Darius Rucker

Slip Slidin' Away: My Life as a Rock Journalist With the Houston Press

I had a hernia operation in the early summer of 2006, and had nothing to do all day but hobble around with cool cane a borrowed from Grandpa Hlavaty and play on the Internets for two months or so. I had developed the injury while working at Domino's, but it was cool because their insurance helped ... More >>

Blake Shelton Has Helped Country's "Old Farts" More Than They Seem to Know

"Can't they just shut up?" That's the question many country music fans proffer when musicians publicly express opinions that dare venture outside of benign Q&A quicksand and into the murky waters of relevant social issues. Country consumers from both sides of the political aisle can get riled up i ... More >>

The 5 Best Onstage Band Pranks

You might think that it's a little bit early for April Fool's, but pranks go on between musicians and bands year-round. Given that musicians are an immature, jocular sort, tied inherently to an adolescent dream of being a rock star, it should be no surprise that they get into all kinds of crazy insi ... More >>

Third Day's Mac Powell Makes Hard Country Turn

While they were on tour behind 1987's The Joshua Tree, U2 -- either homesick and looking for fun, bored or legitimately curious to see if the people who showed up that early would recognize them -- booked themselves as their own opening act on the Los Angeles, Indianapolis and Hampton, Va. stops und ... 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 >>

Lionel Richie Vs. Chuck Norris: Who Would Win?

So far the musical comeback of the year has been Lionel Richie, hands down. Last week the Alabama-born crooner's new album in three years, Tuskegee, debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with sales of almost 200,000 copies. According to The Hollywood Reporter, if about 185,000 copies of Madonna's MD ... More >>

With a Rebel Yell: 10 Rockers Gone Country

Photo by Matthew KeeverAaron Lewis at the Verizon Wireless Theater in 2010.​When Staind singer Aaron Lewis rolls into Verizon Wireless Theater tomorrow night, odds are he'll leave his mudshuvel back at the hotel. As modern rock radio turns to the next generation of angst, the former Fred Durs ... More >>

Last Night: Ten Man Jam At Verizon Wireless Theater

Photos by Michael LanierAlan Jackson​Holy honky-tonk hell, Houston. When you put on your cowboy boots, cowboy hats and drinking pants, you sure can throw down with the best of them. Wednesday night at Verizon Wireless Theater, 100.3 KILT continued its annual Ten Man Jam, with quite a solid li ... More >>

Defending Kings Of Leon: Blood Is Thicker Than Tequila

Since there's been so much talk about Kings of Leon after Caleb Followill's abrupt "heat-induced" exit last Friday in Dallas, Tuesday afternoon Rocks Off's in-house brain trust emailed back and forth about the possible long-term effects of last weekend's events on the band. Mark C. AustinKings of L ... More >>

20 Musician Biopics Currently In Development Hell

Happy birthday, Janis.​News came down last week that Sacha Baron Cohen will be stepping into the rhinestones and glitter as Queen icon Freddie Mercury. It's been a long time coming for Cohen, the Borat and Bruno star who is slowly becoming his generation's Peter Sellers and has been rumored to ... 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 >>

Hit Nashville Songwriter Takes Skynyrd-AC/DC Detour

myspace.com/chrisstapletonmusic​We were talking about bluegrassers Steeldrivers with a mainstream Nashville producer recently when he remarked that the band's former singer-songwriter, Chris Stapleton, is "the most talented guy in Nashville." Say what? In fact, unless you follow the doings of ... More >>

Steeldrivers Continue Bluegrass Supremacy On Reckless

Steeldrivers on Facebook​Expatriate Texas fiddler Tammy Rogers describes the formation of the Steeldrivers as a "dream come true." "I always wanted to be in a killer bluegrass band," says Rogers from her home in Nashville, where the band recently recorded their sophomore release Reckless. "S ... More >>

Upcoming: 50 Cent, Aventura, Hole, Jonas Bros., Liza Minnelli, Octopus Project, Etc.

​50 Cent: Sat., June 12. Arena Theatre. Agent Orange: Wed., June 30. Rocbar. Asleep At The Wheel: Fri., May 28. Cypress Saloon. As I Lay Dying, Underoath, Between The Buried And Me, Blessthefall, Cancer Bats: Tue., July 27. Verizon Wireless Theater. Aventura: Thu., July 1. Toyota Center. Barringt ... More >>

He Said She Said: "Dear Penis" And Other Country Comedy Classics

​ Aside from all the epic cheating, drinking and fighting songs country music has given us, one of the best things it does is make us laugh. Apart from all the crying and cussing, there is a whole deal of laughing going on. This year at RodeoHouston, there aren't many performers on the humorous si ... More >>

Happy Hour Scene: The Hideout

​Rodeo cowboys getting drunk and picking up women is an interesting scene. It doesn't look like it takes much effort. They just stand there in the same clothes they competed in hours earlier, sometimes with the dirt still on their jeans and boots, with their competition flags pinned to their back ... More >>

Aftermath: Darius Rucker's Forever Road To Purple Rain, Via David Allan Coe And Hank Jr. At RodeoHouston

Photos courtesy of Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo™​Took us long enough, but Aftermath finally understands the rodeo. After one performer who left us cold, and another who turned Reliant Stadium into the world's biggest gospel/R&B revival, Darius Rucker's set Tuesday was the definition of " ... More >>

Dierks Bentley

RodeoHouston 2010 Entertainer Lineup Includes Mary J. Blige, Black Eyed Peas, Justin Bieber and Some Country Folks You Can Probably Guess

​Monday morning, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo announced the remainder of its Reliant Stadium entertainment calendar for this year's rodeo, which begins March 2. Debuting on Reliant's revolving stage this year are Jason Aldean (March 6) and Texans the Eli Young Band (March 19). Returning fr ... 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 >>

Suck It, Dallas: The Rodeo Outdraws The State Fair

​The Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo was the nation's biggest fair in 2009, an industry publication has declared.Carnival Warehouse, which sounds like the kind of place that has cheap late-night advertising for kuh-waaazy prices on merry-go-rounds, but is actually a publication that tracks the ... More >>

Lonesome Onry and Mean: Between Darius Rucker and Charley Pride, There Was Otis Williams

Darius Rucker's award as the Academy of Country Music's New Artist of the Year recently made him the first black artist to take a significant country award since Charley Pride ruled Nashville in the early '80s. Rucker's "Don't Think I Don't Think About It" marked the first time a black artist had e ... More >>

Distant Early Warning: 30FootFall, Agnostic Front, Dropkick Murphys, George Thorogood, Joe Ely, Slayer, etc.

​30FootFall: Fri., Dec. 25. Fitzgerald's. Agnostic Front, Death By Stereo: Sun., Jan. 24. Walter's on Washington. American Sharks, The Watermarks: Wed., Nov. 25. Boondocks. Band of Heathens: Fri., Dec. 11. Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe. Basses Loaded, Springfield Riots, Nosaprise: Fri., Nov. 27, 8 p. ... More >>

Hell on Earth

Long Island hardcore quartet This Is Hell thrashes till the sun goes down.

Aftermath: Darius Rucker at RodeoHouston

Photos by Craig HlavatyAftermath always wondered what it was like to not be known to the public by your birth name, but by the name of your band. In the beginning, some club owners thought that David Lee Roth's name was Van Halen. I'm sure somewhere along the line Ian Anderson was called Jethr ... More >>

Remembering Martin Luther King Jr. in Song

In the Name of Love

Black Gold

A gusher lay beneath the surface, but you had to drill deep

Darius Rucker

Back to Then (Hidden Beach)

Rotation

Static

A Geek with a Guitar

Edwin McCain wants to please with his songs. You got a problem with that?

Blowed Up Real Good

Hootie gets big while keeping its eyes on the small stuff