -- a thirty minute program and ... More >>

New Dynamo Stadium May Not Change Concert Climate Much

Marco TorresLady Gaga at Toyota Center, July 25​Conceivably, today's announcement that the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority has agreed to act as landlord for the proposed Houston Dynamo stadium in downtown's East End could present a serious challenge to the Houston area's reigning concer ... More >>

Houston Gets Over-The-Air Country-Music Channel

​Believe it or not, some of us get by just fine without cable or satellite TV. When Rocks Off goes home at night - the odd evenings we stay home, that is - not only do we enjoy the finest network television has to offer, but the cornucopia of choices across the digital-TV spectrum: B- and C-mo ... More >>

How Much Does Houston Like Rush? A Lot.

Photos by Groovehouse/ Click link for a slideshowRush's Geddy Lee: "Hmmm... looks like a sellout to me."​Rush's "Time Machine" tour was well-named in more ways than one. Not only did the Canadian trio perform 1981's Moving Pictures in its entirety, but the tour transported the concert industry ... More >>

Hands Up Post: Honky-Tonk Houston's Done Got Out Of Hand

​A recent thread on the Hands Up Houston message board found poster "honky honk" complaining (and mangling the English language): Dear Houston. Why are you excepting [sic] this right wing, overtly white genre of music known as honky tonk or country? Why do we have to travel that far back ... More >>

Last Night: Carrie Underwood At Toyota Center

Photos by Marco Torres​Carrie Underwood Toyota Center October 6, 2010 Carrie Underwood is perfect for Vegas. That's not a knock - mostly. Underwood is wholesome, engaging and dynamic. She's no Tina Turner, but she can strut onstage. Her voice is excellent - good range and control, on key and ... More >>

Five Memorable Athlete-Musician Hookups

​In a few hours, Carrie Underwood will be onstage at Toyota Center. Besides being an all-around American girl who will mess you up if you cheat on her, Underwood once dated Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo and married Mike Fisher of the Ottawa Senators back in July. That's right, a hockey ... More >>

The Week In TV: Futurama Lives!

​I don't know about you, but I'm ready for a summer of transcredible exploits. This was the week in TV Land: • Last week I asked what you watch during the summer, and the responses covered the bases for summer shows: Burn Notice, Leverage (really?), The Closer (really?!), sporting events, ... More >>

Austin City Limits Festival Tickets On Sale Tomorrow At 10 A.M.

We're not saying Soundgarden is playing ACL, but you never know...​That's right. Now why would Rocks Off make something like that up? Hope you have $180 lying around and don't have any meetings or classes or anything like that tomorrow morning, because they're going to go quick. Better go ahead an ... More >>

Pop Rocks: American Idol -- What The Hell Is Wrong With You People?

​The ninth season of America's national karaoke showcase -- also known as American Idol -- premiered last Tuesday. The show that has contributed such legends as Jordin Sparks and Taylor Hicks to the world of music continues to chug along in spite of the absence of original judge Paula Abdul and th ... More >>

It's 4:30 p.m. and Taylor Hicks, Clay Aiken, John Mayer, Nickelback and ICP Still Suck

Er... no comment. OK, maybe one or two...​In the world of rock writing, there are just some artists' fans that you can't help but fuck with. While you're alternately enamored and disgusted by their chosen obsession, they exert a near religious fanaticism for their fixation of worship, making them ... More >>

Randy Travis

Creep Show

O Pioneers!!! turns growing up into unrelenting punk rock.

Idol Beat: The Top Three

Disclaimer: Thanks to technical difficulties brought about by the crap DVR capture feature of our limp-ass new cable box/provider, I missed the first 15-20 minutes of Tuesday's episode of American Idol. Please feel free to attempt to conjecture about whatever you think I would have said - had I been ... More >>

Unusual Suspects at The Usual

Trackside bar welcomes amateur karaoke stars — and everybody else

American Idol Returns Tonight... Yawn

Come back Kelly Clarkson, all is forgiven... If you've been lucky enough to spend the past several months in a media-deprivation tank - or maybe you just don't read the Houston Chronicle - then you no doubt know Fox's shrill-singing flagship series American Idol returns tonight at 7 p.m. (As ... More >>

Lonesome Onry and Mean: 2008's Heavy Rotation

For the second (third?) year in a row, LOM didn't vote in either the Nashville Scene's best of country music poll or the Village Voice's Pazz & Jop best of American music poll. I'm just not a good list-maker. Detest that stuff. Just trying to compile a list of possibles makes my brain hate me. ... More >>

Ten Performers Besides Bruce Springsteen Who Were Considered for the Super Bowl

Just How Texan are Hayes Carll and Miranda Lambert?

Miss Leslie: Between the Whiskey and the Wine

The Blog of Lists: 25 Vegan Musicians

Miranda Lambert

Carrie Underwood, Carnival Ride

Carnival Ride

One Small Step for Billboard, One Giant Debut for the Eagles

Drenched In Blog: Jack FM

Country Music Awards

Friday Chart Check

Hope Springs Eternal

A northern suburb tops our third installment of rating greater Houston's taste in music

Never Go to a Party in Friendswood

Where does your town rank in the Houston-area good-taste stakes?