George Strait

Country Music Awards

A Stopover in Strait Country

Texans Score 30 Grammy Nominations

Allison Krauss, Robert Plant and T-Bone Burnett (far right) Texas artists landed 30 nominations in 20 categories when the contenders for the 51st annual Grammy Awards were announced today, including all five nominees for Best Tejano Album and four of the five Best Norteno Album contenders. All of ... More >>

Rotation

Allison Krauss, Robert Plant and T-Bone Burnett (far right) Texas artists landed 30 nominations in 20 categories when the contenders for the 51st annual Grammy Awards were announced today, including all five nominees for Best Tejano Album and four of the five Best Norteno Album contenders. All of ... More >>

Rotation

Allison Krauss, Robert Plant and T-Bone Burnett (far right) Texas artists landed 30 nominations in 20 categories when the contenders for the 51st annual Grammy Awards were announced today, including all five nominees for Best Tejano Album and four of the five Best Norteno Album contenders. All of ... More >>

Judge Not The Two-Step, Lest Ye Be Judged

Yeah, so we judged a Texas Two-Step dancing contest last night.That's pretty much the equivalent of Sarah Palin judging a Dance Salad festival, but we tried.You know it's bad when the only song you recognize in the half-dozen or so tunes in the warm-up is George Strait's "Love Without End, Amen, ... More >>

Rotation

Yeah, so we judged a Texas Two-Step dancing contest last night.That's pretty much the equivalent of Sarah Palin judging a Dance Salad festival, but we tried.You know it's bad when the only song you recognize in the half-dozen or so tunes in the warm-up is George Strait's "Love Without End, Amen, ... More >>

Christmas Songwriters Showcase

Yeah, so we judged a Texas Two-Step dancing contest last night.That's pretty much the equivalent of Sarah Palin judging a Dance Salad festival, but we tried.You know it's bad when the only song you recognize in the half-dozen or so tunes in the warm-up is George Strait's "Love Without End, Amen, ... More >>

Playbill

Yeah, so we judged a Texas Two-Step dancing contest last night.That's pretty much the equivalent of Sarah Palin judging a Dance Salad festival, but we tried.You know it's bad when the only song you recognize in the half-dozen or so tunes in the warm-up is George Strait's "Love Without End, Amen, ... More >>

Never Go to a Party in Friendswood

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

Queer Eye for the Country Guy

Have today's C&W stars been consulting with the Fab Five?

David Brake and That Damn Band

Lean, Mean Texas Machine (Westerland Records)

Apocalypse Cow

Finding the press box at Reliant Stadium proves to be a journey into the heart of darkness

Back in the Saddle

Clay Farmer

Same As It Ever Is

Clay Farmer

The Strait Dope

Gettin' jiggy with George Strait at his country music festival

Single-Album Sets We'd Like to See, Part 1: Bob Dylan, George Strait, The Pogues and More

Initiated by indie-rockers like Sonic Youth, Slint and Built to Spill at mid-2000s festivals - UK/U.S. hopover All Tomorrow's Parties and its various tie-ins being the most prominent - playing a beloved LP front to back in concert is now the hottest thing going on the classic-rock circuit. Within th ... More >>

George Strait Week, Part 1: Sad, Angry George

Note: All this week, Rocks Off is previewing George Strait's first Houston show in several years by looking at different aspects of King Cowboy's catalog. A few months back, when Morrissey played Jones Hall, we were asking ourselves if there was an artist out there - a Texas artist, namely - who tr ... More >>

Houston 101: "Amarillo By Morning," One More Goddamn Time

​Houston 101 is taking a bit of a road trip today in honor of George Strait. Our sister blog Rocks Off is counting down the days until Strait returns here for a non-rodeo appearance, and it put us in mind of the first time we'd heard a Strait song -- at the trial over one of the Texas political wo ... More >>

George Strait

​Houston 101 is taking a bit of a road trip today in honor of George Strait. Our sister blog Rocks Off is counting down the days until Strait returns here for a non-rodeo appearance, and it put us in mind of the first time we'd heard a Strait song -- at the trial over one of the Texas political wo ... More >>

George Strait Week, Part 2: Cajun George

After Tuesday's look at the shockingly Morrissey-like sentiments of the many George Strait songs where his love interest is either already gone or on her way out the door, Rocks Off thought today we'd take a look at a much happier - and, it should be said, significantly smaller - subcategory of Kin ... More >>

George Strait Week, Part 3: George's 10 Commandments

As sad and downbeat as George Strait can be, the dude can also get hella domineering. When he's not doing his best Cajun jams or crying in his beer, he's telling you to do things. Nothing dirty - sorry, Mom - he just wants you to carry out various tasks for him. We read in a magazine somewhere that ... 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 >>

George Strait Week, Part 5: Texas George

Like the man himself said, easy come, easy go. Happy as we are that it's Friday, and almost quitting time to boot, Rocks Off a little sad too, because that means George Strait Week is almost over. But not quite. We're putting it to bed the only way we know how - with the King's five best Texas song ... 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 >>

Lonesome Onry and Mean: The Mucky Duck Hits a Hot Streak In the Cool Weather

Lonesome, Onry and Mean just noticed that venerable listening room McGonigel's Mucky Duck has a major streak of high-grade talent Nov. 12 through 17. Beginning with the Subdudes on the 12th, the Duck quickly plows through Texas legend Ray Wylie Hubbard (13th), troubadour-poet Tom Russell (14th), on ... More >>

He Said She Said: Songs That Remind Us of Our Grandfathers, Part 2

He Said Grandpa Songs He Said was lucky to have spent twenty-five years on Earth with his Grandpa Hlavaty, who passed away in the summer of 2008 of a brain hemorrhage. The man was arguably one of the biggest musical influences in He Said's life. The intrepid and stealthy Grandpa Gonzalez is kicking ... More >>

Beyonce Leads 2010 Grammy Field With 10 Nominations

Beyonce leads all nominees for the 52nd annual Grammy Awards, reaping the benefits of her smash double album I Am... Sasha Fierce and her prominent role on the soundtrack to last year's Chess Records docudrama Cadillac Records, in which she appeared as an R&B diva from an earlier age, Etta Jame ... More >>

He Said She Said: Our Favorite Fictional Performers, Part 2

​Why is that sometimes the fictional bands in movie and television are cooler than real bands? Sadly, some of He Said's favorite bands don't even have albums or videos to speak of, because they don't even exist. The fun part is imagining how awesome their full-length records and tours would be. Th ... More >>

Fool Hearted Memory: Music That Chooses You, Not the Other Way Around

​ Someone once observed wryly that the only member of your family you'll ever actually choose is your spouse, and perhaps a whole lot of that observation is equally applicable to the music of our lives. A couple of years back we were sitting at Prince's Hamburgers off the Southwest Freeway in the ... More >>

What Constitutes a Killer Show? Six Personal Case Studies

​ Rocks Off is going to suck it up and go on the record as saying we had a great time at the Lady Gaga drag karaoke event last Sunday at Guava Lamp. Perhaps it was just the impaired judgment induced by the holiday cheer we'd imbibed at the Christmas party before, but the show was thoroughly enjoya ... More >>

Somewhere Trouble Don't Go

The best Texas albums of 2009...or what we could squeeze in.

Rocks Off Sets You Straight On Musical Happy Hours

​On newsstands now - or soon, depending on where in the metro area you live - you will find the Houston Press' new cover story, "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere" - a guide to Jimmy Buffett's discography our city's varied, vibrant happy-hour scene, in which Rocks Off had some input. Naturally, we cover ... More >>

Eight Songs That Make Us Want To Go Back To School

​Last week, when Rocks Off was editing our former intern Matthew Keever's article about the worst back-to-school soundtracks when Jerry Lee Lewis' "High School Confidential" popped into our head out of the blue. Not really out of the blue, we guess, but the next thing we knew we were thinking, ... More >>

Happened in a Honky-Tonk

Jon Wolfe returns from Nashville.

George Strait Looking For Sea Of Red At Austin Show

Photos by Craig Hlavaty​Of course Rocks Off is driving to Austin on Friday night to see George Strait and Reba McEntire at the Frank Erwin Center. Who do you think we are? Isn't everyone driving to Austin to see the Morrissey of Texas and the Queen of Modern Country? Anyhow, Rocks Off will b ... More >>

Friday Night: George Strait & Reba At Austin's Erwin Center

Photos by Marc Brubaker​George Strait, Reba McEntire Frank Erwin Center, Austin January 14, 2010 Friday night, Aftermath drove to Austin to catch one of the lone Texas stops on this round of tandem touring by the King and Queen of Country, George Strait and Reba McEntire, with Lee Ann Womack ... More >>

George Strait: No Unflattering Photos, Please

Marc BrubakerEvidently shooting George Strait from this angle and distance is OK.​Rocks Off does our best to shield our readers from all the red tape we have to go through in order to bring you a steady stream of concert reviews. For one thing, it's pretty boring - a bunch of emails and relea ... More >>

Straight-To-DVD Music Sequels Soon To Come

​If you're a struggling writer, musician or filmmaker trying to work up the nerve to kill yourself, have we ever got good news for you! Your morale may have been damaged or even crippled by seeing bad music, bad movies and bad stories dominating the upper echelons of their respective fields, b ... More >>

Rocks Off's Fantasy RodeoHouston Lineup

Photos courtesy of Houston Livestock Show & RodeoGeorge Strait in 1996​If you walk through Reliant Center, hanging from the ceiling are banners listing almost every musical performer RodeoHouston has hosted since the '60s. The names reflect the hallowed history of country and fleeting fancies ... More >>

Rocks Off Wishes Wyoming A Happy Birthday

​If you're anything like Rocks Off, you've been marking off the days on your calendar until you could let loose and celebrate Wyoming Statehood Day this coming Sunday. OK, so that's a lie, but here at Rocks Off we do enjoy the lesser known-holidays and putting together playlists to honor them ... More >>

Top Five Cannibal Country Songs

​Songs about singers and other songs has long been one of Rocks Off's favorite fields of study within the wide-ranging curriculum of popular music. Off the very tippy-top of our heads, ABC's "When Smokey Sings," the Replacements' "Alex Chilton" and the Pogues' "The Band Played Waltzing Matilda ... More >>

Here For A Good Time: George Strait Lives It Up On LP No. 39

Praise Be To Strait God​Today sees the release of George Strait's Here For a Good Time his 39th release counting compilations, live works and those Christmas discs. As one of Houston's most vocal champions of Strait (with a music blog, that is) Rocks Off deems the new album one of Strait's bes ... More >>

George Strait's Top 20 Songs Of All Time: Nos. 20-16

​Tuesday, George Strait released Here For a Good Time, by our count his 39th album overall. Some may call that the Madness of King George, but Rocks Off the Elder and Younger have both heard Good Time; we both think it's one of his stronger sets, continuing the bout of second wind (Third? Four ... More >>

George Strait's Top 20 Songs Of All Time: Nos. 15-11

​Today's installment of our 20 favorite George Strait songs, which we began Wednesday, comes with word that Billboard is projecting his brand-new Here For a Good Time to debut on top of next week's Billboard 200. It will take some work, but he could just knock off Lil Wayne's Tha Carter IV. Wi ... More >>

George Strait's Top 20 Songs Of All Time: Nos. 10-6

Before we proceed to today's portion of the George Strait countdown - catch up with Nos. 20-16 and 15-11 - here are a few interesting tidbits about King George. It is "fact-finding Friday," after all. Strait has been a spokesperson for Resistol hats, Justin boots, Wrangler jeans, Chevy trucks and ... More >>

George Strait's Top 20 Songs Of All Time: Nos. 5-1

​As Rocks Off dives into the top slots of our favorite George Strait songs from his 30-year career - see Nos. 20-16, 15-11 and 10-6 - we are waiting anxiously to see if King George was able to knock Lil' Wayne's Tha Carter IV from atop the Billboard 200. A top seat for the brand-new Here For a ... More >>

Father Figures: 100 Famous Musicians' Paternal Professions

Mr. Peppermint: Sire of a Surfer.​If you're a Texan of a certain age, this week you've probably spent some time mourning the death of Jerry Haynes, the children's TV host better known as Mr. Peppermint. Haynes' show on WFAA-TV in Dallas, Peppermint Place, ran from the '60s to the '90s and was ... More >>

Wednesday Open Mike at Blanco's

The seating area next to the dance floor and stage. ​Guitarist Chet Akins, the Country Gentleman, would describe the Nashville sound by jingling some the change in his pocket and saying, "It's the sound of money." Mainstream country's lucrative turn toward pop in the late 1950s eventually blos ... More >>

French Onion Soup & Deathbugs: Our Nine Musical Turkeys Of 2011

Photo By Marc Brubaker and Monica Fuentes​Danzig Shame on us for thinking that a Danzig show would go off without a hitch, and infinite shame on Glenn Danzig for the debacle that was his "appearance" at Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin. We will never look at French onion soup ever again without bel ... More >>