Date: February 26 Name: Gary Allan AKA: NA
Down Warehouse Live, January 11 Long-running sludge daddies Down are still riding high from last year's six-song EP, Down IV Part I - The Purple EP, and rightfully so. The effort was one of 2012's best releases, making it onto plenty of year-end lists and satisfying Down fans' hunger for new materi ... More >>
One goes into an interview with Wayne "The Train" Hancock expecting to confront the ghost of Hank Williams, because the singer has made a good living the past 17 years channeling Hank and other classic country acts. And, as expected, Hancock, who broke onto the roots music scene in 1995 after appear ... More >>
Director Wes Anderson's upcoming Moonrise Kingdom is easily one of the most anticipated movies of 2012, coming to theaters on May 25, mainly because his movies are like catnip for hipsters and amateur cinéastes alike, and feature completely engrossing soundtracks. From the garage-rock throwdown of ... More >>
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 >>
Photo by Marco TorresAccording to a recent Associated Press article picked up by everyone from The Huffington Post to Fox News, Day of the Dead celebrations are on the upswing, a trend attributed in part to the growing Latino population and Hispanic influence on the culture, as well as changi ... More >>
Photos by Marco TorresTrain a-Comin': The Secret Sisters3:30 p.m. Still they file in. Watching the crowds trudge along Barton Springs Road, their eyes fixed on the pavement about five yards in front of them (not their phones), always reminds Rocks Off of a pilgrimage. And each festival has i ... More >>
Tiger Army's Nick 13 delivered his self-titled solo debut this year, and the lead singer of one of the past decade's biggest psychobilly bands has made one of the most enjoyable traditional country records of 2011 not called Photographs. Yes, this 10-song set from the man you first met on t ... More >>
This weekend, as the rest of the world catches Harry Potter mania for (perhaps) the final time, Houston gets a serious dose of Urban Cowboy nostalgia. Theater Under the Stars' production of the Tony-nominated 2003 musical - which The New York Times called "a conclusive demonstration that it's ... More >>
Ted Barron/New West RecordsSteve Earle: What's up, Doc?Despite what our paychecks and sometimes even our diplomas say, the perception persists that music journalists are not "real" journalists. Similarly, no matter how literate their lyrics, some folks think musicians could not possibly put p ... More >>
zazzle.comSongwriters 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 >>
News Flash: Hank Williams still not a Texan nodepression.comBob "Willis" & His Texas PlayboysIt appears Rocks Off's efforts of a few weeks ago were all for naught. Despite presenting what we thought was a fairly persuasive San Jacinto Day argument to the contrary, earlier today the Texas L ... More >>
Photos by Jason WolterFred Eaglesmith McGonigel's Mucky Duck February 22, 2011 Rocks Off Sr. wanted to know, and he wanted to know now. "What kinda crowd is this? Canadians?" "Yeah, some, for sure." Aftermath understands these things. Instinctively. It's like drinking good whiskey. "But l ... More >>
politicsworldwide.comWillie Nelson's Conroe buddy Larry Butler was not only a performer, he also ran a series of clubs in the area over the past 50 years, including Willie Nelson's Night Life on FM 1960 during Willie's IRS problem years. And while Butler has some fond memories of IRS agents ... More >>
Rocks Off Sr. is curious why Rocks Off Jr. chose a picture of Christina Hendricks for an article about dreams.For some reason, Craig's Hlist has been sleeping way too much lately. Blame the booze, fear of the sun, or just plain lack of giving a rat's ass about the daylight. With sleep comes d ... More >>
There is some dispute in LOM's family about what our first favorite song was, but as best we can determine and agree, it was "Kaw-liga" by Hank Williams. That Native American drumbeat just put my young head on the warpath, and the tempo shift on the chorus always made me happy as Hank moaned on abo ... More >>
Photo illustrations by John Seaborn Gray We know a ton of you got iPhones over the holiday break. Well, good news: Rocks Off has spent the last few months developing our own iPhone applications (or "apps," as the urban kids are saying) and we're thrilled to debut them here. All inquiries, critici ... More >>
Is Houston ready for country? Again?
She Said has something she wants to admit. Here goes nothing. We... like... country music. No big deal, right? You wouldn't think so, unless you grew up in a town filled with racist rednecks who thought the glitz of '90s Nashville qualifies for the only music worth listenin' to. She Said rebelle ... More >>
Photo by Andreas BondingEvery time us Yanks think we've got the market cornered on strangeness, along come those darn Europeans to show us how much we still have to learn. It's most entertaining when they do it by re-interpreting classic American concepts such as gangsters, country music and punk ro ... More >>
Heartless Bastards The Mountain www.heartlessbastards.com Gnarlier than a century-old Live Oak, Heartless Bastards' The Mountain plugs the Cincinnati-born trio's scorching postmodern blues - their debut, 2006's All This Time, could skin a cat - into the eerie backwoods folk of Greil Marcus' ... More >>
Photos courtesy of iFest BeogaSince we're already playing hangman today, here's another riddle: What do America's finest genre-hopping Latino band, Houston's best Guinness-chugging rockers, a daughter of the nation's premiere gospel family, a perennially unsung honky-tonker who sounds like th ... More >>
Sean Reefer & the Resin Valley Boys, Boondocks, April 28: "Reefer and friends can be a benign ensemble whose greatest sin (and virtue) is defibrillating the shade of Hank Williams Sr. for an audience whose appetite for debauchery is more in line with grandson Hank III." Mike Ness and Jesse D ... More >>
Woodbelly performs Friday, March 30, at Dan Electro's Guitar Bar, 1031 East 24th, 713-862-8707.
Thursday, May 25, at McGonigel's Mucky Duck, 2524 Norfolk, 713-528-5999
Straight to Hell
Ten great discs that were underserved by the media but are more than worthy
Thursday, August 4, at Heritage Place Amphitheatre, 500 Collins Street in Conroe, 936-525-4782. Free.
Under the Volcano
Some advice for those who fret about naturally occurring toxins in holiday meals: Stuff it
Country legend Ray Price continues to take the path less traveled
Hasil Adkins drinks too much, screws too much and rocks too much
BR5-49 lives to see the day when Hee Haw is hip
With a new disc and a boxed history, Willie Nelson wonders who'll buy his memories
A new theater gives Hank Williams a painful death
Bill Hardy's Houston Rep hopes to give the city a fourth professional theater
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