Hank Thompson

Bartender, Pour the Wine: Ten Great Country Breakup Songs

Lonesome Onry and Mean: Justin Townes Earle, Dustin Welch and Jubal Lee Young Crawl Out of the Shadows

Somber News from Nashville

Townes Van Zandt hospitalized with lung problems

Rotation

Townes Van Zandt hospitalized with lung problems

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inducts Metallica, Run-DMC, Jeff Beck, Wanda Jackson

Yesterday marked a tremendous day for rappers and thrashers across the world: Metallica and Run-DMC were announced as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's newest inductees, along with Jeff Beck, Wanda Jackson, Little Anthony and the Imperials, Bobby Womack, two members of Elvis Presley's backing band ... More >>

Honky-Tonk History

He had 78 hits over 50 years and revolutionized country music. Now, Hank Thompson gets a new green light.

Letters

He had 78 hits over 50 years and revolutionized country music. Now, Hank Thompson gets a new green light.

Utmost Blue

He had 78 hits over 50 years and revolutionized country music. Now, Hank Thompson gets a new green light.

Just How Texan are Hayes Carll and Miranda Lambert?

He had 78 hits over 50 years and revolutionized country music. Now, Hank Thompson gets a new green light.

Music Deaths

The Greil Marcus Rock Death Meter returns

Wanda Jackson

Wanda Jackson appears Thursday, October 19, at the Continental Club, 3700 Main. Call 713-529-9899 for more info.

Christmas in July

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

Letters

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

North and South

Tranquil Canada flavors San Antonian Doug Sahm's rustic music

Lonesome Onry and Mean: R.I.P. Vern Gosdin

Foreground: Faron Young (leaning on piano), Tammy Wynette (at piano). Back row (l-r): Unidentified man, Hank Thompson, George Jones, Vern Gosdin, Marty Robbins "Don't you think you should've called To tell me you were coming down Oh, you look so out of place On this troubled side of town" - Vern Go ... More >>

A Musical Guide to Post-Secession Texas, Part 2: "Trinity"

[Note: This week Rocks Off is looking at the musical heritage, highs and lows, for each of the five possible states that might result should Texas secede from the U.S. like Gov. Rick Perry wants it to. Yesterday we began with the Panhandle/West Texas "Palo Duro" territory; today it's northeastern qu ... More >>

Lonesome Onry and Mean: Our Pal Arty Hill Picks His Favorite Songs About Drunk Women

Arty Hill is a Baltimore, Md., honky-tonker who has been playing regularly in Austin the past couple of years. He also reads Lonesome Onry and Mean's blog religiously and has already penned a couple of new songs based on the goings-on in these pages. He recently contacted LOM about Mike Stinson's l ... More >>

Charlie Huston Comes To Town With Tales Of A Sleepless Post-Apocalyptic Los Angeles

Photo by Pinguino K​Charlie Huston, the author of the newly released Sleepless, didn't start out to be a novelist; he had been hoping to become a screenwriter. That was six years and almost a dozen books ago."I was not thinking of a career as a writer until it was upon me," he told Hair Balls via ... More >>

Top Five Clint Eastwood Soundtracks

pasoroblesfilmfestival.comDr. John, Clint Eastwood and producer/director Bruce Ricker in a publicity photo for "Piano Blues," Eastwood's installment of PBS' 2003 series The Blues.​Today the one and only Clint Eastwood turns 81 years old, and he can still kick your ass. According to the Interne ... More >>

Ray Benson: "Before Keith Richards, There Was Bob Wills"

​Although he grew up outside Philadelphia, Ray Benson is the quintessential Texas musician. Somewhere in his rambling South Austin studio/office compound is a proclamation declaring him the 2004 official state musician, not to mention the umpteen Grammys he's won as front man and bandleader of ... 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 >>