Country Music Television Inc.

Surely Galveston Can Do Better Than "Galveston"

Notwithstanding the recent Galveston-based Carnival cruise liner whose faulty engines landed its passengers in a world of hurt (and national headlines), the island is again throwing its arms open for the upcoming summer season. Last week the Galveston Island Convention & Visitors Bureau announced th ... More >>

Don't Call Blackberry Smoke Outlaws, But They'll Get Out of Hand

If you haven't smelled Blackberry Smoke in a while, they might have been at sea. The Atlanta Southern rock/outlaw country (whatever) band has been on so many cruises it's a little surprising the quintet's long hair isn't braided and beaded. When Rocks Off caught up with lead singer/guitarist Charli ... More >>

The Best Concerts In Houston This Weekend: Blues Control, Loretta Lynn, The xx, etc.

Blues Control Mango's, February 8 Blues Control's Lea Cho and Russ Waterhouse make a tremendous clatter with keyboards, guitars and synths. The Queens, N.Y., duo started grabbing cool-kid support way before last year's Drag City effort Valley Tangents, which built on their already kaleidoscopic bod ... More >>

Jan Hammer and the Top 10 TV Theme Songs of the '80s

Not a lot of television shows win multiple Grammys. Then again, not a lot of television shows ever sounded (or looked) like Miami Vice. The cutting-edge series perfectly captured the pastel zeitgeist of its time when it debuted in 1984, influencing film, fashion, design and music in a way that few T ... More >>

The Ten Most Corrupt Tax Loopholes

If Mitt Romney won't tell you which need to be closed, we will.

The 10 Funniest & Weirdest Country Song Titles

Country music has come a long way as far as popularity goes over the years, from the likes of such bygone greats as Ernest Tubb and Eddy Arnold to current favorites Sugarland and Dierks Bentley. But it has always had some rather... interesting-sounding song titles to grace listeners' ears. Shall we ... More >>

Welcome To My World: 10 Musicians Who Deserve Their Own Reality Show

Ever since The Real World hit the MTV airwaves in the early '90s, reality television has been all the rage. However, since The Osbournes debuted in 2002, some of that reality programming has catered to music fans. Even such music artists as country artist Tanya Tucker, rapper/minister Reverend Run ... More >>

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

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 the black circles under the eyes and drunk-ass grins on Leon Payne's band above. That photo alone sp ... More >>

Pauly Shore

Randy Travis: Weird North Texas Drunk-In-Public Bust

It may seem that we're talkin' foolish, but Randy Travis was arrested early this morning, allegedly drunk in a car parked in front of a Baptist church in the Denton County town of Sanger. (Travis reportedly owns a ranch in Tioga, 25 miles east of Sanger.) TMZ broke the story. They reported that a ... More >>

Artist of the Week: Payton Rae Quietly Eyes Fame

Each Wednesday, Rocks Off arbitrarily appoints one lucky local performer or group "Artist of the Week," bestowing upon them all the fame and grandeur such a lofty title implies. Know a band or artist that isn't awful? Email their particulars to sheaserrano@gmail.com. ​Sometimes you think and ... More >>

Crystal Gayle

Taylor Swift

Music from Big Pink

The road goes on forever for Texas Music upstarts Rosehill.

1991: Best Music Year Ever?

Rocks Off Sr.'s choice for 1991's best album.​1991 was one of the biggest years in modern music. It was when metal went pop, radio country ruled, grunge went mainstream, and rap began its climb to chart dominance, even if it was spearheaded by a white candy rapper from Dallas. There were man ... More >>

The Ten Bleakest Songs In Country Music History

decodedstuff.com​Country music isn't all high-tech rednecks and honky tonk badonkadonks. Country artists have a tendency to, every now and then, sing about some dark, disturbing stuff. Sometimes scary, sometimes violent, and sometimes just weird, here are some country songs that rival the blac ... More >>

Get "All Jacked Up" at Rodeo's Hideout With Gretchen Wilson, Dale Watson, Honeybrowne, Others

The Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo announced the lineup for its smaller Hideout venue this morning and, well, it's countrier than the Black Eyed Peas. This year's bill includes "Here for the Party" girl Gretchen Wilson, a contestant from CMT's Can You Duet (O'Shea), some legit honky-tonkers (Da ... More >>

Misery and Gin

Country music, faded stardom, liquor, and age in Crazy Heart.

2009 Concert Rewind, August: Weezy, Blondie, Depeche Mode, JoBros, Katy Perry, Mos Def, De La Soul, Blue October, Green Day and an Audience With King George

Shea Serrano​ Asher Roth, Kid Cudi, House of Blues, August 1: "[Cudi has] tapped John Goldstein, Kanye's famed stage light guy, to help him create an actual feel to his show. Hipster rappers get derided a lot as not being "real rappers," but they put on a hell of a show. The crowd is already his." ... More >>

2009 Concert Rewind, March: Erykah Badu, Britney, Billy Joel & Elton John, A Baybrook Beatdown and A Whole Lotta Rodeo

Mark C. Austin​ Rascal Flatts, Reliant Stadium, March 3: "It's almost devious how much these guys sweetened and tune their songs up, close to the point of an almost automaton-like perfection. Each song is custom-built like a souped-up hot rod, with almost no flourish or guitar vamp going to waste. ... More >>

Aftermath: George Strait at Reliant Stadium

Photos by Craig Hlavaty​ Aftermath escaped the first day of the inaugural Free Press Summer Fest to venture out to Reliant Stadium to catch country legend George Strait. It was like walking into a hella weird alternate universe where the musicians weren't five inches from your face, and everyone w ... More >>

George Strait Week, Part 4: Actor George

​As our George Strait week comes to an end before the big show Saturday night at Reliant Stadium, Rocks Off takes a look back at his first and sadly only lead-acting role, 1992's Pure Country. The film is pure cornball cinema gold. We had the pleasure of re-watching it a few months back on CMT ove ... More >>

Lonesome Onry and Mean: John Doe & the Sadies' Country Club

Lonesome, Onry and Mean likes him some country music done right, so it was with considerable delight that we listened to Country Club by X bassist/singer John Doe and the Sadies. An L.A. rocker and a Canadian alt-country outfit seem like unlikely musical bedfellows, but Country Club works from the f ... More >>

Saving Country Music Rides to Rocks Off's Aid

TK's atomic mullet is no match for Rocks Off and Saving Country Music's poison pens.This has been a fun week down in the Rocks Off foxhole, as Toby Keith's loyal minions have besieged us with comments taking issue with our review of the Big Dog Daddy's lackluster RodeoHouston performance Wedn ... More >>

Rocks Off Is Too Critical For CMT

Mark C. Austin Yes, CMT, we did enjoy Alan Jackson's RodeoHouston performance.If you've been following Rocks Off's rodeo coverage, which hopefully you have, you've probably noticed that we've found a few of the entertainers' performances to be less than stellar. Which is not to say we haven' ... More >>

Artist of the Week: Small Sounds

Each Wednesday, Rocks Off arbitrarily appoints one lucky local performer or group "Artist of the Week," bestowing upon them all the fame and grandeur such a lofty title implies. Know a band or artist that isn't awful? Email their particulars to introducingliston@gmail.com. It seems contradictory, ... More >>

What Happened to Honky Tonk in Houston

Turn out the lights, the party's over

This Charming Man

The ballad, and ballads, of Billy Joe Shaver

Cuz Nothing Says "Born Country" Like Rice University

Looking for a hit

Mike Stinson, Nashville and an eight-minute bottle of wine

On the Record with Randy

Christmas in July

Six dozen of Houston's finest bands for a mere $7

The South's Done It Again

Southern rock comes in for another revival

In His Own Write

Jesse Dayton knows a great many words - and how to sell them

Left For Dead

Tracey Deel was shot a dozen times by two teens who wanted her car. She dragged herself the length of three football fields determined not to be just another homocide statistic.

Fun with Rednecks

Bill Engvall

Press Picks

Musical Labels

Tish Hinojosa hops from one style, and company, to another